Under the direction of dedicated faculty, the Tax Clinic provide students with invaluable opportunities to apply legal theory to real-world cases while serving the community. By representing clients, engaging in outreach efforts, and receiving guidance from experienced faculty, students gain practical skills and contribute to ensuring access to justice for all residents of the state. The VITA program is a great entry point for students considering working in the Tax Clinic.
The clinic employs 1Ls and 2Ls as summer interns (on a full time basis—usually 37.5 hours a week for 12 weeks), No prior tax experience is required, but preference is given to students who have volunteered for VITA and otherwise expressed an interest in tax during their time in law school. These internships allow students to develop substantive tax knowledge as well as litigation and administrative law practice skills, including drafting litigation documents and memoranda, interacting with clients, and developing other professional skills. Interested candidates (current USC Rice law students only) should send an email expressing their interest along with a resume to taxclinic@sc.edu.
The Tax Clinic employs 2Ls and 3Ls as interns during the school year, conducting work similar to our summer interns but on a more limited basis (around 10 hours per week during the term). Students must have worked for the tax clinic during the summer, volunteered for VITA, or have successfully completed at least one tax course. Interested candidates (current USC Rice law students only) should send an email expressing their interest along with a resume to taxclinic@sc.edu.
VITA employs several 2L and 3L Student Managers each tax filing season. These students serve as site coordinators and oversee the VITA process week to week. Students must have previously volunteered for VITA, and should discuss their interest and how to apply with the current Student Managers.
The Tax Clinic is offered periodically as one of eight in-house clinics at USC Rice School fo Law. The Tax Clinic provides students a unique opportunity to have extensive client contact, to conduct fact investigation and legal research, and to develop, present, and argue cases on behalf of vulnerable taxpayers who would otherwise not have access to justice. The Tax Clinic will next be offered in Fall 2025.
Each year, VITA seeks 20-30 student and attorney volunteers to commit to attend three or more VITA intake sessions, and to prepare tax returns during the week. Volunteering requires various tax preparation certifications, which we provide training sessions for each year in December and January. Learn more>>