tax Archives - Memos and Mirth

Launching into the semester

January 17, 2018

The interior courtyard of the National Building Museum in Washington D.C.

The second (and last) semester of my Georgetown tax LL.M. program is already underway.

After slogging my way through winter break, starting the semester feels like reaching the end of one of those airport moving walkways before you’re ready.

My classmates and I are beginning the semester in a distracted state — most of us are already in first-and-second round interviews for after-graduation jobs. While this is a wonderful position for us to be in, it is very time-consuming to prep for interviews (and fret about callbacks.)

LLM / Washington DC

Stumbling out of Finals Season

December 14, 2017

One of the strangest things about taking the Texas bar exam this summer was that we couldn’t have any liquid whatsoever in the exam room. This was fine for the first half-day, but felt like a strangely cruel rule during the following 8-hour days of the exam.

No coffee?
Not even water?
Wasn’t this bad enough?

On the second day of the exam, a test-taker sitting next to me explained the lore around the “no beverages” rule: apparently one year someone spilled a drink on their neighbor’s computer, frying it, and condemning that student to hand-writing the rest of the exam. I was mortified but quickly forgot about that anecdote when we restarted the test.

LLM

The 38th Annual NASBTS Conference

November 5, 2017

I recently attended the 38th Annual Conference of the National Association of State Bar Tax Sections (NASBTS) at Alston & Bird LLP in downtown Washington D.C.

About 20-30 states were represented at this year’s NASBTS conference, and it was fascinating meeting tax practitioners from across the country, including Minnesota, Texas, and Florida.

Dallas / Tax

Taxing

February 3, 2016

It’s Friday night and instead of sipping on a cocktail at happy hour, I am sifting through tax regulations.

My volunteer gig for this spring is with the Dallas Community Tax Centers – a non-profit which provides free tax preparation services to low and moderate income individuals.

I worked with a similar VITA program in Minneapolis.

Taking advanced tax law classes at night after work was very draining. It made me rethink my perennial flirtation with getting a second degree.

Life / Oak Lawn / Tax

Still Festive

January 5, 2016

Christmas lights in Perry Heights, Dallas, Texas

The holidays are over, but the lights are still up.

The busiest part of my winter is always after the holiday season ends – my clients are ready to start ambitious projects, we have an all-team meeting in Minnesota this coming February, and tax season is rearing its ugly head.

I’m volunteering with a community tax center again this year. That means that I am joining a hoard of accountants to provide free tax services to low-and-moderate income individuals in the Dallas area.

3L Spring Summaries / HTC EVO 4G pictures / Law School / Tax / Thomson Reuters

Best Week Ever 2: The Brat

January 31, 2011

This sums up my week:

3L Spring Summaries / dogs / HTC EVO 4G pictures / Law School – 3L / Life / Tax

Best Week Ever 1: Cup Runneth Over

January 23, 2011

I put in a lot of commuting miles this week.

My mornings usually begin at 8 a.m. in a St. Paul courthouse because I clerk at the St. Paul Public Defender’s office. I spend my time observing clerks and attorneys interview clients and prepare for bail hearings because my student certification has not gone through yet.

Tax

The Fledgling Tax Preparer

January 18, 2011

It’s 8:40pm. I am in a classroom full of accountants and professional tax preparers. An IRS agent is two seats down.

2L Spring Finals

Soiled Diaper (The International Tax Law exam)

May 10, 2010

Man in office by Bethany Legg via Unsplash

I did it – I took my 8-hour international tax law exam today! BAM-chickawow-wow!

I can’t talk too much about the exam (lest my Dean unleashes the Kraken) but I can say three things:

The exam was 8-hours of hot messitude.
I worked hard for that C-, and
I am giving up on being a Tax Lawyer or a Westlaw attorney and searching craigslist for post-graduation employment as a barback. I am cute, peppy, and will work on the cheap!

I took my exam at the nearby undergrad library because apparently law students need “special permission from the dean” to take law school exams in the law school library’s study rooms.

2L Fall / 2L Fall Summaries / dogs / Joel / video

Bitch not (BWE 6 & 7)

October 26, 2009

I wanted to write that my love affair with law school finally wore off.
I also wanted to write about how bored and annoyed I have been these past two weeks.

Instead of writing a whiny, bitchy post, I went on my nightly run. I am training for a marathon, and running is an excellent way to procrastinate writing whiny posts and studying for tax midterms.

During my run, I realized that I am only irritable in my easy classes. The problem I have with easy classes is the curve. Easy classes mean arbitrary grading because everyone understands the material. The difference between an A and a C is usually something obscure or even the format of the answer (instead of the content.)

