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110 Minn. L. Rev. Headnotes 1 (2025-2026)

handle is hein.journals/headnotpan110 and id is 1 raw text is: Essay Exceptional Cases Emily Caublet INTRODUCTION In their recent book, AUTOMATED AGENCIES, Professors Blank and Osofsky offer what the book front matter aptly de- scribes as the definitive account of how automation is trans- forming government explanations of law to the public.1 As they lay out in detail, for many decades the private sector has used automated systems to provide customer service, and government agencies have done the same by developing and making availa- ble various online tools to provide the public with guidance on applicable law. As they note, sometimes automated tools offer guidance that does not align with actual law. One example they describe entails the IRS's automated tool informing a hypothet- ical user that they are not entitled to a medical expense deduc- tion for the cost of a home health aide, an arguably incorrect an- swer given the user's unique circumstances. As Professors Blank and Osofsky speculate, in that case, the IRS's automated tool's answer likely reflects the IRS's decision that the automated le- gal guidance system should offer responses that are correct for most taxpayers, even at the cost of offering incorrect responses for some.2 This theme-that automated guidance does not deal well with exceptional cases-is one theme upon which I will elab- orate in this Essay. As Professors Blank and Osofsky explain in the book and have explained in their prior work, informal guidance often t Thomas G. Ragatz Chair in Tax Law, University of Wisconsin Law School. The author would like to thank Anuj Desai and Larry Zelenak for their helpful comments. The author would also like to thank the editors of Minnesota Law ReviewHeadnotes for their helpful comments and edits. Copyright © 2025 by Emily Cauble. 1. JOSHUA D. BLANK & LEIGH OSOFSKY, AUTOMATED AGENCIES: THE TRANSFORMATION OF GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE (Cambridge University Press 2025). 2. BLANK & OSOFSKY, supra note 1, at 8. 1