Courses

• LAW LA 996: Technology Commercialization (GSM)
  This course addresses the innovative transformation of knowledge into new commercial products and services. The course begins with a rigorous study of intellectual property, licensing and the core aspects of planning, creating, funding and building new entrepreneurial ventures. Concepts and tools are presented for assessing new technologies and their potential to be the basis for a new entrepreneurial venture. Comparisons will be made of how technologies can be sourced and commercialized out of three very different environments: universities, national laboratories and corporate laboratories. Cross-disciplinary teams of students will be formed which will evaluate real technologies and their potential for transformation into a start-up company. Students may bring their own technology ideas to the class for assessment. Each class there will be a case study which will discuss examples of both success and failure in technology commercialization. Many of these case studies examine Boston University spin-out companies, and the founders and CEO's of these ventures will share their experiences with the class. The course is listed in a number of schools of the University and attracts a diverse mix of students including MBA students, law school students, scientists, engineers and clinicians. This diversity of interest adds significantly to the learning experience. NOTE: This course meets at the School of Management and will be treated as a non-law course on the law transcript. The course and grade will appear on the transcript, however the grade is not factored into the law g.p.a.
• LAW LA 997: Bench-to-Bedside: Translating Biomedical Innovation from the Laboratory to the Marketplace
  The subject of the course is the translation of medical technologies into new products and services for the healthcare system. The course begins with a rigorous study of intellectual property, licensing and the core aspects of planning, creating, funding and building new entrepreneurial ventures. Concepts and tools are presented for assessing new technologies and their potential to be the basis for a new entrepreneurial venture. Comparisons will be made of how technologies can be sourced and commercialized out of three very different environments: universities, national laboratories and corporate laboratories. Cross-disciplinary teams of students will be formed which will evaluate translational research projects currently being developed at Boston University and their potential for transformation into a start-up company to commercialize the technology, providing a unique linkage between the scientific research activities of the university and the professional schools. Each week there will be a case study which will discuss examples of both success and failure in technology commercialization. Some of these case studies examine Boston University life sciences spin-out companies, and the founders and CEO’s of these ventures will share their experiences with the class. NOTE: This course meets at the School of Management and will be treated as a non-law course on the law transcript. The course and grade will appear on the transcript, however the grade is not factored into the law g.p.a.
• LAW TX 901: Federal Income Taxation I
  This course presents a general introduction to the fundamentals of federal income tax, emphasizing issues common to individual taxpayers (but not including the federal income tax aspects of the acquisition, ownership, and disposition of property, which are the subject of Federal Income Taxation II). Topics include an overview of the federal tax system; gross income, inclusions, and exclusions; identity of the proper taxpayer; concepts and categories of deductions; and basic timing principles.
• LAW TX 902: Federal Income Taxation II
  Federal income tax aspects of the acquisition, ownership, and disposition of property. Topics include: 1.Realization and recognition, 2.Basis and amount realized, 3.The effects of debt (including its cancellation), 4.Depreciation and amortization, 5.At risk, not for profit, and passive activity loss deductibility limitations, 6.Capital gains and losses, related party transactions, quasi-capital assets and depreciation recapture, and 7.Deferred payment transactions (original issue discount and installment sales). Prerequisite or corequisite: Federal Income Taxation I.
• LAW TX 904: Estate and Gift Taxation
  Principle issues of estate and gift taxation. Topics include the definition of taxable gifts and exclusions and deductions; determination of the taxable estate of a decedent including problems with lifetime transfers; valuation issues; deductions from the taxable estate with special emphasis on property passing to a spouse; and transfers with retained interests. Reference is made throughout to planning issues relating to estate and gift taxation and is designed to give both a requisite background for those intending additional study of estate planning and a comfortable familiarity with the subject for those going on to other tax fields.
• LAW TX 905: Pensions and Profit Sharing Plans
  Regulation of pension and profit sharing plans by the Internal Revenue Code and Employee Retirement Income Security Act, with particular attention to rules applicable to tax-qualified pension and profit-sharing plans, including rules governing the structure of benefits and taxation of contributions and distributions.
