American College of Tax Counsel

American College of Tax Counsel
Name	American College of Tax Counsel
Formation	1981
Type	Professional association
Headquarters	Washington, D.C.
Membership	Fellows
Leader title	President

American College of Tax Counsel is a professional association of distinguished tax lawyers and scholars founded to advance tax practice, policy, and scholarship. The College convenes leaders from prominent law firms, academic institutions, federal agencies, and judiciary circles to influence federal tax administration and litigation. Its Fellows include former and current practitioners from major litigation venues, regulatory bodies, and teaching posts.

History

The College was established in 1981 by a coalition of tax litigators, academics, and policy makers seeking to create an honorary society akin to bar associations and specialty colleges in fields such as American Bar Association, Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Federal Bar Association, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and American College of Trial Lawyers. Early Fellows included lawyers with careers at Internal Revenue Service, United States Department of the Treasury, and firms engaged in cases before the United States Tax Court, United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. The College’s formation intersected with major tax events and statutes such as the Tax Reform Act of 1986 and involved participants who had served on advisory committees under presidents from Ronald Reagan to Joe Biden.

Mission and Membership

The College’s stated mission emphasizes excellence in tax practice, elevation of professional standards, and contribution to tax policy debates among institutions like Joint Committee on Taxation, Congressional Budget Office, United States Department of Justice, Government Accountability Office, and leading law schools such as Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, Columbia Law School, New York University School of Law, and Georgetown University Law Center. Membership is by election to Fellow status and typically includes former clerks of judges from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, litigators who have argued before the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and scholars who have published in journals such as the Harvard Law Review, Yale Law Journal, Columbia Law Review, New York University Law Review, and the Georgetown Law Journal. Fellows have backgrounds at firms like Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Sullivan & Cromwell, Cravath, Swaine & Moore, Latham & Watkins, and Baker McKenzie.

Leadership and Governance

Governance follows a structure with an elected President and a Board of Regents or similar governing body, reflecting models used by organizations such as American Law Institute, American Bar Foundation, Federalist Society, National Lawyers Guild, and International Bar Association. Leadership often comprises former officials from the Internal Revenue Service and United States Department of the Treasury, judges who have sat on the United States Tax Court and the United States Court of Federal Claims, and academics who hold chairs at institutions like University of Chicago Law School, Stanford Law School, University of Pennsylvania Law School, and Michigan Law School. The College convenes advisory panels, mirrors committees comparable to those in the American Bar Association Section of Taxation, and collaborates with advocacy groups including Tax Foundation and Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

Activities and Programs

The College organizes conferences, symposia, and continuing education programs akin to events hosted by American Bar Association, Practising Law Institute, ABA Section of Taxation, and law school clinics at Georgetown University Law Center and NYU School of Law. Programs cover topics tied to landmark cases such as Commissioner v. Sullivan and statutory developments including the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and the Internal Revenue Code. The College has convened panels with representatives from the United States Treasury Department Office of Tax Policy, the Internal Revenue Service Chief Counsel's Office, the United States Department of Justice Tax Division, and practitioners from firms like White & Case and Jones Day. It sponsors moot court competitions, engages in amicus briefs to the United States Supreme Court, and participates in dialogues with international actors such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the International Monetary Fund.

Publications and Research

Fellows contribute to monographs, treatises, and articles in periodicals such as the Tax Notes, The Journal of Taxation, National Tax Journal, Columbia Journal of Tax Law, and law reviews at Harvard Law School and Yale Law School. The College supports research on topics linked to statutes like the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 provisions and court decisions from the United States Tax Court and circuits including the Second Circuit and D.C. Circuit. Its publications sometimes inform Congressional hearings before committees such as the United States House Committee on Ways and Means and the United States Senate Committee on Finance. Fellows publish treatises comparable to works by authors at Aspen Publishers, Wolters Kluwer, and academic presses at Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press.

Awards and Recognition

The College confers honors recognizing lifetime achievement, pro bono service, and contributions to tax jurisprudence, echoing awards given by entities like the American Bar Association, American Law Institute, Federal Bar Association, and academic societies such as the American Association of Law Schools. Recipients often include partners from firms like Debevoise & Plimpton, Covington & Burling, and Mayer Brown, academics from Stanford Law School and University of Chicago Law School, and former government officials from the Internal Revenue Service and United States Department of the Treasury. Awards are sometimes presented at ceremonies in venues near institutions such as Georgetown University, George Washington University Law School, and events coinciding with meetings of the American Bar Association or the International Fiscal Association.

Category:Legal organizations based in the United States