Professor Malcolm L. Morris (left), associate director of the graduate Tax Law Programs, and Paul Faherty (right) former director, congratulate Amanda Adkison (second from left) and Zac DesAutels (third from left), winners in the Paul Faherty Tax Law Writing Competition.
The John Marshall Law School has awarded first place in its annual Paul Faherty Tax Law Writing Competition to Zac DesAutels, a 2011 JD graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School.
DesAutels’ entry won the grand prize of $5,000. Honorable mention awards of $1,000 each went to Andrew Arnett of the University of Dayton School of Law, and Amanda Adkison, a January 2011 graduate of The John Marshall Law School.
The national competition, in its fifth year, is hosted by John Marshall’s Center for Tax Law and Employee Benefits, where Faherty was a director. The competition is endowed by James Lynch of Winston & Strawn.
DesAutels’ piece, “Virtually Untaxable?: Red Earth LLC v. United States and Congressional Authorization for State Taxation of Internet Sales,” analyzes the constitutionality of a state’s taxation of Internet sales.
Adkison’s entry was “Use Tax Jurisprudence and the Implications of Irwin Industrial Tool Company v. Department of Revenue, a Recent Illinois Decision.” Arnett’s entry was “If Only You Asked Yesterday: A Criticism of the IRS’ Bright Line Time Limit on Seeking §6015(f) Equitable Relief from Joint & Several Tax Liability.”
DesAutels will be taking the Minnesota bar exam in July. He hopes to serve as a judicial clerk, and eventually work for a state or federal government agency. Currently, he is a judicial intern in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in Minneapolis. Previously, he worked as a clerk for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minneapolis and also for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Buffalo, NY.
DesAutels received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Ithaca College in 2006.
Adkison graduated cum laude from John Marshall in January 2011 and received the LLM in taxation with honors in May 2011. She is preparing to take the Illinois bar exam in July. As a law student, she worked at the firms of Mosher and Wagenmaker, David P. Buchanan Law Offices; Waltz, Palmer and Dawson; and was a judicial extern for Judge Charles Winkler of the Circuit Court of Cook County.
Adkison received a bachelor’s degree in human development and family studies from Lee University in Cleveland, Tenn.
Arnett graduated in the top 10 percent of the 2011 class at University of Dayton School of Law, and is currently studying for the Ohio bar exam. While in law school, Arnett worked at the law firm Taft, Stettinius and Hollister, and was a law clerk at the Montgomery County Common Pleas Court in Dayton, Ohio.
Arnett received a bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance and entrepreneurship from the University of Dayton.
The contest committee annually accepts entries from any law school student enrolled at an ABA-accredited institution in the United States. Entries focus on any type of tax law, including a public policy issue, a critique of a leading case or doctrine, a comment on a statute or the need for statutory modification, or a comment on a common law doctrine.
For additional information on the competition or John Marshall’s tax law program, contact Professor Kathryn Kennedy at 7kennedy@jmls.edu.