Faculty Books & Edited Works

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  Nahmanides: Law and Mysticism

  Moshe Halbertal and Daniel Tabak

  A broad, systematic account of one of the most original and creative kabbalists, biblical interpreters, and Talmudic scholars the Jewish tradition has ever produced, Rabbi Moses b. Nahman (1194-1270), known in English as Nahmanides, was the greatest Talmudic scholar of the thirteenth century and one of the deepest and most original biblical interpreters. Beyond his monumental scholastic achievements, Nahmanides was a distinguished kabbalist and mystic, and in his commentary on the Torah he dispensed esoteric kabbalistic teachings that he termed “By Way of Truth.” This broad, systematic account of Nahmanides's thought explores his conception of halakhah and his approach to the central concerns of medieval Jewish thought, including notions of God, history, revelation, and the reasons for the commandments. The relationship between Nahmanides's kabbalah and mysticism and the existential religious drive that nourishes them, as well as the legal and exoteric aspects of his thinking, are at the center of the book's portrayal of Nahmanides as a complex and transformative thinker.

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  Democratic Federalism: The Economics, Politics, and Law of Federal Governance

  Robert P. Inman and Daniel L. Rubinfeld

  An authoritative guide to federal democracy from two respected experts in the field. Around the world, federalism has emerged as the system of choice for nascent republics and established nations alike. In this book, leading scholars and governmental advisers Robert Inman and Daniel Rubinfeld consider the most promising forms of federal governance and the most effective path to enacting federal policies. The result is an essential guide to federalism, its principles, its applications, and its potential to enhance democratic governance. Drawing on the latest work from economics, political science, and law, Inman and Rubinfeld assess different models of federalism and their relative abilities to promote economic efficiency, encourage the participation of citizens, and protect individual liberties. Under the right conditions, the authors argue, a federal democracy—including a national legislature with locally elected representatives—can best achieve these goals. Because a stable union between the national and local governments is key, Inman and Rubinfeld also propose an innovative method for evaluating new federal laws and their possible impact on state and local governments. Finally, to show what the adoption of federalism can mean for citizens, the authors discuss the evolution of governance in the European Union and South Africa’s transition from apartheid to a multiracial democracy. Interdisciplinary in approach, Democratic Federalism brims with applicable policy ideas and comparative case studies of global significance. This book is indispensable for understanding the importance of federal forms of government—both in recent history and, crucially, for future democracies.

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  Public Reason and Courts

  Silje Langvatn, Mattias Kumm, and Wojciech Sadurski

  Public Reason and Courts is an interdisciplinary study of public reason and courts with contributions from leading scholars in legal theory, political philosophy and political science. The book's chapters demonstrate the breadth of ways in which public reason and public justification is currently seen as relevant for adjudicative reasoning and review practices, and includes critical assessments of different ways that the idea of public reason has been applied to courts. It shows that public reason is not just an abstract theoretical concept used by political philosophers, but an idea that spurs new perspectives and normative frameworks also for legal scholars and judges. In particular, the book demonstrates the potential, and the limitations, of the idea of public reason as a source of legitimacy for courts, in a context where many courts face political backlashes and crisis of trust.

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  Reviving Rationality: Saving Cost-Benefit Analysis for the Sake of the Environment and Our Health

  Michael A. Livermore and Richard L. Revesz

  Reviving Rationality: Saving Cost-Benefit Analysis for the Sake of the Environment and Our Health explains how Donald Trump destabilized the decades-long bipartisan consensus that federal agencies must base their decisions on evidence, expertise, and analysis. Administrative agencies are charged by law with protecting values like stable financial markets and clean air. Their decisions often have profound consequences, affecting everything from the safety of workplaces to access to the dream of home ownership. Under the Trump administration, agencies have been hampered in their ability to advance these missions by the conflicting ideological whims of a changing cast of political appointees and overwhelming pressure from well-connected interest groups. Inconvenient evidence has been ignored, experts have been sidelined, and analysis has been used to obscure facts rather than inform the public. The results are grim: incoherent policy, social division, defeats in court, a demoralized federal workforce, and a loss of faith in government’s ability to respond to pressing problems. This experiment in abandoning the norms of good governance has been a disaster. Reviving Rationality explains how and why our government has abandoned rationality in recent years, and why it is so important for future administrations to restore rigorous and even-handed cost-benefit analysis if we are to return to a policymaking approach that effectively tackles the most pressing problems of our era.

