Welcome

Welcome to the Lewis & Clark Tax Law Program pages. Please take a look around our site by clicking on the links over on the far right. And feel free to contact us if you have any questions that aren't answered here, if you want more information about our program, or if you'd like to discuss the study of tax law generally.

Lewis & Clark Clinic Makes Positive Difference for Low-Income Taxpayers

Professional tax advice doesn't usually come cheap. Tax advisors typically charge hundreds of dollars an hour for their time -- particularly if there's an active dispute brewing between the client and the IRS. The high cost of representation creates an uneven playing field, on which the government has traditionally enjoyed a clear advantage.

Lewis & Clark Law School's Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) is one about 150 programs around the country that seek to change that state of affairs. The LITC represents low-income taxpayers without charge. One of the first clinics of its kind, the Lewis & Clark LITC opened its doors with the first wave of such services in 2000. Since then, our law students have advised hundreds of low-income individuals in controversies with the federal tax authorities. Under the supervision of LITC Director Jan Pierce, Lewis & Clark students have appeared on behalf of taxpayers of modest means in numerous cases in the U.S. Tax Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. This work earns the students academic credit, as well as providing invaluable training for the students' future practices.

The Lewis & Clark LITC's annual report for the 2007-2008 academic reveals the rich nature of the program. During that year, the LITC handled dozens of controversies, including 15 cases on the Tax Court's dockets when it came to Portland for a trial calendar in March and June of 2008. Many of these cases were settled before trial -- the IRS conceded six of them, and a major case was settled on terms favorable to the taxpayer. In a case decided by the Tax Court in the summer of 2008, the Lewis & Clark LITC scored an important victory for a client who had been accused of fraud. The court greatly reduced the amounts of the client's income over a four-year period from the amounts alleged by the IRS.

More information about the LITC can be found here.

Tax Program Adjunct Profs Include Heavy Hitters

In addition to its three full-time tax professors, the tax program at Lewis & Clark Law School has long been blessed with gifted adjunct professors who bring priceless real-world perspectives into the classroom. Portland is home to a number of nationally recognized tax lawyers, and most of them have taught advanced tax classes at the law school at one time or another over the years. Two of the strongest teachers from this group are currently part of the tax faculty lineup: Philip Jones teaches Federal Tax Procedure, and Gersham Goldstein teaches Advanced Corporate Taxation. Both do so with great skill, enthusiasm, and caring.

Jones is a partner in the law firm Duffy Kekel LLP, where he has worked since his graduation from Lewis & Clark Law School in 1976. His busy practice includes resolving disputes with the Internal Revenue Service, both administratively and in court; estate planning; and estate and trust administration and litigation. He has tried and argued many tax cases at all levels of state and federal trial and appellate courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, and he has a keen interest in education for tax professionals. Jones is a frequent speaker at all sorts of continuing education seminars, and he has written more than a dozen articles for The Journal of Taxation, a leading national professional journal. Among the topics he likes to write and talk about is the burden of proof in tax disputes -- to win a tax dispute, who has the obligation of persuading the judge or jury of the correctness of its side of the facts, the taxpayer or the government? Jones is also a graduate of Lewis & Clark's College of Arts and Sciences, where he majored in economics, and he has been a great friend of his alma mater ever since. When not immersed in the tax law, he can be found enjoying the great outdoors of the Northwest, where he is an accomplished mountaineer and cyclist.

Goldstein is a partner in law firm Stoel Rives LLP, where he has been the leading tax attorney for 30 years. Known throughout the country as an authority on corporate taxation, he is a collaborator of the most recent edition of Federal Taxation of Corporations and Shareholders. Originally authored by Goldstein's friends and colleagues, James Eustice and the late Boris Bittker, this work is perhaps the most influential tax treatise ever written. Goldstein is also the editor-in-chief of Corporate Taxation, a national quarterly journal that he helped to found 35 years ago. A much sought-after lecturer to tax institutes and bar groups, he was the Charles S. Lyon Visiting Professor of Taxation from Practice at N.Y.U. Law School in the fall of 1991, and has also been a faculty member of the N.Y.U. Law School Graduate Tax Workshop for many years. He received his advanced degree in taxation from N.Y.U. in 1964, and he found his way to Oregon to become the first law clerk to the Oregon Tax Court. Early in his career, he taught for several years at the University of Cincinnati Law School. Goldstein's intellect and sense of humor are legendary among tax lawyers around the nation, and he is generous with his time for the handful of students who are lucky enough to enroll in his intensive course on corporate reorganization and consolidated returns.