ABA Tax Section Law Student Tax Challenge

Catalog description

An alternative to traditional moot court competitions, the Law Student Tax Challenge (LSTC) is organized by the Section¿s Young Lawyers Forum. The LSTC asks two-person teams of students to solve a complex business problem that might arise in everyday tax practice. Teams are initially evaluated on two criteria: a memorandum to a senior partner and a letter to a client explaining the result. Based on the written work product, six teams from the J.D. Division and four teams from the LL.M. Division receive a free trip to the Section¿s Midyear Meeting, where each team presents its submission before a panel of judges consisting of the country¿s top tax practitioners and government officials, including tax court judges. The competition is a great way for law students to showcase their knowledge in a real-world setting and gain valuable exposure to the tax law community. The problem is released in September and the written submissions are due in November. Teams are notified in December if they have been selected to present their papers at the ABA Tax Section Midyear meeting which happens at the end of January or beginning of February.