The Law School’s Ronald M. Mankoff Tax Clinic had a record year in 2022 — for the first time ever surpassing the $1 million mark in how much it helped clients reduce their tax liabilities. 

The clinic annually files a report with the IRS providing the client liability reduction figure as part of a federal grant that it receives. For years in which records are available, the highest amount the clinic has previously reported was about $572,000 in 2016. 

Associate Clinical Professor of Law Caleb Smith, who directs the clinic, said the banner year resulted from “a fair amount of bigger-ticket cases” resolved during the last year rather than an increased volume of cases. 

The Tax Clinic aims to help law students develop skills needed to represent low-income taxpayers who have a tax issue. Cases generally include audits of tax returns, filing and trying cases in Minnesota Tax Court and Federal District Court, and bringing taxpayers into collection compliance. 

The $1 million-plus result for the clinic, whose roots go back to the early 1980s, is especially impressive considering the tight budget with which is work. The clinic currently receives a $100,000 annual grant from the government, which the Law School matches dollar for dollar. This translates to more than a 5-to-1 return on investment last year. 

“We make the most of our budget by more or less working for free,” said Smith. 

For some potential clients, the idea of getting high-quality legal help without paying seems too good to be true. “Clients tend to be wary when they hear the words ‘free’ and ‘student,’’ Smith said. “Those reservations usually go away once they’ve worked with us.” 

The clinic has customarily had between 80 and 100 open cases, with many of them waiting for the IRS to come to a resolution. During the pandemic, that number increased as the IRS fell behind in its ability to address cases. 

One case came the way of Maysa Alqaisi, 3L. She helped draft a petition before the U.S. Tax Court on behalf of a low-income client who had been erroneously held account- able for taxes on a medical settlement that the client was not a party. 

After the court read the petition, the IRS conceded that the client was caught up in the case via clerical missteps, and the matter was settled out of court. 

“It was an important exercise for me to draft a court document,” said Alqaisi, who is a clinic student director this school year. “Our client was more than relieved to have her story heard and understood.” 

Students in the clinic generally take on between three and five cases during the clinic. They have weekly status meetings with Smith and the student director who’s assigned to a given case. Once drilled in the fundamentals during the fall semester, students participate in community education and outreach events during the spring. 

“A lot of my students are in their second or third year,” said Smith. “Once they graduate, they’ll start getting paid really well by clients who can afford to pay for the skills they develop here.” 

Smith said that in the future he would like to have a fellow in the program — possibly an attorney to help with outreach. 

“Clients usually don’t assert their right to litigation because tax law is confusing,” he said. “I’d like to see us focus more on cases that might be precedential and have nationwide applications.”