THE BOTTOM LINE
Second Annual Transactional Law Competition
A Publication of the Tax and Transactional Law Society
O
n October 17-18, the Tax and Transactional Law
Society and the Board of Advocates hosted the
second annual Transactional Law Competition, sponsored by Lewis, Rice & Fingersh, at the law school.
first year students with liberal arts degrees, impressed
the judges with their ability to analyze a complex corporate deal without the benefit of having had any tax or
business classes in law school. (First and second place
teams pictured below from left to right.) Judges agreed
This year’s case study featured an asset acquisition pro- that the winning team’s analysis was sophisticated and
posal involving a 338(h)(10) election issue, state tax that their presentation was nearly flawless.
transfer issues, and an international withholding twist.
Specifically, the students were asked to act as attorneys As the only non-litigation competition at the law school,
for a corporate client looking to expand into the poultry the TTLS Transactional Law Competition is a phenomebusiness by purchasing an Illinois corporation partially nal opportunity for students to get hands-on experience
owned by a foreign parent company.
and realistic exposure to what it is like to practice transactional law. It also gives students a chance to network
For two weeks prior to the competition, 18 students with the judging attorneys during a reception hosted at
spent countless hours researching and preparing presen- the law school after the preliminary rounds.
tations to present before panels of transactional attorneys. Four teams advanced to the semi-finals, and the With glowing feedback from the students and judges
winning team consisted of Ryan Ulrich (1L), Cory Lee this year, and thanks to your continued support and gen(3L), and Angela Kennedy (2L). The second place team, erosity, we look forward to continuing to train students
Sarah Crawford, Bekah Keller, and Michael Donnell, all to become the best lawyers that they can be.
This Issue
Letter from the President……...p.1
Alumni Spotlight……………...p.2
St. Louis Tax Court Trip……...p.2
IRS VITA Program………..….p.3
2nd Annual Transactional
Competition…………..…….…p.4
Executive Board
President:
Daniel Schuenemeyer
Vice President:
John Whiteman
Secretary:
Desiree Shay
Treasurer:
Jennifer Salisbury
Competition Directors:
Yelena Bosovik
Kristina Youmaran
Faculty Advisors:
TTLS NEWSLETTER ISSUE 02
Michelle Cecil
David English
Carol Newman
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I
Letter from the President
am honored to lead the Tax and Transactional Law Society executive team for the
2014-15 school year. This year is dedicated
to building on the past two years’ momentum
and establishing a solid foundation for the organization’s future.
This year has already been an exciting year for
the organization, and, as they say, “the best is
yet to come.” This semester we are traveling to
St. Louis and Kansas City for visits to the Tax
Court, accounting firms, law firms, and corporations, culminating in receptions hosted by
Lewis Rice and Husch Blackwell. We plan to
represent the law school at collegiate business
student organization conferences to recruit
more students with business backgrounds to
the law school. Finally, we have five students
who will be giving up their spring break to do
estate planning for low-income individuals in
rural Missouri.
As you can see, now is the time to be involved
in this great organization.
This executive team’s first action was to adopt a
name change from the Tax Law Society to the
Tax and Transactional Law Society. Our goal
was to broaden our base of students and recognize the inter-relatedness of tax and transactional law. Additionally, this summer, we received
our tax exemption letter from the Internal Revenue Service. This was an important step for the
organization as we strive to develop a five-toten-year plan that establishes the University of
Missouri School of Law as a leader in tax and Sincerely,
transactional law.
Daniel Schuenemeyer
In October we hosted the Second Annual Transactional Law Competition, sponsored by Lewis,
Rice & Fingersh. We had an amazing competition, which is detailed on page four of this
newsletter. I hope to announce soon that we
have secured a major sponsor for the competition for the next five years!
This semester has also included planning for
our Volunteer Income Taxpayer Assistance program. We have grown the program tremendously from 18 law student volunteers last year to
33 this year, and we will host a site at the Law
School.
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TTLS Goes to Court
Last Spring Professor Cecil took a
group of about 16 students to Saint
Louis for the day to observe the
Tax Court in action. Because the
Court sits in Saint Louis and Kansas City only a few times a year,
this was a unique experience for the
students to observe careers with the
IRS and the Tax Court.
Before the day’s docket started, the
group received an overview of the
day’s cases from the Court’s clerk,
Sarah Silfies Finken. After the Service’s defense attorneys arrived and
set up, students were able to spend
some time talking with them about
their jobs and what they do when
they are not in court.
During the lunch break Judge Elizabeth Paris spoke to the students
and gave a brief overview of the
Tax Court, including how the Court
is structured, where it gets its jurisdiction, what its purpose is, when it
travels, why it was created, and
who can bring claims before it.
The day ended with a reception for
the students hosted by Capes,
Sokol, Goodman, & Sarachan. In
addition, local Mizzou law alumni
were invited to the reception, creating a great networking opportunity
for the students.
The trip was a tremendous success,
and the students had a great learning experience. Because the trip
went so well, TTLS is planning another trip this spring to Kansas City
on March 3 to watch a trial before
the Tax Court.
Alumni
Spotlight:
Tax & Transactional Law Society
Gives Back
L
ast year, Mizzou students had the
opportunity to participate in the
IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. Through VITA, thousands of taxpayers are able to
have their tax returns prepared by educated and trained tax-preparers at no
cost. 2014 marked the first year that
Mizzou law students participated in VITA. In doing so, they provided a much
needed service to the local community.
