May 1, 2009

Cooley Tax Competition Winners Named

Thomas M. Cooley Law School’s Graduate Tax Program and the Taxation Section of the State Bar of Michigan were pleased to honor the winners of the 6th Annual Thomas M. Cooley Law School Writing Competition at the State Bar of Michigan’s 22nd Annual Tax Conference held on Wednesday, April 29 in Plymouth.

The competition, open to all Cooley Law School students, required students to write a short article on a federal tax law change contained in the 2009 Economic Stimulus package.

Amanda York Ellis’ entry on the Cancellation of Debt and Catherine McCollum’s entry on the First-Time Homebuyer’s Credit tied for first place. Both Ellis and McCollum 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. Both McCollum and Ellis are working toward their Master of Laws degree in Taxation.

Honorable Mention went to Zoe Drew Genzler for her entry on the Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Credit. Genzler received a scholarship to the Tax Conference from the State Bar’s Tax Section, a trophy, and $50 Cooley bookstore gift card from Cooley’s Graduate Tax Program. Genzler is a student in Cooley’s joint JD/LL.M. program in Taxation, and was the JD student with the best entry.

Gina M. Torielli, professor and director of Cooley’s Graduate Tax Program, said, “This year the entire field of entries varied and was impressive. There was almost no overlap in tax topics covered and the Taxation Section will publish a combined article on The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 tax provisions using parts of most (if not all) of the entries.”

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 country. Founded in 1972, it operates J.D. programs across Michigan in downtown Lansing, Auburn Hills and downtown Grand Rapids.  Today, Cooley Law School has more than 13,000 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 www.cooley.edu.