The post Arkansas Official Accused of Tampering with Bar Exam Results appeared first on TaxProf Blog.

     

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The post Department of Education opens investigation into UC Berkeley Black, Latine resource centers and scholarships appeared first on TaxProf Blog.

      

The post Two Former Law Deans Elected Governor appeared first on TaxProf Blog.

      

The 2026-2027 Law Student Tax Challenge (LSTC) is an annual competition sponsored by the Young Lawyers Division of the Tax Section. Students compete in teams of two in either the J.D. or LL.M. division to draft a memorandum and client letter analyzing a complex tax problem. The top six (6) J.D. teams and the top four (4) LL.M. teams advance to the oral competition round, where they present their analyses before a panel of 3-5 judges who will act as “senior partners” or “clients”. The competition is held annually in-person at the Tax Section’s Midyear Meeting.

Available Volunteer Positions include written round judges, oral round judging chairs, day of chairs, oral round judges, and oral round timers. To volunteer, complete the form.

The post ABA Tax Section: Seeking Volunteer Judges for The Law Student Tax Challenge appeared first on TaxProf Blog.

     

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The IRS appeals office’s programs for alternative ways to settle tax disputes continue to grow, the head of the office said Tuesday.

Alternative dispute resolution programs, which help taxpayers resolve disputes without long, costly litigation, are “an area where we see the need to add to our capacity,” said David Borden, chief of the IRS Independent Office of Appeals.

The office is “very pleased” with the number of taxpayers entering its fast-track program, and has seen a “very significant increase” in requests for post-appeals mediation, Borden said. The office has trained about 75 additional appeals officers to work on mediation programs, and has sought to increase the complexity of issues that the fast-track program can deal with, said Borden, who spoke at a conference in Palo Alto, Calif., sponsored by San Jose State University and the Tax Executives Institute. Read more…

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• Christopher H. Hanna (Southern Methodist University – Dedman School of Law), A New View of Taxation
• Klaus Gottlieb (Monterey College of Law), Choosing Between a CRAT and a CRUT – An Analytical Comparison of Charitable Deductions and Payment Rights
• Tolkin Kholbazarov (University of World Economy and Diplomacy – Faculty of International Law), From Formal Activity Classification to a Substantive Business Model: Qualification of Venture Funds and Accelerators Under the Special Legal Regime for It Sector Participants in Uzbekistan
• Brian D. Galle (UC Berkeley School of Law), David Gamage (University of Missouri School of Law), and Darien Shanske (University of California, Davis – School of Law), Proposition 40: The 2026 Billionaire Tax Act Section-by-Section Summary
• Eldar Hasanov (Independent Researcher), When Homes become Tax Havens: Comparing Principal Residence Taxation in Canada and the United States
• Reuven S. Avi-Yonah (University of Michigan Law School) and Doron Narotzki (University of Akron – The George W. Daverio School of Accountancy), When does Tax Reform Happen?
• Conor Clarke () and Noah Hertz Marks (University of North Carolina School of Law), Tax Exceptionalism After Loper Bright

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For many years, I let my students know that I was willing to review as many practice exam answers as any student was willing to write and submit to me. I did require them to meet with me to hear my thoughts as I reviewed their answer, something I learned from Professor Mark Wojcik of the University of Illinois Chicago, because I found that they understood my comments better when they could ask questions and I could explain my comments. Nevertheless, I have discontinued my practice of reviewing individual student-initiated practice exams.

In my recent post on discontinuing grade bumps, I explained that I believed that my practice of giving grade bumps was rewarding privilege or, at least, self confidence. In other words, the students who were most significantly contributing to class discussions were students who were comfortable being wrong in front of their peers. 

I decided to discontinue reviewing student-initiated practice exams when I realized that the same privilege preferencing may be going on in terms of which students feel comfortable asking me to review their practice exams. 

Of course, because I believe frequent practice and feedback is the most critical prerequisite to learning the analytical skills I teach, I am not willing to abandon practice exams. Consequently, I have two new practices. First, I integrate bar exam-style multiple choice questions in every class session I teach. I pass out cards that have A, B, C, and D on them, and I ask my students to hold up an answer to each question, sometimes as a group and sometimes as individuals, to each question. Second, and, at the end of each unit (e.g., formation, contract defenses, parol evidence rule), I require students, as part of their class preparation, to answer in writing former exam questions that test issues in the doctrinal area. I devote class time to reviewing the correct analysis of the problem, sometimes by providing a model answer, sometimes by having students review a peer’s answer using a rubric or model answer, and, occasionally, by structuring an oral argument. In many instances, I have my students turn in their answers, but I do not do a full review. Finally, before my midterms and finals, I host optional review sessions in which I review additional past exam questions. As a result of these practices, in my contracts class for example, my students have a chance to answer roughly 30 exam-like multiple-choice questions and to complete and see model answers for roughly 15 former essay exam questions.

I do still meet with any student who would like me to review their midterms and coach them on performing better in my class. As readers of my teaching tidbit on supporting students who are disappointed by their midterm grades know, however, in preparation for my meeting with them, each student must read the 3-5 highest scoring answers to the midterm, review their own individual scoresheet and my comments on it, review my handout on common student errors, and come to the meeting with a plan to improve their grade in my class.

I believe the case is stronger to eliminate grade bumps, and I am still thinking through my choice not to review student-initiated practice exams upon request in addition to all the practice exams I do as part of my classes. I welcome your thoughts on whether I should resume reviewing student-initiated practice exams.

The post Teaching Tidbit of the Week: Review Student-Initiated Practice Exams Upon Request? appeared first on TaxProf Blog.

     

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Policymakers keep adding groups to the list of loophole beneficiaries: incumbent homeowners, venture capital and private equity partners, everywhere millionaires, heirs and, in the case of Prop 40, everyone worth less than $1 billion. At the other end of the spectrum, tipped workers, contractors, overtime workers and older people now benefit from additional tax exclusions. If everyone feels that someone else is getting a better tax deal, it undermines faith in the entire system and makes everyone more resentful about participating.

For both these reasons and more, if California voters are looking for large reservoirs of undertaxed wealth, a much better, bigger target lies right beneath their feet.

The original sin underlying California’s tax structure is Prop 13, the 1978 law that rewrote the rules of property ownership. Getting rid of it would be a more efficient and durable way to make the rich pay their fair share.

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Overall passage rates for the July 2026 bar exam fell in 37 states compared with a year earlier, according to the National Conference of Bar Examiners.

As of Tuesday, the NCBE’s tally shows only four of the 31 jurisdictions that used the legacy Uniform Bar Exam and have released their results reported a better pass rate than July 2025, while one state had the same rate. There are nine states classified as non-UBE that use independent designs for their exam, and seven of those states saw drops in pass rates this year; one state held steady, and another has not reported results. Of the six states offering the new NextGen Uniform Bar Exam, four saw increased bar pass rates.

In California, less than half the candidates—48.3%—passed the bar in July, a drop from 54.8% last year. That’s the lowest pass rate to date of any U.S. jurisdiction that has reported results.

Julianne Hill, Bar Pass Rates Drop in 37 States, ABA Journal, November 3, 2026; see also Karen Sloan, Lawyer Bar Exam Pass Rates Plummet in California, Other Large States, Reuters, November 2, 2026; Ma Fatima, Bar Exam Pass Rates Plunge in California and Major States, JD Journal, November 3, 2026; Kathryn Rubino, Bar Exam Pass Rates Tanked This Summer, And Not Just In California, Above The Law, November 2, 2026.

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