Date: Wednesday, March 11, 2020

Time: 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm (EST)

Trafficking survivors often face poverty, debt, and tax issues. These challenges persist, sometimes years after they escape from their trafficking situation.  This webinar, designed for advocates and attorneys, will provide guidance on navigating the new tax code and understanding tax issues that may confront survivors.  Most importantly, this webinar, taught by two tax attorneys with experience assisting trafficking survivors, will provide advocates with resources trafficking survivors can access to find expert legal advice. A recent publication, A Guide for Advocates, written by the University of Baltimore School of Law, The Human Trafficking Legal Center, and pro bono law firm Ropes & Gray, provides additional background to these issues.

Janice Shih, J.D.
Janice Shih is the Director of the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) at Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service (MVLS), the largest provider of pro bono legal services in the state of Maryland.  MVLS LITC assists human trafficking survivors with their tax issues through the Human Trafficking Prevention Project (HTPP), a partnership between  MVLS and University of Baltimore School of Law). This partnership provides free legal services for survivors of human trafficking and individuals at risk of exploitation seeking to vacate, expunge, or shield prostitution and other charges on their criminal records, as well as legal assistance with family law, housing, consumer debt, tax, and other civil matters.

Janice is a member of the LITC Advisory Board for the Center for Taxpayer Rights, as well as the incoming Vice-Chair of the Pro Bono and Tax Clinics Committee of the American Bar Association.   Locally, Janice is a member of the Maryland State Bar Association Taxation Council.  She serves as the Co-Chair of the Pro Bono Committee, an incoming member of the Maryland Board of Individual Tax Return Preparers, and a volunteer with CASH (Creating Assets, Savings and Hope) Campaign and with the local VITA  (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) program.

Jack Snyder, J.D.
Jack Snyder directs the law school’s Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic, in which student attorneys practicing under his supervision represent low-income clients before the IRS and in federal tax litigation in U.S. Tax Court and U.S. District Court.  He also teaches courses in tax procedure and tax research and writing in the University’s Graduate Tax Program. Upon graduating from law school, Jack practiced for five and a half years as a Trial Attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, Tax Division.  He served as a Clinical Fellow at the University’s Tax Clinic from 2006 to 2009 and has directed the Clinic since its reestablishment in January 2015.