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  The United Nations and Human Rights: A Critical Appraisal

  Frédéric Mégret and Philip G. Alston

  The very concept of human rights implies governmental accountability. To ensure that governments are indeed held accountable for their treatment of citizens and others the United Nations has established a wide range of mechanisms to monitor compliance, and to seek to prevent as well as respond to violations. The panoply of implementation measures that the UN has taken since 1945 has resulted in a diverse and complex set of institutional arrangements, the effectiveness of which varies widely. Indeed, there is much doubt as to the effectiveness of much of the UN's human rights efforts but also about what direction it should take. Inevitable instances of politicization and the hostile, or at best ambivalent, attitude of most governments, has at times endangered the fragile progress made on the more technical fronts. At the same time, technical efforts cannot dispense with the complex politics of actualizing the promise of human rights at and through the UN. In addition to significant actual and potential problems of duplication, overlapping and inconsistent approaches, there are major problems of under-funding and insufficient expertise. The complexity of these arrangements and the difficulty in evaluating their impact makes a comprehensive guide of the type provided here all the more indispensable. These essays critically examine the functions, procedures, and performance of each of the major UN organs dealing with human rights, including the Security Council and the International Court of Justice as well as the more specialized bodies monitoring the implementation of human rights treaties. Significant attention is devoted to the considerable efforts at reforming the UN's human rights machinery, as illustrated most notably by the creation of the Human Rights Council to replace the Commission on Human Rights. The book also looks at the relationship between the various bodies and the potential for major reforms and restructuring.

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  Debating Targeted Killing: Counter-Terrorism or Extrajudicial Execution?

  Tamar Meisels and Jeremy Waldron

  In this “for and against” book, Jeremy Waldron and Tamar Meisels defend competing positions on the legitimacy of targeted killing. The volume begins with a joint introduction, briefly setting out the terms of discussion, and presenting a short historical overview of the practice—i.e. what is targeted killing, and how has it been used in which conflicts and by whom. The debate opens with Meisels’ defense of targeted killing as a legitimate and desirable defensive anti-terrorism strategy, in keeping with both just war theory and international law. Meisels unreservedly defends the named killing of irregular combatants, most notably terrorists, during armed conflict. Additionally, she offers a possible moral justification for rare instances of assassination outside that framework, specifically with reference to recent cases of nuclear scientists developing weapons of mass destruction for the Iranian and Syrian governments. The debate continues with Waldron’s arguments focusing on the dangers and the inherent wrongness of governments’ having the right to maintain death lists—lists of named individuals who are to be hunted down and killed. Waldron notes the many differences between individualized targeting and ordinary combat, and he resists the attempt to assimilate targeted killing to killings in combat. Waldron also cautions us to consider carefully what a world of targeted killings will be like, the many abuses it is liable to, and why we should be very cautious, morally and strategically, in our thinking about it.

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  The Law of Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance

  Geoffrey P. Miller

  Geoffrey Miller’s The Law of Governance, Risk Management and Compliance is widely credited for introducing a new field of legal studies. Compliance and its related subjects of governance and risk management are major sources of jobs and also important developments in legal practice. The billions of dollars of fines paid over the past decade and the burgeoning and seemingly never-ending parade of compliance and risk management breakdowns – recently including the Wells Fargo sales practices scandal, the Volkswagen emissions cheat, and the Boeing 737 MAX crisis – all attest to the importance of the issues treated in this readable and timely book. New to the Third Edition: comprehensive updates on recent developments; new treatment of compliance failures: Wells Fargo account opening scandal, Volkswagen emissions cheat, important developments in Catholic Church sex abuse scandal; new treatment of risk management failures: the Boeing 737 MAX scandal. Professors and students will benefit from: clear, concise definitions; fun and interesting problems; real-world perspective from an author who has been involved both as a scholar and as a member of a corporate board of directors; highly readable and interesting writing; text boxes containing key concepts and definitions; realistic problems for class discussion and analysis.

