chevron-down Created with Sketch Beta.

    Pro Bono Webinars

    Each webinar is recorded and posted here for educational purposes only. If you would like CLE credit, you can also purchase the webinars through the ABA Store.

    Fireside / Poolside Chat Recordings

    The Pro Bono & Tax Clinics Committee leadership hosts informal sessions where experts share information on topics of interest to Low Income Tax Clinic and pro bono practitioners. These sessions are free and open to non-members. Below find recordings of some of these recent sessions. 

    General Webinars

    Personhood, Reproductive Choice, and Family Formation: Tax Traps and Opportunities in the Post-Dobbs Era

    From October 11, 2022. The US Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization reversing the landmark case of Roe v. Wade has both opened tax traps and created tax opportunities that concern all Americans. To introduce these traps and opportunities to the general public, this panel will begin with a discussion of the fetal personhood movement and its potential tax ramifications. Next, the panel will consider how Dobbs may have expanded (1) the tax definition of a “dependent” and (2) eligibility for tax benefits for reproductive “medical care” — including abortion, cryopreservation, in vitro fertilization, and surrogacy — for different-sex and same-sex couples and for individuals. Finally, the panel will conclude with a discussion of the post-Dobbs tax aspects of employer-provided travel and lodging benefits associated with medical care, with a particular focus on the need to address concerns regarding the potential use of the tax system to surveil and criminally punish reproductive choices.

    Moderator

    • Brittany Johnson, Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP

    Panelists

    • Carliss Chatman, Associate Professor of Law, Washington & Lee University
    • Katie Pratt, Professor of Law, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles
    • Erin M. Sweeney, Partner, DLA Piper LLP

    Representing Domestic Violence Survivors in IRS Disputes

    Part 1

    This March 8, 2022 panel is meant for pro bono practitioners and others who work with survivors of domestic violence to resolve tax disputes. These cases can be particularly complicated given the complex rules around joint tax liability for spouses and inability to access shared financial records.

    Panelists

    • Nina Olson, Center For Taxpayer Rights, Washington, DC
    • Nancy Rossner, Community Tax Law Project, Richmond, VA
    • Terri Morris, Christine A. Brunswick Public Service Fellow, Richmond, VA
    • Kim Pentico, National Network to End Domestic Violence, Washington D.C.

    Part 2

    This April 22, 2022 panel is meant for pro bono practitioners and others who work with survivors of domestic violence to resolve tax disputes. These cases can be particularly complicated given the complex rules around joint tax liability for spouses and inability to access shared financial records.

    Panelists

    • Nina Olson, Center For Taxpayer Rights, Washington, DC
    • Leslie Allen, Family Law Unit, Philadelphia Legal Assistance, Philadelphia, PA
    • Audrey Patten, Harvard Federal Tax Clinic, Boston, MA
    • Christine Speidel, Villanova Law School Federal Tax Clinic, Villanova, PA

    Building a Pro Bono Panel: Tips and Tricks

    Recruiting pro bono volunteers is challenging, especially during the pandemic. Yet many Low Income Tax Clinics rely on pro bono attorneys in order to assist as many taxpayers as possible. Watch the May Gardenside chat, which focuses on how to build a pro bono panel, including where to recruit pro bono assistance, effective recruitment pitches, and how to retain volunteers. Panelists also discuss the new LITC Connect from the Center for Taxpayer Rights, a “dating app” that connects LITCs with tax professionals interested in volunteering with LITCs. 

    Moderator

    • Janice Shih, Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service

    Panelists

    • Nina Olson, Executive Director, Center for Taxpayer Rights
    • Barbara Heggie, 603 Legal Aid
    • Zahra Salih, Erie County Bar Association, Volunteer Lawyers Project, Inc.
    • Rebecca Sheppard, Pro Bono Co-Chair, Frost Law

    The Future of the Expanded and Advance Child Tax Credit 

    This September 14, 2021 panel explores the challenges legislators and the IRS will face in structuring and implementing an expansion of the advance child tax credit (“AdvCTC”) including:
    • Determining CTC eligibility;
    • Reconciliation of the CTC during filing season; and
    • Adjudication of the CTC when multiple people claim the same child.

    Moderator

    • Scott M. Levine, Partner, Jones Day

    Speakers

    • Jacob Goldin, Associate Professor of Law, Stanford University Law School
    • Elaine Maag, Principal Research Associate, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center
    • Nina Olson, Executive Director, Center for Taxpayer Rights

    Just the Facts Series 

    This series of three webinars was offered in the spring of 2021 after the in person annual Low-Income Taxpayer Representation Workshop was canceled due to COVID in December 2020.

    Recordings from Virtual Meetings 2020-21

    In addition to the above programming from our virtual Section Meetings in 2020-2021, you can find a series of free webinars specifically related to tax implications of COVID-19 in the early part of the pandemic on our COVID-19 Resources page here: Tax Implications of COVID-19 Webinar Series.

    Nuts & Bolts Collections Workshop Series

    The Tax Section started to offer quarterly (audio only to start) webinars free to all ABA Members in March 2018. The webinars build on each other and are meant to prepare tax attorneys who are interested in representing low-income taxpayers but do not have experience working with this population or potentially in controversy at all. We plan to offer more free webinars in the Nuts & Bolts series in the future. 

    • Nuts & Bolts Collections Workshop: A Guide to Assisting Pro Bono Clients with Collection Matters (March 7, 2018)
    • Nuts & Bolts Collections Part II: Next Steps in Assisting Pro Bono Clients with Collections Matters (June 13, 2018)
    • Nuts & Bolts Collections Part III: Preparing an Offer-in-Compromise for Pro Bono Clients (September 18, 2018)
    • Nuts & Bolts Collections Part IV: Common Issues in Preparing Offers for Compromise (February 28, 2019)

    Pro Bono Week CLE Series

    The Section participates in the ABA’s Celebrate Pro Bono week each October. We usually host a free webinar for attorneys practicing in the pro bono area or working in or with a Low-Income Tax Clinic. The full recordings of these webinars (and their materials) are below.