Law graduates honored by State Bar Taxation Section

Catherine Ferguson and Charles Roarty, Wayne State University Law School class of 2018, were nominated by faculty and selected and honored at the recent State Bar of Michigan Taxation Section annual meeting.

Both students will be pursuing their LL.M. degree in the fall.

Each year, the section awards the outstanding tax students from each of the law schools in Michigan for “Excellence in the Study of Taxation.” Ferguson and Roarty received their honors during the meeting on May 24.

Ferguson, a resident of Woodhaven, was cofounder and editor-in-chief of the Wayne State University Journal of Business Law for the 2017-18 academic year. She also participated in mock trial and was a teaching and research assistant for several professors. From September 2017 to May 2018, Ferguson interned at the Internal Revenue Service and also held a summer associate position in 2017 at Kemp Klein Law Firm.

Ferguson will pursue her LL.M. at Georgetown Law in the fall. She said she was encouraged by both professors and workplace mentors to continue her education.

“During my time at Wayne Law, I was very fortunate in that I was able to work in the tax field and study tax law simultaneously,” Ferguson said. “I’m grateful for all of these experiences, the mentors who encouraged me along the way, and I’m extremely excited to learn more about my favorite area of the law.”

In addition to this award from the State Bar of Michigan, Ferguson received the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) scholarship in May 2018.

The ACC scholarship is awarded annually to one student from each Michigan law school who excels in business law courses.

Roarty of Detroit was cofounder and managing editor of the Wayne State University Journal of Business Law, a teaching assistant and a member of the school’s Transactional Law Competition. He also was a member of the Sports and Entertainment Law Society’s board of advisors and former president of the organization.

Roarty interned in Washington, D.C. during the summer of 2017 through the Levin Center at Wayne Law’s internship program. He worked on the Minority Staff of the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs with Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. He also interned at the Internal Revenue Service in spring 2018.

“The professors and mentors I had at Wayne Law all helped push me to explore complex issues,” Roarty said. “Tax can be frustrating because it impacts many other areas of law, but my mentors were always willing to help. They inspired me to pursue my LL.M. despite the challenges it will present. I've also considered teaching as a result of their guidance.”

Roarty will attend New York University School of Law in the fall for his LL.M.