There are two certainties in life: death and taxes.
So if you’re looking for job security, tax law is a pretty good route to go. With the sheer volume and intricacy of tax laws, tax attorneys will always find work. Just think of all the taxes you pay: federal, state, county, city, payroll, capital gains, estate, and imports. And those are just domestic taxes. Factor in international tax codes and you have quite a cumbersome (and contradictory) load.
What’s more, regulations are constantly in flux. As a result, tax attorneys must remain vigilant, always weighing the long-term implications, knowing that today’s advantage could morph into tomorrow’s albatross. Do you form a corporation or an LLC? What can be written off or transferred? How can you structure a transaction so your client pays the lowest taxes? Those are the questions that tax attorneys wrestle with every day, toeing the line between loopholes and losses, legitimacy and liability.
As part of its 2015 law school rankings, U.S. News & World Report ranked specialty tracks like tax law. Unlike its overall ranking, which weighs criteria like placement rates, LSAT scores, and assessments from law school deans, tenured faculty, lawyers, and judges, U.S. News calculates its specialty rankings strictly from votes submitted by legal scholars, with each voter able to nominate up to 15 schools. Based on the number of votes cast for particular schools, here is U.S. News’ ranking of the top 10 law schools for tax law:
(See following page for Tipping The Scales’ table of the best programs in tax law)
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