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Graduate Tax Program
Director: Professor Gina M. Torielli
toriellg@cooley.edu
(248) 751-7800, ext. 7744
Assistant Director: Professor Joni Larson
larsonj@cooley.edu
(517) 371-5140, ext. 2706
Office of Graduate and Extended Programs:
LLM@cooley.edu
(517) 371-5140, ext. 2703
LL.M. Degree Requirements
J.D./LL.M. Joint Program in Tax
Externship Opportunities
Faculty
Distance Education
Guest (Non-Degree) Student Status
Required Courses
Elective Courses
Course Schedules
Career Services
The Thomas M. Cooley Graduate Tax Program provides a practice-oriented curriculum, to help lawyers expand their opportunities by obtaining both a better understanding of tax law and a respected credential in the tax field. Our focus is to give lawyers the knowledge and skills to accelerate their careers. To this end:
- All our full time and adjunct faculty have significant experience in a variety of tax practice settings and specialties;
- Our curriculum is designed to produce results for practitioners, as we use problem-oriented teaching; and,
- We permit specialization within tax law through special mixes of electives and independent study for those who wish to specialize in estate planning or become corporate counsel.
The LL.M. degree can be earned at Cooley's campuses in Lansing, Auburn Hills, and Grand Rapids. The program provides flexibility through our scheduling by offering:
- Weekend courses, some weekday sections and special sections beginning after the bar exams;
- Electives scheduled to accommodate our students' interest and pace for pursuing the degree, not the instructors' convenience;
- Accelerated classes to accommodate our students' desires to balance their education and family lives;
- Short, one credit courses in "hot topics";
- Full availability of classes year-round;
- Permitting LL.M. and guest students to attend classes by videoconferencing at our Lansing, Auburn Hills, and Grand Rapids campuses; and,
- A degree that can be completed in as little as one year or as many as five years.
We keep our pulse on the marketplace to enhance the quality of our educational offerings and the career paths of our graduates by maintaining open lines of communication with the state's top tax attorneys. We are guided by an Advisory Board consisting of tax practitioners with a diverse range of experience both in terms of employment setting and practice specialty area.
LL.M. Degree Requirements
All graduate students must successfully complete each of the required courses and a sufficient number of elective courses to earn 24 credits. The curriculum consists of four required three-credit hour courses plus a number of one or two-credit hour elective courses. A non-credit waiver may be granted where the student has successfully completed a recent and comparable J.D., LL.M., or MST course.
Up to two credit hours of directed study and up to four credit hours of an externship may be substituted for an equivalent number of credit hours of elective classroom instruction, upon approval. These credits may be completed at locations remote from Cooley's campuses.
The Master's Thesis/Research Project is an elective course in the Graduate Tax Program.
J.D./LL.M. Joint Program in Tax
Cooley Law School students have the opportunity to earn a J.D. and LL.M. in less time through the J.D./LL.M. joint degree program. The joint degree program taxation allows select Cooley students to take up to nine credits of LL.M. coursework in their chosen area before they complete their juris doctor degree. The credits will count toward both degrees, permitting these students to save significant time and money while obtaining the knowledge, skills, and credentials for a successful law practice.
For more information about the J.D./LL.M. Joint Program, click on the link.
J.D./LL.M. Joint Program Application (pdf)
Externship Opportunities
The Graduate Program at Thomas M. Cooley Law School permits students who are selected as externs to participate in tax practice activities or studies away from the law school and receive credit when the educational objectives of the program are met. Externships allow students to experience actual tax practice in government and private practice settings expanding their skills or making them more attractive to employers.
Click on the link for more information about LL.M. externships.
Faculty
Click on the link to read the biographies of the Graduate Tax Program faculty.
Distance Education
The Graduate Tax Program offers courses utilizing videoconferencing. Busy professionals now have an opportunity to earn an LL.M. degree or take a few specialized classes in tax in a manner, pace and location conducive to their family and work schedules.
Cooley uses state-of-the-art videoconferencing to offer graduate level law courses at its Michigan locations in Lansing, Auburn Hills, and Grand Rapids by linking its classrooms. A videoconference course is taught on a specific day and time in specially equipped classrooms. Faculty teach from one campus location to students at other campus locations. Students and faculty see and hear each other with two-way audio and video interaction. Students have maximum flexibility in selecting the campus location at which they wish to attend a videoconference course.
Cooley Announces Distance Education Initiative in its Graduate Tax Program (2/28/05)
Guest (Non-Degree) Student Status
A guest (non-degree) student may be admitted to Cooley's Graduate Program and earn up to eight credits without earning the LL.M. degree. Click on the link for more information about non-degree guest student status.
Guest (Non-Degree) Student Application (pdf)
Required Courses
- Corporate Taxation (3 cr.)
- Income Taxation (3 cr.)
- Partnership Taxation (3 cr.)
- Tax Practice & Procedure (3 cr.)
Elective Courses
- Advanced Corporate Taxation (2 cr.)
- Advanced Estate and Gift Tax Planning Techniques (1 cr.)
- Advanced Income Taxation (2 cr.)
- Business Planning (2 cr.)
- Current Topics in Estate Planning (1 cr.)
- Current Topics in State and Local Taxation (1 cr.)
- Deferred Compensation (2 cr.)
- Directed Study (up to 2 cr.)
- Estate & Gift Taxation (2 cr.)
- Estate Planning (2 cr.)
- Externship (up to 4 cr.)
- Income Tax Policy (2 cr.)
- International Taxation - Inbound (2 cr.)
- International Taxation - Outbound (2 cr.)
- Master's Thesis/Research Project (2 cr.)
- Property Taxation and Valuation (2 cr.)
- Standards and Ethics of Tax Practice (1 cr.)
- State & Local Tax (2 cr.)
- Tax Accounting (2 cr.)
- Tax Exempt Organizations (2 cr.)
- Tax Incentives and Incentive Policy (2 cr.)
- Tax Planning for Closely-Held Businesses (1 cr.)
- Tax Research and Argument Techniques (1 cr.)
- Taxation of Intellectual Property (2 cr.)
- Taxation of Real Estate (2 cr.)
- Taxation of Trusts and Fiduciaries (2 cr.)
Click here for course descriptions.
Course Schedules
Michaelmas (Fall) Term 2008
Career Services
Graduate Tax Program faculty and staff make career services for students a priority. Our graduates work at legal departments in large law firms, boutiques and small firms, the Internal Revenue Service, large accoutning firms, and State taxing authorities.
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This Page was last updated on:
08/28/2008