Martin Hauptman

Accounting for Lawyers

Students who have no accounting experience are urged to take this course as a foundation for the courses in taxation, corporations, wills, trusts, creditors' rights, business reorganizations and other courses in which accounting concepts are fundamental. The course is designed to provide the student with knowledge of fundamental accounting techniques and principles of recordation, presentation and analysis of financial data. Emphasis is upon accounting methods; entity and period convention, reclassifications, accruals and deferrals; the valuation of tangible and intangible assets, methods of depreciation and amortization; the valuation of inventory and effect on income, corporate accounting, treasury stock, capital, surplus classifications and dividends; financial statements; treatment of extraordinary items; and examination by management, creditors and investors. Not open to students who have previously taken a course in accounting.

Grading and Method of Evaluation

Letter grade only. Final exam.

Federal Estate and Gift Tax

Prerequisite: Federal Income Taxation

A survey of the principles of federal estate and gift taxation, including a determination of the gross estate, testamentary substitutes, valuation, the marital deduction, administrative expenses and losses, the annual exclusion and the unified transfer tax credit, related income tax problems and selected topics of estate and gift tax policy.

Grading and Method of Evaluation

Letter grade only. Final exam.

Federal Income Taxation

An introduction to the fundamentals of federal income taxation with a focus on the determination of gross income, personal and business deductions, and exemptions; an analysis of timing issues and assignment of income principles, and a study of the character of gain or loss upon the disposition property.

Grading and Method of Evaluation

Letter grade only. Final exam.