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  Fundamentals of Business Enterprise Taxation: Cases and Materials

  Stephen Schwarz, Daniel J. Lathrope, and Brant J. Hellwig

  Offered as an alternative to the authors’ widely used separate texts on corporate and partnership tax, the Seventh Edition of this comprehensive casebook continues its tradition of providing an integrated approach to teaching the “fundamentals” of a highly complex subject with clear and engaging explanatory text, skillfully drafted problems, selective discussion of tax policy issues, and a rich mix of original source materials to accompany the Code and regulations. This extensive revision discusses all major developments since the last edition, emphasizing significant provisions of the 2017 tax legislation known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Highlights of new material covered in the Seventh Edition are: The deduction under § 199A for 20% of qualified business income from a pass-through entity. The discussion incorporates the final regulations and includes new problems. The impact on choice of entity of the 21% corporate income tax rate, lower individual rates, the 20% deduction for qualified business income, and other tax and business planning considerations. The new three-year long-term holding period required for capital gains allocable to service partners with carried interests in certain investment partnerships. A revised discussion of corporate capital structure to reflect the changed stakes resulting from the reduction of the corporate income tax rate and the new § 163(j) limitation on the deduction of business interest. New limitations on the deduction of excess business losses. Other technical changes to Subchapters K and C and regulatory developments affecting partnership liabilities and corporate divisions. S corporation developments, including the requirement to pay reasonable compensation to shareholder-employees for purposes of the § 199A qualified business income deduction.

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  Literature and Inequality: Nine Perspectives from the Napoleonic Era Through the First Gilded Age

  Daniel N. Shaviro

  Today, high-end inequality in America and peer countries is at Gilded Age levels. These matters are too important and complicated to be left just to economists. A broader sociological and humanistic approach is necessary. Great works of literature, such as those by the likes of Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, and Edith Wharton, are among the resources that can help us to better understand high-end inequality’s broader, culturally contingent, ramifications – not just in the authors’ own eras but today. Daniel Shaviro’s Literature and Inequality offers a unique and accessible interdisciplinary take on how a number of great and beloved works from the nineteenth- and early-twentieth centuries help shed light on modern high-end inequality. In particular, Shaviro helps us to understand the relevance both of cultural differences between America and peer countries such as England and France, and of cultural commonalities between America’s First Gilded Age in the late-nineteenth century and its currently ongoing Second Gilded Age.

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  International Aspects of U.S. Income Taxation

  John P. Steines Jr.

  This book addresses international aspects of U.S. tax law—the rules that govern U.S. taxation of U.S. activity by foreign persons and foreign activity by U.S. persons.

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  Tax, Inequality, and Human Rights

  Philip G. Alston and Nikki Reisch

  This book looks at the linkages between human rights and tax law and reveals their mutual relevance to tackling economic, social, and political inequalities. Against the backdrop of systemic corporate tax avoidance, the widespread use of tax havens, persistent pressures to embrace austerity policies, and growing gaps between the rich and poor, this book encourages readers to understand fiscal policy as human rights policy, with profound consequences for the well-being of citizens around the world. The chapters examine where the foundational principles of tax law and human rights law intersect and diverge; discuss the cross-border nature and human rights impacts of abusive practices like tax avoidance and evasion; question the role of states in bringing transparency and accountability to tax policies and practices; highlight the responsibility of private sector actors for the shape and consequences of tax laws; and critically evaluate certain domestic tax rules through the lens of equality and nondiscrimination. The chapters explore how the international human rights framework can anchor debates around international tax reform and domestic fiscal consolidation in existing state obligations. They address what human rights law requires of state tax policies, and what a state’s tax laws and loopholes mean for the enjoyment of human rights within and outside its borders. Ultimately, tax and human rights both turn on the relationship between the individual and the state, and thus both fields face crises as the social contract frays and populist, illiberal regimes are on the rise.

