Steven J. Willis
Professor of Law
Email:
willis@law.ufl.edu
Phone:
(352) 273-0680
Expertise
Accounting • Bill of Rights • Charitable Entities and Charitable Giving • Family Law • Federalism • Finance • States Rights • Tax Law • Tenth Amendment •
About
Professor Willis’s legal experience includes positions as a trial law clerk for Judge Davis (of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals), and as a tax/transactional lawyer with Phelps Dunbar in New Orleans. He is licensed to practice in both Florida and Louisiana and is a CPA (inactive) in Louisiana. He has written numerous federal appellate briefs in tax cases, as well as cases involving religious freedom. He is an active writer and scholar. He has been a leader in developing distance learning courses with current offerings in Finance For Lawyers and Accounting for Lawyers and is developing The Tax Law of Charities.
Professor Willis is the co-author of two traditional casebooks: The Tax Law of Charities (Carolina Academic Press 2021) and Tax Accounting (2012 Lexis). He has also authored two treatises, Accounting For Lawyers (West 2024) and Finance For Lawyers (West 2021). His scholarship has been cited in multiple federal courts as well as in many law reviews and books. He has taught law in the Netherlands, Poland, and South Africa.
Professor Willis is the faculty advisor for numerous student organizations including the Christian Legal Society (which provides multiple student support groups), the Federalist Society Chapter (recognized nationally), and the Law School Republicans. For many years he coached Tax Moot Court (which won numerous national and international awards), and he advised VITA (which annually provided tax preparation for over 700 low-income clients).
Education
LL.M., (Taxation), New York University (1980)
J.D., Louisiana State University, cum laude, Order of the Coif (1977)
B.S., (Accounting) Louisiana State University, cum laude (1974)
Teaching and Scholarship
Tax Exempt Organizations; Tax Timing; Accounting & Finance for Lawyers; Income Tax; Partnership Tax; Marriage Dissolution: Support and Property Division
Courses
- Tax Exempt Organizations
- Timing Issues in Taxation
- Finance for Lawyers
- Accounting for Lawyers
Publications
Books
- Accounting for Lawyers (West 2024).
- Finance for Lawyers (West 2021).
- The Tax Law of Charities (Carolina Academic Press 4th ed., 2021) (with David Brennen, Beverly I Moran, & Daryll K. Jones)
- The Tax Law of Charities (2014) (with Jones, Brennen, & Moran) (LEXIS) (3d Ed. 2014)
- Accounting and Taxation in Light of the New EU Strategy (after IAS/IFRD) (Chapter representing the U.S.) published by the University of Turin (2016)
- Statutory Supplement to The Tax Law of Charities (2004) (with Jones, Brennan, & Moran) (West Publishing Company) (2d Ed. 2008)
- Tax Accounting (with Manning & Lang) (LEXIS, 2006)
Articles
- Taxing Torts Today and Tomorrow, 92 Tenn. L. Rev. ___ (forthcoming 2025).
- A Game Theory View of Family Law: Planning for a 500% Family Tax, 18 FIU L. REV. 151 (2023).
- Naked Stripping for Alimony and Child-Support Tax Benefits, 73 Tax Law. 861 (2020)
- How a Spouse Can Profit by Paying Partner’s Principal, 49 N.M. L. Rev. 283 (2019) [SSRN]
- Affordable Care Act Fails for Lack of Uniformity, 27 U. Fla. J. Law. Publ. Pol’y 81 (2016) (with Hans Tanzler IV) [SSRN]
- Transferee Liability: Fifth Circuit Opportunity to Stop Injustice, 142 Tax Notes 309 (2014) (with Brooks and Rivera)
- Corporations, Taxes, and Religion: The Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Contraceptive Cases, 66 S.C. L. Rev. 1 (2013) [SSRN]
- No Healthcare Penalty? No Problem: No Due Process, 38 Am. J.L. & Med. 516 (2012) (with Nakku Chun) [SSRN]
- Of Constitutional De-Capitation and Health Care, 128 Tax Notes, 129 (2010) (with Chung) [SSRN]
- People in Glass Houses, 113 Tax Notes 477 (2006) [SSRN]
- Family Law Economics, Child Support, and Alimony: Ruminations on Income, Part I , 78 Fla. Bar J. 34 (May 2004) [SSRN]
- Family Law Economics, Child Support, and Alimony: Ruminations on Income, Part II , 78 Fla. Bar J. 34 (June 2004) [SSRN]
- Show Me the Numbers…Please, 93 Tax Notes 1321 (2001) [SSRN]
- It’s Time For Schlude to Go, 93 Tax Notes 127 (2001) [SSRN]
- Equitable Recoupment: More Pitfalls for the Unwary, 75 Tax Notes 361 (1998) [SSRN]
- Offensive v. Defensive Equitable Recoupment, 74 Tax Notes 207 (1997) [SSRN]
- Erroneous Deductions and the Tax Benefit Rule, 68 Tax Notes 1479 (1995) [SSRN]
- Albertson’s: A Little Less Emotion, Please, 64 Tax Notes 961 (1994) [SSRN]
- Leave Albertson’s Alone, 63 Tax Notes 1481 (1994) [SSRN]
- The Option Aspect of Nonrecourse Loans, 54 Tax Notes 441 (1992) [SSRN]
- Correction of Errors Via Equitable Recoupment and Tax Mitigation: Some People Still Do Not Understand, 52 Tax Notes 1421 (1991) [SSRN]
- A Different View of the Tax Benefit Rule: A Unified Theory of Error Correction, 42 Fla. L. Rev. 575 (1991) [SSRN]
- Masks, Magic and Games: The Use of Tax Law As a Policy Tool, 4 Am. J. Tax Pol’y 41 (1985) [SSRN]
- Some Limits of Equitable Recoupment, Tax Mitigation, and Res Judicata: Reflections Prompted by Chertkof v. United States, 38 Tax Lawyer 625 (1985) [SSRN]
- I.R.C. Section 274(b) and Duberstein Resurface: The Emperor Still Has No Clothes, 25 Ariz. L. Rev. 907 (1983) (with Hawley) [SSRN]
- Of [Im]Permissible Illogic and Section 1031, 34 Fla. L. Rev. 72 (1982) [SSRN]
- Carry-over Basis Provisions of the Tax Reform Act of 1976: Section 1023, 31 Tax Lawyer 191 (1977) (with Landry) [SSRN]
- Corporations, Fiduciaries, and Conflicts of Interest, 37 La. L. Rev. 809 (1976) [SSRN]
Appellate Briefs (primary author)
- Amicus Curiae, Brief with FreedomX Foundation, Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby; Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp v. Sebelius, Nos. 13-354; 13-356, Supreme Court of the United States (2014)
- Amicus Curiae, Brief with Tax Foundation, United States v. Marshall, No. 12- 20804, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (2013)
- Amicus Curiae, Susan Seven Sky v. Holder, No. 11-5047, Court of Appeals for the D. C. Circuit (2011)
- Amicus Curiae, Brief with Catholic Vote, United States v. State of Florida, No. 11- 398, Supreme Court of the United States (2011)
- Amicus Curiae, Letter Brief with Pacific Legal Foundation, Commonwealth of Virginia v. Sebelius, No. 11-1057, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (2011)
- Amicus Curiae, Thomas More Law Cntr. v. Obama, No. 10-2388, U. S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (2010)