Ann Murphy (Gonzaga) leads a breakout session today on Federal Income Tax at the conference on Teaching the Law School Curriculum Conference today at Villanova, sponsored by the Gonzaga Institute for Law School Teaching:

Tax is a challenge to teach because many students have a general paranoia about it.  Indeed, many of them really do not want to take the course, but they know it’s good for them (one of my colleagues compared it to spinach).  What I have tried to do is find "the" case that brings the topic into the students’ lap, through either entertaining facts or something to which they otherwise can relate.  For example, when I talk about § 104 of the Code, the section on personal physical inuries, I use a case in which Dennis Rodman tripped over a photographer, then kicked him.  The photographer sued, the parties settled, and then the IRS took issue with the amount of the settlement allocated to "physical" injuries.

Participants in this breakout session are asked to pick a challenging Code section in advance and bring with them "the"case they use to introduce students to it.  During the session, we will discuss why we think each case is a winner.