He’s a decent professor – explains concepts clearly in an engaging manner, and truly gets you interested in Tax. However, I thought his exam was pretty unfair – throughout the semester he stressed tax policy, but the exam was full of numerical problems, and only one small policy question. There’s nothing wrong with problems – Kahn does that all the time, it’s just that we weren’t prepared for it.
I haven’t had him, but I’ve heard that is class is all policy while his exam is all tax (and that no one knows how to do the tax problems as a result). In my opinion, Kahn is the man for all things tax.
I took tax with Hines last semester and really loved his class. He’s hilarious, which makes class very entertaining. Plus he LOVES the tax code, so it makes the class much more interesting to have a professor who is so passionate. He did a good job of mixing in policy with the nuts and bolts of the tax code, too. He does call in people in class, but it’s a pretty laid-back atmosphere, and he’ll help you out if you don’t know what’s going on.
He’s the best. He’s scary smart, but he makes tax interesting and approachable. His class is often hilarious (he tells a lot of corny jokes); he is responsive and helpful outside of class too. I was not excited about taking tax at all (and wouldn’t have if I had not felt like I needed to), and it was one of the best classes I have taken. I cannot recommend him enough.
Hines is great. He’s hilarious and he keeps you interested. He can be a little confusing sometimes, but he has no problem explaining it to you. Tax has been one of my most useful classes in law school (in my limited legal career). The exam was fair and there is not a ton of reading to do for it.
He’s AWESOME! Definitely my favorite law professor. He’s only around every couple semesters or so, so I highly recommend taking the opportunity to take a class from him if he’s teaching next semester, because he probably won’t be teaching here again while you are here.
I found his class pretty enjoyable. One warning: his lectures are often focused on tax theory, often with discussion of why certain policies have been put into place. His exam consists of problems where you are asked to
find individuals’ tax liabilities in certain situations, which is a departure from the way lectures are presented. Your best bet is to use problem sets from a study guide (or from Kahn or Logue’s classes) to practice the concepts Hines covers.
Jim’s a brother. Only law school class I ever looked forward to. Reasonable amount of reading and does a lot of practice problems (which you’ll want to write down for exam prep). Only complaint is that he told us he’d send out sample problems and never did. Otherwise, he’s the best teacher you could have.
Hines is great. Funny, interesting, informative. What everyone says about the class being all policy and the exam being all tax problems is completely true. But it’s curved, and you’re already one step ahead of anyone who hasn’t read the advice on this page…
Not horrible, but I probably would recommend to a friend that you take Tax with someone else.
While I thought Tax with Jim Hines was entertaining, I found the course very frustrating to sit through. He cold calls on notes cases in which where is 1 sentence about the case in the book. There were some complicated things he would breeze by and then he wouldn’t really commit to not putting it on the exam, but for the most part you got the sense that the exam would cover the highlights from class and not all the tiny tax code details.
On the plus side, it was a very manageable reading load. 70% of his explanations of things were clear. The book he used was 100% unclear so I relied heavily on Hines’ explanations and my notes.
Had him for trusts & estates. The class was good. He was always on time and he was very accessible. Very nice and willing to explain and answer questions. His exam was very fair and was even easier than anticipated. He doesn’t make a big deal about people missing class or aren’t prepared. He knows the material well and is willing to explore any view/other possibilities.
MLaw Prof Reviews
I liked Hines for tax because he’s an econ school prof, so he has a soul.
He’s a decent professor – explains concepts clearly in an engaging manner, and truly gets you interested in Tax. However, I thought his exam was pretty unfair – throughout the semester he stressed tax policy, but the exam was full of numerical problems, and only one small policy question. There’s nothing wrong with problems – Kahn does that all the time, it’s just that we weren’t prepared for it.
I haven’t had him, but I’ve heard that is class is all policy while his exam is all tax (and that no one knows how to do the tax problems as a result). In my opinion, Kahn is the man for all things tax.
I took tax with Hines last semester and really loved his class. He’s hilarious, which makes class very entertaining. Plus he LOVES the tax code, so it makes the class much more interesting to have a professor who is so passionate. He did a good job of mixing in policy with the nuts and bolts of the tax code, too. He does call in people in class, but it’s a pretty laid-back atmosphere, and he’ll help you out if you don’t know what’s going on.
He’s the best. He’s scary smart, but he makes tax interesting and approachable. His class is often hilarious (he tells a lot of corny jokes); he is responsive and helpful outside of class too. I was not excited about taking tax at all (and wouldn’t have if I had not felt like I needed to), and it was one of the best classes I have taken. I cannot recommend him enough.
Hines is great. He’s hilarious and he keeps you interested. He can be a little confusing sometimes, but he has no problem explaining it to you. Tax has been one of my most useful classes in law school (in my limited legal career). The exam was fair and there is not a ton of reading to do for it.
Absolutely take it with him. He is fantastic. Definitely in the running for my favorite professor at the law school and I’m an outgoing 3L.
He’s AWESOME! Definitely my favorite law professor. He’s only around every couple semesters or so, so I highly recommend taking the opportunity to take a class from him if he’s teaching next semester, because he probably won’t be teaching here again while you are here.
I found his class pretty enjoyable. One warning: his lectures are often focused on tax theory, often with discussion of why certain policies have been put into place. His exam consists of problems where you are asked to
find individuals’ tax liabilities in certain situations, which is a departure from the way lectures are presented. Your best bet is to use problem sets from a study guide (or from Kahn or Logue’s classes) to practice the concepts Hines covers.
He’s fantastic. I definitely recommend it. Not a lot of reading, you’ll learn a lot, and the man is HILARIOUS. I really enjoyed it.
Jim’s a brother. Only law school class I ever looked forward to. Reasonable amount of reading and does a lot of practice problems (which you’ll want to write down for exam prep). Only complaint is that he told us he’d send out sample problems and never did. Otherwise, he’s the best teacher you could have.
Hines is great. Funny, interesting, informative. What everyone says about the class being all policy and the exam being all tax problems is completely true. But it’s curved, and you’re already one step ahead of anyone who hasn’t read the advice on this page…
I had him for T&E and thought he was a good professor, very nice, and responsive to questions. He’s pretty funny and interesting.
Not horrible, but I probably would recommend to a friend that you take Tax with someone else.
While I thought Tax with Jim Hines was entertaining, I found the course very frustrating to sit through. He cold calls on notes cases in which where is 1 sentence about the case in the book. There were some complicated things he would breeze by and then he wouldn’t really commit to not putting it on the exam, but for the most part you got the sense that the exam would cover the highlights from class and not all the tiny tax code details.
On the plus side, it was a very manageable reading load. 70% of his explanations of things were clear. The book he used was 100% unclear so I relied heavily on Hines’ explanations and my notes.
+1 to the last review
Had him for trusts & estates. The class was good. He was always on time and he was very accessible. Very nice and willing to explain and answer questions. His exam was very fair and was even easier than anticipated. He doesn’t make a big deal about people missing class or aren’t prepared. He knows the material well and is willing to explore any view/other possibilities.
Nothing special for tax. His class was a waste of time. He is not funny, either.