Featured Faculty: Michael Kirsch
Associate Professor of Law
Before we go any further, let’s clear up a common misconception: Tax law is not about a bunch of numbers. “In reality, tax law has almost nothing to do with numbers and forms, ”says Notre Dame Associate Professor of Law Michael Kirsch. “It’s about learning to interpret statutes and relate that information to broader policy areas.”
Kirsch says tax law is always relevant to people’s lives, and pervades just about every other area of law. “Certainly it’s a vital part of transactional practice, but it also plays an important role in litigation and the way settlements are constructed. There are big tax issues in family law as well as in the non-profit world; the list goes on.”
After earning a J.D. from Harvard and an LL.M. in taxation from New York University, Kirsch worked for four years in the tax department of a Los Angeles law firm. He then served as a law clerk for Chief Judge Lapsley W. Hamblen, Jr., of the United States Tax Court in Washington, D.C. Following the two-year clerkship, he served as a staff attorney in the IRS’ Office of Associate Chief Counsel (International). From 1997 through 2001 he worked in the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Tax Policy, where he was the Associate International Tax Counsel.
“My job at Treasury was fun,” says Kirsch, who negotiated international tax treaties, supervised the drafting of regulations, and prepared budgetary and legislation proposals. “It’s great to be at the center of many tax policy issues and to have a significant voice in what happens,” says Kirsch.
Still, teaching is what Kirsch has always wanted to do. “I had my eye on academics when I took the Treasury position,” he says. “I did all of my ‘real world’ work between law school graduation and 2001 in preparation for becoming a professor.”
All of the prep work paid off. Kirsch is a well-liked professor—he was named the Law School’s Distinguished Teacher for the 2003-04 academic year—and his scholarship, which focuses on international taxation, has been published by top law journals, including the New York University Law Review, the Harvard Journal on Legislation, and the Texas Law Review.
Kirsch’s next scholarly article will address the international tax implications of virtual personal services—a jurisdictional matter that has arisen out of the increasing importance of global trade, telecommunications, and personal mobility.
For more information about Professor Kirsch, visit his faculty profile.
