What are the responsibilities and job description for the Contract Attorney, Low Income Taxpayer Clinic position at South Texas College of Law Houston?
SUMMARY Since 2016, South Texas College of Law Houston has operated a Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC or Tax Clinic), which is partially funded by an IRS grant. The LITC (which also teaches law students about tax controversy work) provides both community education and direct representation in federal tax controversies to low-income taxpayers. Clients assisted by the LITC need a variety of types of assistance in resolving their federal tax issues with the IRS, including entering into installment agreements, submitting offers in compromise, negotiating with IRS Appeals, requesting Collection Due Process Hearings, and filing petitions and litigating in the United States Tax Court. The Contract Attorney will work in the LITC during the 2025 calendar year. This position is funded by a federal grant and could extend beyond the 2025 calendar year if grant funding continues to be available.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following. Other duties as assigned.
Screen cases, help to manage the LITC’s docket, and represent clients.
Assist with matters relating to the day-to-day administration of the clinic and its cases and assist with cases that begin outside of or are not concluded during the academic year.
Identify community partners to host community education sessions and present or assist in presenting information at the sessions.
Identify possible locations for outreach activities by the LITC and performs or assists in performing the outreach.
Assist with the IRS grant reporting functions.
Comply with all aspects of the law school’s Customer Service Standards.
SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES
NA
QUALIFICATIONS
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Must be professional and confidential of all department data and correspondence. The person must have a poised and professional image; strong ability to multi-task and prioritize in a fast-paced environment, excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to interact effectively and efficiently with all employees, visitors and students while projecting a positive image for the area and college. Service oriented with ability to make all visitors feel welcome. Must be computer literate with proficiency in MS Office applications (Word, Excel and PowerPoint), some WordPerfect with ability to learn new programs as necessary. Must be detail-oriented and able to work in a fast-paced multi-tasking environment.
EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE
Must have a JD from an ABA-accredited law school, be licensed to practice law in at least one state in the United States and have experience in tax law. Qualified applicants must be authorized to represent taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service, and either be admitted to practice or become admitted to practice before the United States Tax Court. Fluency in a second language and a demonstrated commitment to the needs of low-income taxpayers are highly desirable.
LANGUAGE SKILLS
Ability to read, analyze, and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, or governmental regulations. Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, clients, customers, and the general public.
MATHEMATICAL SKILLS
Ability to perform basic to intermediate math essential. Must possess the ability to analyze numerical data and detect patterns, errors and trends.
REASONING ABILITY
Ability to define routine problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions to solve routine problems and/or deal with a variety of variables in situations, especially when department head may be out of office or unavailable. Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.
CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS
Must be licensed to practice law in at least one state in the United States and have experience in tax law.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit and talk or hear. The employee is regularly required to stand and walk. Ability to lift up to 20lbs. is required. Lifting from floor level, at waist, and above shoulders required. Infrequent bending and stooping necessary. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision in order to accurately input data and proofread; distance vision in order to recognize and assist visitors to the department.
WORK ENVIRONMENT
The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Extremely fast paced, multi-tasking, non-smoking work environment. Must be able to work the general business schedule of the law school (9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.) plus occasional evenings and weekends as necessary.
Work will entail some local travel around the Houston area.
Application Instructions
Applications must contain a CV or resume and a cover letter describing the applicant’s interest in public interest law, and clinical legal education.
This full-time position is anticipated to end on December 31, 2025, unless funding is renewed.
