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I did very well in tax classes, but more than that, I found the classes interesting and engaging in a way that my other classes weren’t. I liked the economic aspect of tax classes - understanding how economic equivalents could be drawn up to get different tax results. I also like that there is usually some semblance of right/wrong answers in tax. I found litigation too intellectually dishonest and corporate work boring.
Indicators:
- Do you understand the content?
- Do you like reading through the tax code and regulations to solve difficult questions?
For me, the content just made sense and it was something I became interested in understanding further.
Did you low-key (or maybe even high-key) have fun doing the logic games on the LSAT? Because, IME, there’s a strong correlation between people who like those games and people who like tax law.
You’ll also find that tax, more so than most law school courses, has clear-cut right and wrong answers. Getting to them won’t necessarily be easy, especially if you continue on to more difficult tax classes like partnership or international, but you’ll rarely get points for arguing both sides like you will in ~90% of law school classes.
Firstly: I would never pick a practice area based on grades. I was never the star student in tax but am a mid-career tax lawyer who has taught law school tax courses as an adjunct.
I got into tax because I loved that first Fed income tax course. If you’re a logical-brained and quantitative person you’ll like it. Do numbers, spreadsheets, and financial statements scare you? Then maybe it’s not your thing.
I work as a tax consultant in Sweden. My first pick would actually have been criminal law but I knew I wasnt going to get the grades needed so I had tax law as a backup. Here you need to work at a court if you want to get into criminal law and the national application process is grades only (plus a small bit extra points if you have relevant work experience) and I didnt have the energy to try to get top grades.
I am very happily surprised that Im good at tax law - I came in with a pretty poor self esteem as I had dropped out of physics education before due to not being smart enough. Below is a list of what I have noted is good qualities to have: Accuracy, persistence, efficiency and a good ability to prioritise.
Especially the accuracy is super important. You cannot make guesses or just leave logical gaps and think that its good enough. I have noted in junior staff that the most common shortcomigs are the opposite of these qualities. Doing a sloppy work that is not completed, or being late without giving a heads up and/or prioritizing the wrong stuff (eg a thing with deadline in two weeks before something with a deadline in two days etc) is what puts me as a manager in a difficult situation and I want my life as easy as possible ;) so if I get something that is well investigated and well written in due time, I will be super happy.
It could be worth to notice that tax law is very difficult compared to eg criminal law (at least in my country). There are very often changes, development in court cases etc in tax while other areas of law are more stagnant.
Anecdotally my tax professor was by far my favorite professor in law school. After Fed Income, ask yourself if you are interested in it enough to do a law review article on a tax issue or join a moot court team for tax. I loved my moot tax competition because it was the application of the material to a more tangible problem and that was a deciding factor for me.