Even after Corporate Tax had its way with me, I still toyed with the idea of being a tax attorney. I had moments of loving tax, and the work might be fun in the context of actual practice. I took on a tax assignment at The Firm.
The partner frowned at me. "What do you know about Code Section 354?" he demanded. I felt the familiar pit in my stomach that I used to get during class. I was able to choke out an answer. "What do you know about New York tax law?" I could respond confidently to that one: "Nothing."
"Go learn about how New York taxes corporations and then read through these materials and answer the question," he said, rattling off various references to regulations and cases.
I now know that I've been deluding myself. I am not smart enough to be a tax lawyer. All I can do is hang on through the tax assignments I'm given until I can slink back to the corporate department.
* All substantive information changed to protect the innocent. (This will be an ongoing policy for any posts about work.)
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comments:
I'm not sure 'smart' is the right word, but I know what you mean. I took four tax law classes because I liked it, yet got blasted in nearly all of them. Then again, a lot of law school was like that for me.
I prefer to view it as having the capacity for too much abstract thought. For one of my last law school exams, rather than write directly on the hypo I composed a narrative where I addressed all of the issues in subtext. I got a C+ in the class, and I'm an idiot for sure, but it doesn't stem from a lack of understanding the material.
Post a Comment