• LAW TX 906: International Tax I- Trade, Investment and Finance
  Tax aspects of international business transactions, both "inbound" and "outbound", with particular attention to fiscal jurisdiction, the foreign tax credit, allocation of income among affiliated companies, treaties, anti-abuse measures aimed at tax haven operations, information reporting and foreign investment in U.S. securities and real estate. Prerequisite or corequisite: Federal Income Taxation I
• LAW TX 907: Tax Practice & Procedure
  Structure of the U.S. tax system; administration of the Internal Revenue Code by the Internal Revenue Service; ethics of tax practice and the regulation of tax practitioners; study of the administrative processing of tax returns; handling of audits, statutes of limitations, assessment of deficiencies and penalties, claims for refund, hearings before the Appeals Office, closing agreement, tax liens, tax collection procedures and civil and criminal aspects of tax fraud. Introduction to aspects of litigation in the Federal District Court, U.S. Court of Federal Claims, and U.S. Tax Court. Note: Fall and Spring semesters.
• LAW TX 912: Independent Study
  Independent Study
• LAW TX 913: Tax Accounting
  Examination of a broad range of subjects related to accounting methods and periods. Topics include principles of income recognition, prepaid income, claim of right, cash equivalency, and constructive receipt, special methods involving long-term contracts, depreciation, timing of deductions, estimated expenses, prepaid expense, expense versus capitalization, and conformity between tax and financial accounting. Prerequisite or Corequisite: Federal Income Taxation I, but knowledge of financial accounting is not necessary.
• LAW TX 914: Standards and Responsibilities in Tax Practice
  This course will consider the statutory, regulatory, and ethical standards and requirements applicable to tax practice and the tax lawyer's particular responsibilities in tax planning, preparation and advocacy. Students will be provided with an understanding of these requirements so that they may be recognized and applied in practice. There will be a focus on Circular 230, guidelines provided by the American Bar Association and tax return preparer rules. Pre-requisites: None
• LAW TX 915: Tax and Governance Issues Confronting the Tax Exempt Health Care Industry (Seminar)
  In the U.S., in contrast to other industrialized nations, a substantial component of the financing and provisions of health care services is provided by non-governmental organizations (i.e., private non-profit and tax-exempt organizations) rather than public agencies or proprietary entities. The U.S. Congress, Treasury Department, Internal Revenue Service, federal courts, state legislatures, state courts, and state attorneys general are considering what principles from Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which imposes governance reforms on publicly held companies, should be imposed on non-governmental organizations, and what the standards for local property tax and federal income tax exemptions should be. This seminar will examine in detail the current state of law and discuss various proposals currently under consideration as well as recent case law and regulatory developments for the future. The seminar will also devote a significant amount of time on business and tax-planning exercises applying the existing and proposed standards. For this purpose, knowledge of health care regulatory law will be helpful. Note: Limited enrollment. Grade based on one class report, final paper, and class presentation. This course is offered less than anually.
• LAW TX 917: Taxation of Financial Products: Policy and Theory
  This course explores the financial characteristics and income taxation of financial instruments, with an emphasis on both policy and theory. We start with the building blocks of debt and equity, move on to the "derivatives" level of options and notional principal contracts (swaps), and conclude with exotica such as currency products. In each instance we will first look at the financial characteristics of the security (after the fashion of an MBA offering in corporate finance), and then study the tax rules governing each class of instrument. Because discounting (net present value) and "pay off" diagrams are so central to an understanding of financial instruments, the course incorporates a rigorous study of these mathematical tools. Also, when studying the tax rules applicable to financial products, we focus on the fundamental building blocks of taxation -- amount, timing, character, and source -- to reveal underlying policy and theory tensions that go to the very root of our income taxation system. The course is intended to complement TX 949 Taxation of Financial Products: Principles and Application, and may be taken either pior or subsequent to that class or on a stand alone basis. Pre or Co-requisite: Federal Income Taxation I and II.