Gary Tappana
Vice President, Taxes
Anheuser-Busch—St. Louis
G
ary Tappana, BSPA 1981 & JD
1984, began his career as a tax
professional at Coopers &
Lybrand, now Pricewaterhouse Coopers. Tappana joined Anheuser-Busch in
1987, gaining broad experience in both
tax and public affairs. He worked seven
years in public affairs for AnheuserBusch in policy development and issue
advocacy, including as Director of National Affairs in Washington, DC. A
twenty year plus tax veteran, Tappana is
currently Vice President, Taxes, for A-B.
“Gary is the quintessential AnheuserBusch guy,” added Jeff Comotto, a friend
and former A-B colleague. “While working in DC, you could sometimes find
Gary at the Capital Grille promoting the
A-B motto – Making Friends is Our Business,” said Comotto.
on the Board of Advocates, was Director
of the First Year Moot Court Program,
was named to the Order of Barristers, and
received the Howard Prize for Excellence
in Appellate Advocacy. He is a graduate
of the Executive MBA program from
Washington University in St. Louis with
academic honors, serving as a class graduation speaker.
A native Missourian and a St. Louis resident for more than twenty-five years,
Tappana is married to Mizzou graduate
Kim (Held) Tappana (1981) with three
children: Lauren, a giving trip specialist
with TOMS Shoes in Los Angeles, Tiger
business school graduate, Daniel, an inGary currently serves on the Executive
tern with the LA Dodgers, and Tiger grad
Board and as Secretary/Treasurer of the
-to-be Alli, a junior in Mizzou’s Early
Organization for International Investment,
Childhood Education program.
a Washington-based trade association representing companies with global head- “Gary is everyone’s friend; he has no enequarters. He also serves as a board mem- mies and holds no grudges. Gary is very
ber of St. Louis Equity Fund and as a diplomatic and convincing when expressmember of the Missouri Chamber of ing his opinions. People listen to Gary,”
Commerce Tax Council and Associated stated Comotto.
Industries of Missouri’s Tax Committee.
Gary has served as a senior high youth
An attorney and CPA, Tappana received leader at his church – leading mission
both his bachelor of science in public ad- trips to West Virginia, Oklahoma and
ministration and his juris doctorate from Guatemala – and as a long time youth
the University of Missouri – Columbia. baseball and softball coach. You can regBefore attending law school, Gary ularly find Gary at Faurot Field on footworked as a paid political campaign staff- ball Saturdays or at Busch Stadium siper for now-U.S. Senator Roy Blunt. While ping on the sponsor’s best products durat Mizzou Law School, Tappana served ing a Cardinals game.
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VITA gives students the opportunity to
apply the concepts that they learn in
their tax courses to real world situations.
For example, because many of the returns are prepared for members of the
campus community, a number of the
taxpayers qualify for higher education
tax credits, one of the many topics covered in Basic Tax.
In addition, volunteering in VITA helps
students see the Tax Code in action. As
the students prepare returns, they are
able to see how the Code directly impacts the individual taxpayer’s return,
which offers a great hands-on learning
experience for students.
In addition to the practical application of
the Tax Code, volunteers had numerous
opportunities to interact with real-life
clients, which allowed them to develop
client counseling and interviewing skills
that will be very useful throughout their
careers. Students were also able to give
some clarification to clients regarding
the content of their returns through an
explanation of basic concepts. On average VITA volunteers prepared returns
for 3-7 clients each week.
In February of this year, the law school
began hosting its own VITA site for the
first time. The site is largely student
run, and takes place inside the law library computer lab. The site has 16 student volunteers, and 3L Cory Lee serves
as the law school site coordinator. In
addition to the volunteers at the law
school, there will be 17 other students
volunteering at various locations on
campus.
The VITA program allows participating
students the opportunity to earn pro bono hours, which can be credited toward
earning a Pro Bono Certificate from the
law school. Last year TTLS members
alone contributed to more than half of
the law school’s total logged pro bono
hours. This year TTLS students will account for close to 2,000 pro bono hours
through the VITA program alone and, in
doing so, will develop skills that will
take them far beyond tax preparation.
Donor Spotlight
TTLS would like to express our
sincere gratitude to our generous
donors. Through their support we
are able to continue to grow as an
organization, and host more educational events.
Ryan Boatright
Shaina Boatright
John Carnahan
Chinnery Evans &
Nail
Carly Duvall
Mark Godfrey
Katie Lanius
Jaime Mendez
Nicholas Mirkay
Lewis, Rice &
Fingersh
Michael Schmid
Ryan Tichenor
Jen Winebright
TTLS Upcoming Events
Mar. 3: Kansas City Tax Cour t
Site Visit & Reception (Husch
In the Summer of 2013 the Tax and Transactional Law Society hosted a trip to Chi- Blackwell)
cago for students interested in working in the Windy City. The first night students Mar. 23-25: Spr ing Br eak Pr o
attended a networking event at Thompson Coburn. Students were then treated to a Bono Trip
sunset architectural cruise on the Chicago River. The next day students attended site
Apr. 21: Panel on The Tax and
visits at numerous firms, including Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Grant Thornton,
Business Issues Involved in InThomas Coburn, and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. The final day investing in Real Estate at 5pm
cluded interviews at dozens of firms. The trip culminated in a networking reception
hosted by Doug and Kelly McHoney.
The Great Chicago Trip
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