There’s nothing I can really do about this besides get over it. And yes, I’m totally singing “HEY! Get-get-get-get over it!”

That’s not a bad law school motto actually…

A lot happened in weeks 6 and 7. It snowed several times, but the snow didn’t stick around. I went to my first hockey game (videos here!), rediscovered the Mississippi River, set off a perfume bomb, had a mouse/pig problem, and ran into Mel again…

Here is a 1 minute video of the snow, Joel and Harley, and St. Anthony Falls:

I think I am going to give up studying for my tax midterm and go to bed. I’m to the point where I am just confusing myself. Capital gain? What? Who?

Weekly summaries from this semester:

By the way, I’ve gotten over the weather. A 40 degree mist isn’t that bad when you’re running up hills.

2L Fall / 2L Fall Summaries / Law School / Life

BWE: 2 & 3: Dating, School, balls in the air.

September 28, 2009

New readers: BWE (Best Week Ever) is a “week in review” post series, and no, this blog hasn’t gone NC-17: the title is a juggling reference.

The semester has definitely started. Week #2 was marked by my extremely off-kilter sleep schedule. I woke up every day between 2 and 4 a.m., read, went to class, and wasted my afternoons in a zombie-like state. This cycle was self-reinforcing and pretty awful.

That week I also started writing for The Shark, and was signed on as the University of Minnesota examiner for Examiner.com. I think this will be the extent of my online writing commitments.

I finally normalized my sleep schedule in week 3, and also made a commitment to walk Harley around a lake every day. I was good about keeping my promise…even if it involved dragging a very confused bulmastiff at a speed-walking pace 30 minutes before class.

And classes? They fit into three categories:

Light Reading: (Employment Law and Modern Real Estate.) These subjects are easy after taking Property and spending my summer with ERISA and Worker’s Comp claims.
Judicial WTF: (Conflicts and Constitutional Law II.) I decided that I have been over thinking both of these courses. The cases do not make sense because the judges are making stuff up to reach what they think it is right result (the dissents say as much). I have accepted this and I am going to quit trying to rationalize the opinions and just go with the arbitrary-as-heck frameworks.
And then there’s Tax. Oh my goodness. I like all of my classes this semester, but Tax is probably my favorite. The only problem is that there is so much information. Sure, there’s Glenshaw, Glenshaw, Glenshaw… but my classmates and I are becoming alarmed by the sheer amount of content (cases, regulatory rulings, codes…) covered in class. I need to stay on top of outlining this course or else I am royally screwed.

My 17-credit class schedule is pretty front-loaded, which means that I spend the end of the week and some of the weekend at work. I really enjoy my job and hope to stay on after graduation…this will involve a combination of staying productive, luck (ie, they need to have an opening), and keeping the RuPaul moments to a minimum.

The past two weekends also involved a lot of hanging out. For some reason my social life has really kicked off this semester, and so has my dating life.

I generally don’t write about dating because a lot of the guys read this blog (hi!), but I think it’s fair to say that the guys I’m running into generally fit into three categories:

The E-Ballers: These are the guys who are all about texting, messaging, and calling – what’s up cutie? – but then when we hang out in person, they act completely nonchalant and uninterested.
The MIA: Unlike the E-Ballers, these guys are impossible to communicate with via text or messaging. Somehow, after one-line responses and neglect, we hang out and they randomly channel Natasha Bedingfield. Maybe I’m only interesting in person?
Bedingfields: These guys are uber-aggressive, all flattery with no tact. These are the guys lighting up my phone with texts, and in person they say things like, “You are the perfect guy for me.” …which, if I have only known you for a week really translates to “Hello, my name is crazy. RUN.”

And run I shall. An aggressive guy is nice, but please, don’t propose to me if you can’t remember my last name or what city I’m from. Ugh. We’ll see how things play out this week. Maybe someone will break the trend?

Please?

2L Fall / Law School / Law School – 2L / on the record

OTR: Tax, Modern Real Estate

September 18, 2009

The estate tax expires in 2010.

Professor A: “Next year is the year to throw momma from the train!”

Pretend to be interested:

Professor A: “Did you see anything of interest in the reading?”
Jill: “I loathe to say that I didn’t…”
Professor A: “That is well advised!”

Why you should give notice to the home sellers, even if they have a lock box:

Professor E: “My husband was in his underwear, heard some noises downstairs, and snuck stealthily down the stairs with a baseball bat…and almost beat the buyers!”