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  Federal Income Taxation

  Joseph Bankman, Daniel N. Shaviro, Kirk J. Stark, and Edward D. Kleinbard

  Integrating theory and policy in an accessible format, the sterling author team of Federal Income Taxation, Eighteenth Edition imbues its subject with historical, economic, policy, and international perspective. Problems integrated throughout the text bridge the gap between theory and practice. Each edition of this renowned text builds on and adds to the strengths of its predecessors. New to the Eighteenth Edition: fully updated to reflect changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Professors and students will benefit from: notes, problems, and graphs that make challenging material accessible; the highest integration of economics and policy analysis; great pedigree and authorship: Original authors Boris Bittker and William A. Klein were eminent authorities (with beautiful writing styles). Bankman, Shaviro, Stark, and Kleinbard are among today's leading tax scholars; a manageable length: Even with the new material, Federal Income Taxation is still one of the shortest books around.

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  Prisoners of Politics: Breaking the Cycle of Mass Incarceration

  Rachel E. Barkow

  The United States has the world’s highest rate of incarceration, a form of punishment that ruins lives and makes a return to prison more likely. As awful as that truth is for individuals and their families, its social consequences—recycling offenders through an overwhelmed criminal justice system, ever-mounting costs, unequal treatment before the law, and a growing class of permanently criminalized citizens—are even more devastating. With the authority of a prominent legal scholar and the practical insights gained through on-the-ground work on criminal justice reform, Rachel Barkow explains how dangerous it is to base criminal justice policy on the whims of the electorate, which puts judges, sheriffs, and politicians in office. Instead, she argues for an institutional shift toward data and expertise, following the model used to set food and workplace safety rules. Barkow’s prescriptions are rooted in a thorough and refreshingly ideology-free cost–benefit analysis of how to cut mass incarceration while maintaining public safety. She points to specific policies that are deeply problematic on moral grounds and have failed to end the cycle of recidivism. Her concrete proposals draw on the best empirical information available to prevent crime and improve the reentry of former prisoners into society. Prisoners of Politics aims to free criminal justice policy from the political arena, where it has repeatedly fallen prey to irrational fears and personal interest, and demonstrates that a few simple changes could make us all safer.

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  Securities Regulation: Cases and Analysis

  Stephen J. Choi and A. C. Pritchard

  This casebook offers a clear and concise introduction to the economics and regulation of securities markets, with a single-minded focus on disclosure and the economics of disclosure. It is concise, easy to read, and student friendly. The casebook makes securities regulation easy to teach and understand. It focuses on the important principles students need to understand to be effective corporate lawyers. The chapters are organized around motivating hypotheticals that illustrate the various issues relating to each chapter’s topic. These hypotheticals make it easier for the students to follow the material. In addition, they are a useful teaching device allowing students to grapple with issues that they are likely to face as corporate lawyers. The supporting materials for the book also provide role-playing and prospectus-drafting exercises to involve students in learning tedious securities materials (e.g, prospectuses). The book avoids policy debates and instead focuses on understanding the rules as they are. It contains tables and charts to organize complicated material, along with a comprehensive set of PowerPoint slides for presenting the material. This casebook focuses on overarching topics such as materiality and the definition of a security up front, before delving into the details of how the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Securities Act of 1933 operate. The Sarbanes-Oxley, Dodd-Frank, and JOBS Act (JOBS Act), are all covered, with separate chapters devoted to enforcement and gatekeepers. The Fifth Edition has been revised to reflect significant developments in securities fraud litigation and insider trading, as well as new material relating to cybersecurity and cryptocurrency.

