NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 28, 2012

CONTACT: Kent Love, 517-432-6959, kent.love@law.msu.edu

MSU Law Mobile Law Clinic Offers Relief to Taxpayers across Michigan

East Lansing, MI — Students from the Michigan State University College of Law Alvin L. Storrs Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic will take the Law College’s mobile law clinic on its first major trip to help low-income residents alleviate their tax disputes.

Five student clinicians from the Storrs Tax Clinic will visit several communities in northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, starting July 15, 2012. The students, who are authorized to practice in front of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), will offer free services to city residents during the trip, and will be accompanied by two licensed attorneys.

“I'm elated that the first tour on a grand scale is occurring,” said Michele Halloran, director of the Storrs Tax Clinic. “This is precisely why MSU Law purchased the mobile law clinic—to ensure that our student clinicians interface with as many people in Michigan as possible, even those who live a distance from East Lansing.”

During the tour, student clinicians also will recruit clients for free long-term tax representation.

“Tax representation is what we do and what we do well,” Halloran said. “The Storrs Tax Clinic is a key resource for low-income taxpayers throughout Michigan.”

Planned stops for the tour include the Traverse Area District Library (noon to 5 p.m. on July 15), Lake Superior State University Library in Sault Ste. Marie (noon to 5 p.m. on July 16), the Peter White Public Library in Marquette (3 to 7:30 p.m. on July 17), the Portage Lake United Church in Houghton (2 to 6 p.m. on July 18), the Dickinson County Library in Iron Mountain (noon to 5:45 p.m. on July 19), and the First Presbyterian Church in Escanaba (2 to 7 p.m. on July 20).

Student clinicians from the MSU Law Small Business & Nonprofit Law Clinic will join their fellow students from the Storrs Tax Clinic in Traverse City, Sault Ste. Marie, and Houghton-Hancock to offer legal counsel related to transactional areas of small business and nonprofit law.

The Mobile Law Clinic is a converted bookmobile that can be used by all of the clinical programs at the MSU College of Law.

Originally established in 1999, the Alvin L. Storrs Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic was renamed in honor of its founder in 2012. The Storrs Clinic serves low-income taxpayers who are in controversy with the IRS or who have cases before the U.S. Tax Court. The Storrs Clinic also counsels people for whom English is a second language about their rights and responsibilities under the Internal Revenue Code. The clinic is one of several practice areas within the MSU College of Law Legal Clinic—a high-energy, small law firm environment in which students apply their knowledge of the substantive law to real-life situations under the guidance and supervision of licensed attorneys. The growing roster of Legal Clinic practice areas also includes chance at childhood, civil rights law, First Amendment law, housing law, immigration law, plea and sentencing, and small business and nonprofit law. Student clinicians provide an important service for the betterment of the community while discovering their niche in the field of law.

Michigan State University College of Law, a leading institution of legal education with a long history of educating practice-ready attorneys, prepares future lawyers to use ethics, ambition, and intellect to solve the world's problems. As one of only a few private law schools affiliated with a major research university, MSU Law offers comprehensive interdisciplinary opportunities combined with a personalized legal education. After 100 years as a private and independent institution, the affiliation with MSU has put the Law College on an upward trajectory of national and international reputation and reach. MSU Law professors are gifted teachers and distinguished scholars, its curriculum is rigorous and challenging, and its facility is equipped with the latest resources—all affirming MSU Law's commitment to educating 21st-century lawyers.

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