Because the clinic is a 6 credit course, you will be expected to "bill" a total of 170 "billable hours" for the term. Please note that to receive full-credit for meeting the billable hours requirement, 85 of these hours must be completed at the point of your mid-term review.  Time spent in class (including case round discussions), your weekly meeting with your supervising attorney, preparing for class, updating your files in Clio, maintaining the paperwork in your files, and doing assigned reading is not applied toward that time commitment and should not be recorded in the case management software, although all work that you directly perform on a case should be recorded in case management software as billable time. During the first couple of weeks of the term, you will probably have to work more than the average number of hours in order to familiarize yourself with your cases, but you can apply those excess hours to the total number of hours required during the term.  In addition, you are expected to complete the Assigned Reading and the iCollege Modules assigned to you for the semester.

Some students will spend more time on clinic work than others because of differences among them in knowledge, time management skills, or concern and sympathy for clients. Work will expand to fit the time allotted to it, so students must manage their time efficiently. The clinic's resources assist students in completing tasks. The clinic staff helps students manage caseloads through instruction, prioritization and reassignment, if necessary. Students benefit because they learn these skills in an actual law firm setting without assuming ultimate responsibility for billable time.

The clinic course is unlike a traditional law school course. Competition is discouraged. Students are not graded relative to how their peers perform. Students are expected to cooperate by helping each other with client matters and by sharing knowledge. There is no grading curve. Thus, if every student performs well, all grades will reflect such performance.

The clinic evaluates students on the following:

• Professionalism and Ethics – exercising sound professional judgment; interacting appropriately with clients, IRS personnel, fellow students and staff; appropriate dress when necessary, and adherence to clinic administrative and other procedures including meeting all deadlines;
• Quality of service to clients;
• Accuracy and thoroughness of written documents and memoranda;
• Progress of cases;
• Success in resolving cases including timely closing of cases;
• Class participation, clinic involvement, and meeting the clinic hours requirement

Any student who has questions about his or her level of performance is encouraged to confer with the clinic director, associate director or supervising attorney for clarification.

The clinic handles tax controversies involving civil federal income or employment taxes. The clinic does not handle refund suits filed in U.S. District Court or U.S. Claims Court, nor state or corporate tax issues. It also does not prepare tax returns.

The clinic director, associate director or supervising attorney assigns cases. They usually fall under one of these five stages:

• Taxpayer received an administrative notice.
• Taxpayer received a statutory notice.
• Taxpayer filed a petition with the U.S. Tax Court pursuant to the “small case” procedure and seeks help with either a settlement or litigation.
• Taxpayer paid the tax and seeks to institute a refund suit in a district court or the Court of Federal Claims. In this situation, the taxpayer may have bypassed the opportunity for administrative appeal or has not filed a petition in U.S. Tax Court.  The clinic does not file refund suits, but Legal Aid may do so.
• Taxpayer failed to respond to administrative or statutory notices, tax has been assessed, and the matter has been transferred to collections. This type of case will be accepted where there is a substantive tax issue involved or where tax equity dictates it.

Many individuals who contact the clinic experience not only significant tax problems, but also other legal or personal problems. These other problems may relate to unemployment, substance abuse, spousal abuse, child abuse, illiteracy, and medical and emotional issues. A student attorney should recognize the presence of these issues, but not attempt to resolve them. You should respect the client's privacy and exercise caution so as not to offend the client by questioning him about suspected nontax problems, but you should prepare to refer your client to an appropriate social service agency.

The clinic maintains a list of agencies to meet the needs of Atlanta-area residents. One of the clinic directors should be consulted before a referral is made to an agency. Document the referral in writing with the agency's name and telephone number, disclaim any affiliation with the agency, and refrain from guaranteeing results. If a referral is made, write a memo to the client’s case file describing the circumstances.

During subsequent conversations with the client, you should avoid questioning him or her about the referral's outcome.

The clinic offers several Awards and fellowships each term to College of Law students who have completed at least Clinic I and preferably Clinic II. A fellowship will allow the selected student to be classified as a Graduate Research Assistant (GRA).