Legal Aid Society employees to speak to League in Oak Ridge May 7

Two members of the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands will be the speakers at the May 7 Lunch With the League meeting.

The League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge welcomes the community to Lunch With the League from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike. All are welcome to bring their lunch or purchase a boxed lunch for a nominal fee. Coffee and tea will be served. The presentation will begin at noon.

Mary Michelle Gillum and Paula Trujillo from the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands will be the speakers, according to a League news release.

Gillum is the director of the Legal Aid Society's Low Income Taxpayer Clinic, also known as the Tennessee Taxpayer Project. Gillum, in conjunction with the University of Tennessee College of Law Legal Clinic and the Legal Aid Society, founded the Tennessee Taxpayer Project in 2000.

In 1994, she obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Tennessee, where she majored in accounting and business law. In 2000, she obtained a Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Tennessee College of Law. She is admitted to practice in the U.S. Tax Court, U.S. Bankruptcy Court and U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

Gillum is a member of the Tennessee Bar Association faculty and provides continuing legal education seminars to attorneys throughout the state. The Internal Revenue Service regularly invites her to present training to examiners. She has also been invited to advise the IRS commissioner on systemic issues related to low-income taxpayers. Her current practice includes federal income tax controversies, bankruptcy and collection defense.

Trujillo is an outreach community paralegal of the Tennessee Taxpayer Project. She has a bachelor degree in political science and a master's in J.D. from La Universidad Nacional de Trujillo, Peru. She is a licensed attorney in Peru. In 1998, she began with Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands as a volunteer helping Spanish-speaking clients while attending the UT College of Law. She is a member of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, Latino Taskforce, a board member of the Community Economic Development Network of East Tennessee (CEDNET), and a former board member of Centro Hispano of East Tennessee.

Lunch with the League welcomes League members and nonmembers alike to this presentation. The League describes itself as a nonpartisan political organization for men and women. It encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.

This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Legal Aid Society employees to speak to League in Oak Ridge Tuesday