June 7, 2010

Tax Competition Winners Announced at Cooley Law School

The Thomas M. Cooley Law School's Graduate Tax Program and the Taxation Section of the State Bar of Michigan honored winners of the seventh annual Thomas M. Cooley Law School Writing Competition at the State Bar of Michigan's 23rd Annual Tax Conference on Thursday, May 20, 2010 at the Rock Financial Showplace in Novi, Michigan.

The competition, open to all Cooley law students, required students to write a short article on current tax laws/changes. Winning students get their entry published in an upcoming edition of the Michigan Tax Lawyer, a journal published three times each year by the Taxation Section.

The winning entries were an article by Nathan Bible on the IRS's announced plans to regulate tax return preparation and how these plans may affect attorneys who prepare returns, and Bethany Gemellaro’s discussion of the Lori Singleton-Clarke case involving the deduction of educational expenses for an MBA and how the analysis in that case might support the deduction of the expenses of obtaining an LL.M. in taxation.

Both Bible and Gemellaro received a trophy and a scholarship to attend the Tax Conference from the State Bar's Taxation Section and received a $100 Cooley bookstore gift card from Cooley’s Graduate Tax Program.

Gina M. Torielli, professor and director of Cooley's Graduate Tax Program, said, "This year all of the entries were impressive and very good, and there was some debate before we could determine both winners. In addition to the State Bar's Taxation's section providing both Bible and Gemellaro with a scholarship to attend the 23rd Annual Tax Conference, the Graduate Tax Program provided a scholarship to the other writing competition participants to attend the Tax Conference."

Torielli also noted, "The tax writing competition is a great opportunity for our students to gain experience in analyzing tax laws and writing scholarly articles for publication. Cooley’s Graduate Tax Program appreciates this opportunity to partner with the State Bar of Michigan. This year’s entries certainly rose to the occasion, writing timely and interesting articles on recent changes to the tax laws, making the decision difficult."

Cooley Law School is the largest law school in the nation.  Founded in 1972, the private, non-profit law school operates J.D. programs across Michigan in Lansing, Auburn Hills, Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor.  Today, Cooley Law School has nearly 14,000 graduates across the nation and worldwide and also offers joint degree and master of laws programs.  Cooley offers enrollment three times a year; in January, May and September.   Additional information about Cooley can be found at cooley.edu.