General Courses

Study of the tax and opportunities arising in bankruptcy and nonbankruptcy workouts of individuals, partnerships, and corporations. Topics include cancellation of indebtedness income from the reduction or renegotiation of debt, gain or loss recognition on foreclosures and similar property transfers, restrictions on net operating loss carryovers, special tax consequences of the restructuring of partnership debt and equity, the taxation of the bankruptcy estate and its owners and creditors, and trust fund tax penalties on officers, directors, and other individuals. Prerequisites or corequisites: Introduction to Corporate Tax and Partnership Tax I.

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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.

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SPRG 2026: LAW TX 914 A1, Jan 12th to May 8th 2026

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.

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SPRG 2026: LAW TX 913 A1, Jan 12th to Apr 22nd 2026
SPRG 2026: LAW TX 913 OL, Jan 12th to Apr 22nd 2026

Intellectual property - from sophisticated aerospace technology to computer software and web applications to music and video rights - is one of the most important, challenging, and sophisticated areas of modern commerce. However, because the IP revolution has occurred in only the last 25 years, many of the traditional principles of income taxation are not easily applied to IP assets. This course will explore the tax aspects of creating intellectual property, buying intellectual property, exploiting IP through leases and licenses, and strategies for selling valuable IP rights with the best tax results. The course will also explore important international tax issues, including the so called "migration" of IP offshore, cost-sharing arrangements, and other mechanisms that seek to "locate" IP and the associated tax liabilities in tax-favorable jurisdictions. The course will teach the tax differences between copyrighting and patenting a software program, the right and wrong ways to license and sell a trademark, and the mechanisms for turning a "license" into a "sale" and thereby converting ordinary income into capitol gains.

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FALL 2025: LAW TX 955 A1, Sep 2nd to Dec 19th 2025
FALL 2025: LAW TX 955 OL, Sep 2nd to Dec 19th 2025

This seminar will examine the structural aspects of a general revenue system, with particular attention to the implications of choosing among the limited range of options for financing the Federal government in the United States. The seminar will include an introduction to the academic, legislative, and judicial history bearing on and leading to the current Federal tax system. Particular attention will be paid to taxation of income from property, and to the related matter of the implications of choices about property income taxation for the distributional burden of the tax system and the degree of inequality. PREREQUISITE: Introduction to Federal Income Taxation. RECOMMENDED: Corporate Finance. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This class may be used to satisfy the requirement. ** A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar, or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, will be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who waitlist for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.

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FALL 2025: LAW JD 799 A1, Sep 2nd to Dec 19th 2025

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.

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FALL 2025: LAW TX 907 A1, Sep 2nd to Dec 19th 2025
FALL 2025: LAW TX 907 OL, Sep 2nd to Dec 19th 2025
SPRG 2026: LAW TX 907 A1, Jan 12th to Apr 22nd 2026
SPRG 2026: LAW TX 907 OL, Jan 12th to Apr 22nd 2026

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 prior or subsequent to that class or on a stand alone basis. Pre or Co-requisite: Federal Income Taxation I and II.

Online section not open to JD students.

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FALL 2025: LAW TX 917 A1, Sep 2nd to Dec 19th 2025
FALL 2025: LAW TX 917 OL, Sep 2nd to Dec 19th 2025

Most students will end up practicing transactional law which presents unique legal research challenges. Students will learn to navigate the statutory and regulatory frameworks of transactional areas of the law like tax, banking, securities and other practice areas. They will research agency guidance, use specialized practice materials and search for filings and company information, among other research tasks. Legal information and technologies in these area are constantly changing and new lawyers should be familiar with the most recent research techniques and tools. Classes will combine instruction and hands-on exercises using major print, electronic, and web based resources for securities law research. Students will be required to complete several assignments using electronic and print resources and put together a final client presentation on a transaction. NOTES: This course counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement.

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SPRG 2026: LAW JD 718 A1, Jan 12th to Apr 22nd 2026