Clinic: Tax Clinic 704-S1

Limit 4 Students

The tax clinic (clinic) represents low income taxpayers who have controversies with the Internal Revenue Service. While the students “first chair” the cases, the clinic gives students the opportunity to handle all phases of a tax case while in a supervised and supportive atmosphere.

The clinic handles all phases of a tax case from audit, through the IRS Appeals Division, trial in U.S. Tax Court, appeal to the Ninth Circuit where appropriate, and dealing with the IRS concerning collection of the tax. As stated, the students first chair the cases. This means they interview and interact with the clients, interview witnesses, gather evidence, communicate with IRS personnel, draft documents, negotiate cases, and try cases in U.S. Tax Court, all under supervision of Jan Pierce, Clinical Professor.

The clinic is located in downtown Portland. The tax clinic offers an excellent opportunity to determine what it is like to participate in the representation of clients while in a structured, supervised, and supportive atmosphere.

The tax clinic is a pass/no pass course, with no final examination and no paper. Under normal circumstances students will satisfy their WIE writing requirement at clinic. The clinic will not satisfy the student’s professional responsibility requirement.

The tax clinic can only be taken for four hours during summer school. Students are present at the clinic from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm Monday through Thursday for five weeks beginning Tuesday May 31 through June 30, where the Memorial holiday is made-up on Friday June 3.

There is a limit to the number of students who may register for the tax clinic and early registration is encouraged. The Registrar will maintain a wait list for students enrolling for clinic.

The clinic office is located in the Board of Trade Building, 310 SW Fourth Av, Tenth Floor, Portland. The telephone number is 503-768-6500. Jan Pierce runs the tax clinic and his e-mail is pierce@lclark.edu

The American Bar Association accreditation standards require students to regularly attend the courses in which they are registered. Lewis & Clark expects students to attend classes regularly and to prepare for classes conscientiously. Specific attendance requirements may vary from course to course. Any attendance guidelines for a given class must be provided to students in a syllabus or other written document at the start of the semester. Sanctions (e.g., required withdrawal from the course, grade adjustment, and/or a failing grade) will be imposed for poor attendance.