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the taxpayer’s primary purpose for engaging in the activity must
be for income or profit.” Commissioner v. Groetzinger, 480 U.S.
23, 35 (1987). Moreover, to qualify for the deduction, the
taxpayer must be established in the trade or business at the time
the educational expenses are incurred. Jungreis v. Commissioner,
55 T.C. 581, 588 (1970).
The issue before the Court is whether petitioner was in a
trade or business of practicing law during 2000. Admission to
the bar is not tantamount to being engaged in a trade or business
of practicing law. Wassenaar v. Commissioner, 72 T.C. 1195,
1199-1200 (1979). And, a law clerk who is employed in private
practice while attending law school and before admission to a bar
is not engaged in a trade or business of practicing law. See
Johnston v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1978-257.
Petitioner relies on Ruehmann v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo.
1971-157. In Ruehmann, the Court held that the taxpayer’s
expenses to obtain an LL.M. were deductible under section 162.
Id. The taxpayer passed the State bar exam in his second year of
law school. After graduation, the taxpayer worked in a law firm
for a short time before starting his LL.M. studies. At the law
firm, the taxpayer “was employed as a lawyer, paid the same
salary as other beginning lawyers who were members of the Bar,
and assigned the same type of work that other lawyers of
comparable experience in the * * * Firm were assigned.” Id.
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