Federal Tax Clinic
The Federal Tax Clinic represents individual clients in tax
controversy proceedings before the Internal Revenue Service and in the federal courts.
In addition to legal representation of low-income taxpayers throughout Washington state, the Clinic provides UW law
students with practical training in tax law, tax procedure and lawyering skills under the supervision of the Faculty Director Scott Schumacher and Managing Director John Clynch.
| Clinic Numbers |
|---|
| Quarters offered: | Full Year (Autumn, Winter, Spring) |
| Credits: | 9 for J.D.s (three per quarter)
6 for LL.M.s (two per quarter) |
| Students: | 18 (6 J.D., 12 LL.M.) |
| Clients: | Calendar year 2012, opened 157 new cases.
Saved clients $2,008,642 in 2012. |
The Federal Tax Clinic was established in 2000 to assist low-income individuals
in Western Washington in resolving disputes with the Internal Revenue
Service. The federally-funded clinic offers this assistance as a public service
and as a means of training law students in tax practice. The tax clinic has
a pro bono panel of volunteer attorneys to assist the growing number of
low-income taxpayers who have disputes with the IRS.
Notable Accomplishments
- The UW Federal Tax Clinic received the largest grant award in the country
for 2012.
- During 2012, the clinic handled a total of 437 open
cases, including 63 in the United States Tax Court.
- Received a $2,000 gift from the WSBA Tax Section.
- Continue to utilize clinic pro bono panel, which had approximately 45 volunteer attorneys representing clients.
- Presented six CLEs during 2012.
- John Clynch voted on to faculty.
- Ceci Lopez awarded 2-year Public Service Tax Fellowship from the American
Bar Association. Her work will focus on assistance to Spanish speaking small
business
Tax Clinic News
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Ceci Lopez recipient of Public Service Tax Fellowship
Ana “Ceci” Lopez is one of two recipients of the Public Service Tax Fellowship sponsored by the American Bar Association Tax Section. This two year fellowship will allow Ceci Lopez to provide education, information and referral services to primarily Spanish speaking individuals regarding tax and business issues.
-
Tax Professor honored by AALS
Scott Schumacher, director of the Federal Tax Clinic is one of only six legal educators in the country honored as a 2010 Bellow Scholar by the Clinical Legal Education section of the Association of American Law Schools.
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Justice [Department] Examines Deutsche Bank Closely - Financial Times, German Edition
Scott Schumacher discusses the KPMG investigation and prosecution. (This article is in German.)
-
Tax Inquiry Is Moving Past KPMG - New York Times
Ever since the accounting firm KPMG reached a $456 million settlement of a federal investigation into abusive tax shelters nearly three weeks ago, the question has been who may be next. Scott Schumacher is quoted
Scott Schumacher Publications
Clinic Director Scott Schumacher is the co-author of the book Tax Crimes, published by LexisNexis.
See Scott's other published works
here.
Schumacher joined the Audit Committee of the Law School Admissions Council
(LSAC).
John Clynch
Managing Director John Clynch is the author of Tax Consequences of “Retiring” a General Partner’s Interest in a Law Partnership, which is included in
The Lawyer’s Guide, published by the American Bar Association.