Resources for Tax Research

For students concentrating in tax, the law school places a special emphasis on research and writing skills. Students, faculty, and practitioners can perform the most thorough tax research tasks by using the Paul L. Boley Law Library. In addition to a solid collection of hard-copy materials covering all aspects of federal, state, local, and international tax law, students have free access to an increasing array of online databases that enhance the library’s collection of more than 500,000 volumes. The library is a comfortable, state-of-the-art facility that creates the perfect environment for serious tax scholarship, while Lewis & Clark’s many computerized research tools make it possible for research of the highest quality to be performed virtually anywhere.

The centerpiece of the research and writing opportunities is the Advanced Tax Seminar, in which students select and write about a topic relating exclusively to tax law. Taught by a full-time faculty member, the seminar allows students to sharpen basic analytical, research, and writing techniques as well as to gain added knowledge about their tax topic. By the semester’s end, students have become familiar with most of the tax research tools they will use over a lifetime of practice.

Students also have the opportunity to gain this familiarity through independent study projects culminating in research papers, and through work on the Lewis & Clark Law Review. A student may explore in depth questions of tax policy that are touched on in regular classroom courses, or research questions of statutory construction and interpretation, at both the state and federal levels.