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  Taiwan and International Human Rights: A Story of Transformation

  Jerome A. Cohen, William P. Alford, and Chang-fa Lo

  This book tells a story of Taiwan’s transformation from an authoritarian regime to a democratic system where human rights are protected as required by international human rights treaties. There were difficult times for human rights protection during the martial law era; however, there has also been remarkable transformation progress in human rights protection thereafter. The book reflects the transformation in Taiwan and elaborates whether or not it is facilitated or hampered by its Confucian tradition. There are a number of institutional arrangements, including the Constitutional Court, the Control Yuan, and the yet-to-be-created National Human Rights Commission, which could play or have already played certain key roles in human rights protections. Taiwan’s voluntarily acceptance of human rights treaties through its implementation legislation and through the Constitutional Court’s introduction of such treaties into its constitutional interpretation are also fully expounded in the book. Taiwan’s NGOs are very active and have played critical roles in enhancing human rights practices. In the areas of civil and political rights, difficult human rights issues concerning the death penalty remain unresolved. But regarding the rights and freedoms in the spheres of personal liberty, expression, privacy, and fair trial (including lay participation in criminal trials), there are in-depth discussions on the respective developments in Taiwan that readers will find interesting. In the areas of economic, social, and cultural rights, the focuses of the book are on the achievements as well as the problems in the realization of the rights to health, a clean environment, adequate housing, and food. The protections of vulnerable groups, including indigenous people, women, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) individuals, the disabled, and foreigners in Taiwan, are also the areas where Taiwan has made recognizable achievements, but still encounters problems. The comprehensive coverage of this book should be able to give readers a well-rounded picture of Taiwan’s human rights performance. Readers will find appealing the story of the effort to achieve high standards of human rights protection in a jurisdiction barred from joining international human rights conventions. This book won the American Society of International Law 2021 Certificate of Merit in a Specialized Area of International Law.

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  Between Impunity and Imperialism: The Regulation of Transnational Bribery

  Kevin E. Davis

  When people pay bribes to foreign public officials, how should the law respond? This question has been debated ever since the enactment of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, and some of the key arguments can be traced back to Cicero in the last years of the Roman Republic and Edmund Burke in late eighteenth-century England. In recent years, the U.S. and other members of the OECD have joined forces to make anti-bribery law one of the most prominent sources of liability for firms and individuals who operate across borders. The modern regime is premised on the idea that transnational bribery is a serious problem which invariably merits a vigorous legal response. The shape of that response can be summed up in the phrase "every little bit helps," which in practice means that: prohibitions on bribery should capture a broad range of conduct; enforcement should target as broad a range of actors as possible; sanctions should be as stiff as possible; and as many agencies as possible should be involved in the enforcement process. An important challenge to the OECD paradigm, labelled here the "anti-imperialist critique," accepts that transnational bribery is a serious problem but questions the conventional responses. This book uses a series of high-profile cases to illustrate key elements of transnational bribery law in action, and analyzes the law through the lenses of both the OECD paradigm and the anti-imperialist critique. It ultimately defends a distinctively inclusive and experimentalist approach to transnational bribery law.

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  Contracts: Cases and Materials

  E. Allan Farnsworth, Carol Sanger, Neil B. Cohen, Richard R. W. Brooks, and Larry T. Garvin

  This classic casebook, now in its 10th Edition, offers first-year students a solid and inviting introduction to contract law, recognizing both the English and American common law traditions and bringing them into our age of statutes, most particularly the Uniform Commercial Code. Like earlier editions, the 10th Edition features carefully selected cases, well-tailored notes and problems, and authoritative textual discussions of major developments in current contract law. These include the meaning of assent and agreement (with particular focus on the online environment); attention to comparative and international approaches; and accessible discussion of theoretical underpinnings of contract doctrine, the importance of which remain a mainstay of this new edition. The casebook is ecumenical in its outlook, presenting a well-balanced approach that is usable by professors with a wide range of theoretical outlooks and pedagogical styles. Cases are situated within a variety of disciplines—history, economics, philosophy, and ethics—and present the law in a variety of typical settings—commercial, familial, employment, consumer, real estate and so on. The 10th Edition will feel familiar yet fresh to current users and both exciting and comfortable to newcomers. Among the 10th Edition’s updates and revisions: extensive treatment of COVID-19 and contract law, including such areas as formation, unjust enrichment, unconscionability, material adverse change clauses, conditions, specific performance, impracticability, frustration, risk apportionment, and third-party beneficiaries; updated and enhanced materials on electronic contracting; coverage of such recent developments as the 2022 amendments to the Uniform Commercial Code and the Restatement of Consumer Contracts; new cases and comments suitable for discussions of how such topics as race and class affect, and are affected by, contract law; added problems in the casebook and the teaching manual on applications of contract doctrine, in line with upcoming changes to the Multistate Bar Examination.

