Meghann Morrill '12: Taxes, Mediation and Targeting the Olympics

My summer has started with the privilege of researching for Professor George Yin, tax scholar extraordinaire. My first assignment began with some tax minutiae, such as when a credit card receipt is actually reportable for a business, or when a mailed credit card number can be considered a donation to a charitable organization. This has been coupled with researching some developments in the tax field recently published by the Department of the Treasury.

Meghann Morrill

However, the majority of summer will be spent gathering information and determining how the Joint Committee on Taxation began, what responsibilities it was tasked with at its formation, how those responsibilities have changed and how the legislative process has affected those changes.

Overall, this project combines the many aspects of a legal career. It entails thorough research, immense amounts of data, a perspective of historical aspects and presenting a compiled result in specific detail. This experience has provided me with a greater understanding of the legislative tax process as well as a greater appreciation for the activities behind legislative initiatives.

In addition to my research work for Professor Yin, I have added a pro bono project working for the Mediation Center of Charlottesville. I believe this work will give me a practical perspective on an area of law that I would not ordinarily pursue. It also provides me with an alternative method of resolving disputes that is outside of a purely legal approach.

Outside of the legal setting, I have continued my athletic pursuits, placing third in the USA National Shooting Championships. As a result, I re-qualified for the U.S. National Shooting Team (required annually) and won a spot on the U.S. World Championship Shooting Team for women's air rifle. The World Shooting Championships is the highest level of match during this quad, second only to the Olympics. This was my single competition goal during 1L year, to represent my country at the World Championships in August 2010.

This has been, and is continuing to be, an amazing summer, highlighted with the professional honor of working for Professor Yin and meeting a personal goal of representing my country at a precursor match to the Olympics. I could not have asked for a better summer and one that I am confident will serve me well in the future.