The University of Idaho Argonaut

The term IRS is a frightening acronym in itself. Couple that with tax dispute and it becomes a nightmare.
The Internal Revenue Service handles 100,000 tax disputes a year ­— and that number encompasses only cases that are settled. Fortunately, tax payers of this region have something to lean on — the University of Idaho Tax Clinic.
Bradley Weber, a third-year law student, has been an intern for the Tax Clinic for two semesters. The clinic is designed to aid low-income clients through legal disputes between the IRS and the U.S. Tax Court.

“Dealing with the IRS can be a scary thing.” Weber said. “For us, it’s work. But for clients it’s a big stress.”
There are many reasons people seek the aid of the Tax Clinic. Interns tackle exemption and deduction discrepancies, disputes over how much money clients owe, as well as arguments regarding the consequences of filing a flawed return.
The Tax Clinic has been filled with clients since its introduction in 1999 as part of UI’s College of Law Legal Aid Clinic. Trapper Stewart, a supervising attorney for the clinic, said the clinic can have 50 or more open cases at any given time. He said cases can take weeks or even years to resolve.
“(The interns) are busy bees,” he said. “We’re always here and we always seem to have plenty of work.”
Stewart said he believes the Tax Clinic gives the community much needed access to justice. Interns work closely with clients in collecting the proper documentation to create a strong foundation for their client’s case. Besides the occasional processing fee, clients from the UI legal aid clinic pay nothing for the services they receive.
Along with providing support to the community, the Tax Clinic gives experienced law students the opportunity to work with clients with real issues.

“Students have an opportunity to help real clients before they head out to do it as a full blown licensed attorney,” Stewart said. “It’s a great complement to their law school education.”
The internship is a three credit capstone course. Each student must devote a total of 180 hours throughout the semester in order to complete it.
“We kind of live double lives,” Weber said. “We’re students but we have clients too.”
The College of Law has six existing clinics, including the Tax Clinic. Other clinics cater to small businesses, tribal and immigration issues, victim’s rights and domestic violence. All these are also run by student interns.

Third-year law students interested in internships must file a general application for all six clinics. There are anywhere from five to 10 interns working annually for each clinic. Interns are supervised by five professional attorneys. Stewart said he expects 50 interns working for the clinics next year.