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  Private International Law: Contemporary Challenges and Continuing Relevance

  Franco Ferrari and Diego P. Fernández Arroyo

  Is Private International Law (PIL) still fit to serve its function in today’s global environment? In light of some calls for radical changes to its very foundations, this timely book investigates the ability of PIL to handle contemporary and international problems, and inspires genuine debate on the future of the field. Separated into nine parts, each containing two perspectives on a different issue or challenge, this unique book considers issues such as the certainty vs flexibility of laws, the notion of universal values, the scope of party autonomy, the emerging challenges of extraterritoriality and global governance issues in the context of PIL. Further topics include current developments in forum access, the recognition and enforcement of judgments, foreign law in domestic courts and PIL in international arbitration. This comprehensive work will be of great value to scholars and students working across all areas of PIL. It will also be an important touchstone for practitioners seeking to think creatively about their cases involving conflict of laws and PIL.

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  Conflict of Laws in International Commercial Arbitration

  Franco Ferrari and Stefan Kröll

  It is often asserted that conflict of laws rules are not as relevant in the context of international arbitration as they are in that of judicial proceedings. According to some commentators, it is, inter alia, to avoid the complicated conflict of laws methodology that parties opt for international arbitration, since they assume that arbitral tribunals do not apply conflict of laws rules. As recent case law from a number of jurisdictions shows, the assumptions behind these assertions is incorrect. This book addresses some of the most important conflicts of laws problems that may arise in connection with the various stages of arbitral proceedings.

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  Inherent Powers of Arbitrators

  Franco Ferrari and Friedrich Rosenfeld

  Arbitrators derive their powers from an agreement between contracting parties or the law of the place of arbitration. However, because even the most complete arbitration agreements, arbitration rules or laws cannot cover every situation an arbitrator may face in carrying out his or her duties, arbitrators increasingly have exercised powers not expressly conferred by these two sources. These powers are usually referred to as “implied” or “inherent.” The concept of such powers has allowed tribunals to arrive at unprecedented decisions on such matters as security for costs, disclosure of third-party funders, motions for reconsideration, even as there has been a contrary shift towards more elaborate rules of adjudication, more codes of conduct for decision-makers and a higher level of scrutiny of decisions. The tension between these tendencies illuminates the complexity of a question that extends to the heart of the arbitrator’s very ability to act and the fate of the arbitral award. Deepened by the commentary of Prof. Diego P. Fernandez Arroyo, Inherent Powers of Arbitrators offers multiple perspectives on this important debate and valuable insight into these diverging trends.

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  Making Markets Work for Africa: Markets, Development, and Competition Law in Sub-Saharan Africa

