DU Teams Take Top Honors at the ABA Law Student Tax Challenge

Two University of Denver Sturm College of Law teams won first and second place at the national ABA Law Student Tax Challenge–LLM division in New Orleans last weekend. The team of Christine Kuglin (JD/LLM) and Kasia Parecki (JD/LLM) earned top honors and the team of Gretchen Bundy-Ladowicz (LLM) and Dave Wilson (LLM), both online students, took second place honors in the competition.

To qualify for the challenge finals, law student teams were asked to solve a cutting-edge and complex business problem that might arise in everyday tax practice. Teams were initially evaluated on two criteria: a memorandum to a senior partner and a letter to a client explaining the result.

The teams from Denver Law were among only four teams selected to attend the finals, held at the ABA Section of Taxation 2019 Midyear Meeting, January 17–19, in New Orleans. Each team defended its submission before a panel of judges representing the nation’s top tax practitioners and government officials, including U.S. Tax Court judges.

“Both teams gave extraordinary oral presentations and also submitted excellent written papers. I could not be more proud to have been in New Orleans to support them and share in their success,” said Erin Stearns, associate professor and competition coach. “I'm also grateful for the assistance from Professors John Wilson and Samantha Galvin, who did so much to prepare the team and support them, as well as for the assistance from the Graduate Tax Program faculty and staff.”

Congratulations to both teams, as well as their coaches, for this outstanding achievement.