William H. Lyons (Nebraska)
- B.A. 1969, Colby College
- J.D. 1973, Boston College
I joined the faculty of the University of Nebraska College of Law in 1981. My path to law school teaching was somewhat different than the traditional path of working for a large firm in a large metropolitan area for a few years with, perhaps, an additional year or two as a judicial clerk. I practiced in Bangor, Maine with the law firm of Vafiades, Brountas & Kominsky, where I was one of seven lawyers. I stayed at the firm for eight years, the last two years as a partner. I owe a great debt to my former partner, Nick Brountas, a wonderful mentor who should have been a law school professor.
During the 1987-88 academic year, I worked as a Professor-in-Residence to the Office of the Chief Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service in Washington, D.C. That year was a mountain top experience, providing insights, opportunities, and friendships that continue to this day. I’m sad that the Professor-in-Residence program ended because it was very valuable both for the participants and the IRS.
It was during my year in the Chief Counsel’s Office that I first became interested in bankruptcy taxation, which is now the focus of much of my professional work. Professor Fran Hill and I are writing a textbook on bankruptcy taxation for LexisNexis’s new Graduate Tax Series, and I’ve written and spoken on that subject regularly.
Twice I’ve had the opportunity to teach in the tax LL.M. program at the University of Leiden’s International Tax Center in Holland. The program offers a three-part introduction to the U.S. income tax system each year. I’ve taught the segment on U.S. individual income taxation. Although I teach the classes in English, which is a second or third language for most of the students, the students are engaged and class discussions are wonderful.
Currently, I teach Individual Income Taxation, Partnership Taxation, Estate Planning, and Wills & Trusts. In past years I have taught Business Planning, Corporate Taxation, Estate Planning Problems, Legal Research and Writing, Tax Policy, and Tax Policy Seminar.
I’m a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel and am serving my second three year term as a Regent of ACTC. I am a member of the A Tax Section, Chair of the Teaching Taxation Committee’s Subcommittee on Important Developments, a past Chair of the Tax Section’s Committee on Individual Income Taxation, and am active in the Committees on Bankruptcy & Workouts, Low Income Taxpayers, and Teaching Taxation. From 1982 through 1985 I was an articles editor for The Tax Lawyer. I also served as Co-Vice Chair of that Section’s I.R.C. Section 108 Real Estate and Partnership Task Force. I’m the faculty advisor to the College of Law’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program. I also supervise the tax cases in our Civil Clinical Program.
One of my non-professional interests is amateur radio, sometimes called “ham radio.” My current call sign, assigned by the FCC, is KCØHMJ. I hold an Extra Class license, which is the highest level amateur radio license. There are at least two other tax professors who have amateur radio licenses. I’d love to meet other tax professors who either hold amateur radio licenses or are interested in amateur radio.
My other nonprofessional interests are bicycle touring, science fiction, historical geology, the current Boston American League Baseball Club and the former Boston National League Baseball Club. I’m a member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). I’ve compiled materials on minor league baseball in Lincoln, Nebraska and my home town of Fitchburg, Massachusetts and am writing a history of baseball in Fitchburg.
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