  Eleanor M. Fox and Mor Bakhoum

  This book focuses on market law and policy in sub-Saharan Africa, showing how markets can be harnessed by poorer and developing economies to help make the markets work for them: to help them integrate into the world economy and provide a better standard of living for their people while preserving their values of inclusive development. It explores uses of power both by dominant firms, often multinationals, and incumbent governments and cronies, to ring-fence their market positions and deprive rivals - often the indigenous people - from fair access to markets and highlights how competition authorities are pushing back and winning fair access, lowering prices of goods and services especially for the poorer population. The book also examines the next level up - regionalism - and provides the facts that show how regionalism has so far failed to meet its promise of freeing markets from cross-border restraints by large firms that operate across national borders. On the more technical side, the book takes a deep look at the competition policies of sets of nations in sub-Saharan Africa - West, South-eastern, and South. It examines the performance of the competition authorities of particular nations, including how they handle cartels, monopolies and mergers; their standards of illegality, and their methodologies for incorporating public interest values into their analyses. Observing the good works by a number of the national competition authorities, the book is optimistic about the role of the national competition authorities in protecting the people from abuses of economic power, and, perhaps in the future, the role of regional authorities and less formal networks in promoting an African voice in defence of competition. Making Markets Work for Africa describes markets, market power, and the law that controls market power in countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and how that power can be controlled, in clear language and compelling narrative that combines law, economics, and social and political policy; gives clarity to a complicated subject by presenting the facts, the legal concepts, and the economic and socio-political concepts; integrates subject areas usually dealt with separately, including antitrust (competition law), market policy in general, trade and investment, relevance of poverty and inequality; and presents a clear layout with maps, charts and graphs.

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  Regulation of Lawyers: Statutes and Regulations

  Stephen Gillers, Roy D. Simon, and Andrew M. Perlman

  Statutory supplement for the rules regulating the behavior of lawyers and judges.

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  Regulation of Lawyers: Statutes and Regulations

  Stephen Gillers, Roy D. Simon, and Andrew M. Perlman

  Statutory supplement for the rules regulating the behavior of lawyers and judges. Concise edition.

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  Estate and Gift Taxation

  Brant J. Hellwig and Robert T. Danforth

  Estate and Gift Taxation, now in its third edition, provides teaching materials for a course on the U.S. transfer tax system as it exists following enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The text opens with an overview of the federal transfer tax regime, one intended to introduce students to the basic structures of the estate tax, gift tax, and generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax. After this introduction, the text proceeds to examine the estate tax and gift tax bases primarily in a context-specific (e.g., life insurance, retained-interest transfers, marital transfers) manner, and the majority of the text is devoted to these topics. The text then transitions to a discussion of the GST tax base and allocation of the GST tax exemption, followed by a discussion of the special valuation rules under Chapter 14 (apart from § 2702, which is addressed earlier in the context of retained-interest transfers). The text closes with a chapter devoted to the application of the U.S. transfer tax regime in the international setting. The text differs considerably from the traditional casebook format. Critical passages of important cases or rulings generally are limited to excerpts in the overview, and edited opinions of seminal decisions appear on only a handful of occasions. Each chapter closes with a set of sophisticated, practice-oriented problems that require students to spot and resolve issues that would be encountered in an estate planning practice. The text is structured through 26 discrete chapters, and the chapter headings supply a reasonable course syllabus. While some of the longer or more complicated chapters may require two class sessions, most chapters are intended to be covered in a single class. In addition to incorporating the most recent legislative developments, the third edition discusses the major cases and rulings that have been decided since publication of the second edition.

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  Understanding Estate and Gift Taxation

  Brant J. Hellwig and Robert T. Danforth

  Understanding Estate and Gift Taxation is designed primarily for use by law students taking a course on the United States transfer tax system, i.e., a course on the estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer taxes. The book consists of 26 chapters, each addressing one of the basic topics typically covered in a course on the transfer tax system, including the computation of estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer taxes; the gift tax annual exclusion; the estate and gift tax marital deductions; and the estate and gift tax implications of transfers with retained powers or interests. Because the Internal Revenue Code and Treasury Regulations are the primary source materials for the transfer tax system, the book includes numerous excerpts of those provisions. Each chapter also includes summaries of the leading cases and IRS rulings, plus examples of how this area of the law applies to common fact patterns. Understanding Estate and Gift Taxation is designed primarily for law students, but it is also intended to be useful to practitioners, including generalists who need a relatively brief summary of an estate and gift tax topic, beginning lawyers who intend to specialize in estate and gift taxation and estate planning, and experienced lawyers who wish to expand their practices into estate and gift taxation and estate planning. The book similarly would be useful to accountants who practice in these areas.