• LAW TX 918: Life Cycle of a Business Venture
  The federal income tax laws significantly affect the way a business venture proceeds through the various stages of its life cycle. This course will explore the federal income tax aspects of: i) choosing the proper form of entity (typically, C corporation, S corporation or LLC) to carry on a business, ii) forming the entity that will carry on the business and issuing equity interests (and rights to acquire equity interests) in the entity to founders and other service providers, iii)financing the entity with debt and equity, iv) reporting the results of the entity's operations, v) purchasing and leasing assets, vi) buying out owners, vii) selling the business. Co- and prerequisites: Federal Income Taxation I, Federal Income Taxation II, Introduction to Corporate Tax and Partnership Tax I.
• LAW TX 920: Tax Aspects of Buying and Selling a Business
  A comprehensive course on how business owners can buy and sell businesses with a minimum tax cost and maximum after-tax return. The strategies for selling a business are often implemented from the moment the business entity is originally formed. The course will examine the crucial strategies, from choice of entity, to conducting ongoing operations, to the correct way to change or restructure existing C corporations, S corporations and other entities. The course will also examine the best way to structure a sale of a particular business, based on both the form of legal entity and on the specific facts in a case. For example, the course will compare a sale of stock to a sale of assets; will compare a sale for cash to a tax free transaction or part-cash, part-stock transaction; and compare the differences between a sale with immediate payment versus a possible installment sale. Prerequisites: Federal Income Taxation I and Federal Income Taxation II.
• LAW TX 921: RICs, REITs,and REMICs
  An overview of the federal income taxation of passthrough entities such as REITs, RICs, and REMICs. The taxation of partnerships and S corporations will also be examined to establish points of comparison. Topics include the integration of the federal corporate and individual income tax, and the various methods through which integration can be achieved. Prerequisites: Introduction to Corporate Tax and Introduction to Partnership Tax. Notes: Limited enrollment. Final paper.
• LAW TX 922: Tax Policy (Seminar)
  This seminar will examine criteria used to make administrative and legislative choices in taxation: equity, efficiency, administrability and simplicity. As a particular focus, we will study some of the connections between a tax system and spending programs. (Offered less than annually) Prerequisite: Federal Income Taxation I.
• LAW TX 924: Corporate Reorganizations
  Income tax considerations relating to corporate tax free reorganizations including: review of the requirements for tax free treatment of acquisitive and time permitting divisive reorganizations; review of the tax treatment to all relevant parties to the transaction; consideration of special problems associated with certain types of reorganizations. Prerequisite: Introduction to Corporate Tax. Note: Limited enrollment.
• LAW TX 925: Executive Compensation
  Study of the tax and ERISA aspects of various forms of executive compensation. Topics include traditional fringe benefits and deferred compensation arrangements, incentive and non-qualified stock option and restricted stock plans, stock appreciation rights, excess benefit arrangements, rabbi trusts, golden parachute agreements, split-dollar insurance arrangements, and special issues for tax-exempt organizations.
• LAW TX 927: International Tax III- Advanced International Tax Issues (Seminar)
  This course will be of interest to those students who have decided that they likely will practice in the field of international taxation or who have a strong intellectual interest in this subject matter. The course will address in considerable detail a number of advanced and highly technical subjects, including: international acquisitions; review of rules applicable to reorganizations and particularly the application of section 367(a); the use of section 338 in international transactions; an overview of transfer pricing rules in regulations under section 482, with emphasis on pricing for services and intangibles; international tax issues associated with intangibles, including ownership of IP, licensing arrangements, qualified cost-sharing arrangements, and section 367(d); advanced use of hybrid entities in international structures; section 304 and its implication in international transactions; and section 367(b), emphasizing the surprising rules that are designed to close the back door to avoiding taxation of foreign E&P for CFCs. Depending on time other subjects or significant regulatory developments may be addressed. Prerequisites: International Tax I and International Tax II. Notes: Limited Enrollment. Grade based on a written paper of approximately 25 pages on a topic related to the course as agreed with the professors.

Note that this information may change at any time.

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