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Chase Students Win National Tax Moot Court Competition
Patrick Newton, Prof. Ljubomir Nacev, Dawn Danley-Nichols
Patrick Newton, Prof. Ljubomir Nacev, Dawn Danley-Nichols

Mar 24, 2009 - For the second time in three years, students from the Northern Kentucky University Chase College of Law have brought home the Albert R. Mugel National Tax Moot Court national championship.

Dawn Danley-Nichols and Patrick Newton, both third-year law students who will graduate in May, won the nation's oldest tax moot court competition Feb. 28 at the University at Buffalo Law School, The State University of New York. They were coached by Chase Professor Ljubomir Nacev.

"It was surreal," said Danley-Nichols, who was also named best oralist. "I didn't go into the competition with any preconceived notions or expectations about winning or losing. When we arrived in Buffalo, I only knew that we worked hard for the last two and a half months and we learned a substantial amount about the tax law and the appellate process. Honestly, the process was enough for me, and winning the competition was merely a fabulous recognition of our hard work."

For Newton, the win was equally gratifying. "I was confident because we had worked so hard, and Dawn had such a great presence in front of the judges," he said. "I told her after the first night she was going to capture a best oralist award. She captivated the judges and anticipated all of their questions."

Danley-Nichols credited the victory to teamwork. "Patrick and I are complete opposites," she said, "except for our passion for tax law. Yet we never failed each other throughout the process. When he was frustrated, I would take over and pick him up. He did the same for me. We spent weeks locked up in the basement of the law library writing, plotting, etc., and we never had harsh words for one another. I cannot imagine a better teammate or coach."

The competition consists of writing an appellate brief and five rounds of oral argument. The Chase team, which began preparing late last December, advanced through the preliminary round based on combined preliminary score of its brief and three preliminary oral argument scores. Danley-Nichols and Newton faced teams from Tulane University Law School and the University at Buffalo Law School in the preliminary rounds. In the semifinal round, the Chase team defeated one of two Gonzaga University School of Law teams in the competition to advance to the national finals.

Before a bench that included an active United States Tax Court judge, a retired federal magistrate, an active New York state court judge, two esteemed tax professors and three practicing attorneys, Chase defeated John Marshall to win the national championship.

"It was especially a pleasure to have a U.S. Tax Court judge on the final round bench," said Danley-Nichols, who will be joining the IRS Chief Counsel's Office after graduating in May. "After facing the final round bench, I now have complete confidence that I can face relatively any bench on a tax law issue, whether simple or very complex, and present a cohesive and persuasive argument for my client."

At issue was the federal tax treatment of a damage award received by a trust for breach of fiduciary duty to diversify trust assets. The two main issues argued during the competition were whether the taxpayer-trust could recover its basis in the trust assets prior to recognizing any gain from the damage award, and the appropriate method of characterization of the taxpayer's gain - capital gain or ordinary income.

"For me, it was a pleasure to see [Danley-Nichols and Newton] mature into their roles as appellate advocates and to rise to the occasion," said Professor Nacev. "Presence before the bench and substantive knowledge won the day. Bravo!"

Newton was also honored as fourth best oralist of the competition.

Chase last competed in the Mugel competition in 2007, winning both the national championship and the honor for best brief.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090322/NEWS0107/903220349/1055/NEWS