This course is devoted to a detailed examination of judicial authorities. The discussion includes a description of each court, an explanation of the relative precedent value of each court, and guides for locating such authorities.
Publication Date: May 2020
Topics Covered
- The Court's Authority
- The U.S. Tax Court
- The U.S. District Court
- The U.S. Court of Federal Claims
- The Courts of Appeal
- The U.S. Supreme Court
- Print Service References
- Locating and Citing Judicial Authority
- Reading and Assessing Court Opinions
- Factors to Consider in Choosing a Court
Learning Objectives
- Explain the relationship between the federal courts that decide tax cases
- Compare and contrast the entry level courts and understand when each court might be chosen to begin litigation
- Describe the proper citation for each court
- Identify the official reporter for a regular tax court case
Level
Basic
Instructional Method
Self-Study
NASBA Field of Study
Taxes (2 hours)
Program Prerequisites
None
Advance Preparation
None
Instructor
Jennifer Kowal
Jennifer Kowal, JD, has been a tax professor and the director of the graduate tax program at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles since 2003. Loyola’s graduate tax program offers an LL.M. in Taxation for attorneys and a Master in Tax Law for non-lawyers. Professor Kowal teaches courses in advanced income taxation, income tax timing issues, corporate taxation, and tax research, among others. Prior to teaching at Loyola, Professor Kowal taught in the International Tax Program at Harvard Law School.
She also practiced law with the firms of Irell & Manella in Los Angeles and Ropes & Gray in Boston, advising clients on the taxation of various business transactions, including cross-border, partnership and corporate structures. Professor Kowal holds a BS in Accounting with distinction from the University of Kansas, and a JD from UCLA School of Law, where she was a member of the Order of the Coif.