The Office of Chief Counsel, Internal Revenue Service has a few remaining unfilled Class of 2019 Honors and summer positions.
DEADLINE TO APPLY IS MARCH 29, 2019
Office of Chief Counsel, Internal Revenue Service
The Office of Chief Counsel, IRS, the largest tax law firm in the country, is looking for enthusiastic individuals to join our team. Chief Counsel attorneys provide top-quality legal advice and representation to the IRS in the administration of the nation’s tax laws. Chief Counsel field attorneys litigate interesting and challenging issues that range from taxation of individuals to complex international entities. Attorneys in the field find themselves working on exciting and challenging issues involving litigation, corporate law, criminal tax law, disclosure law and international taxation.
Chief Counsel attorneys in the National Office draft regulations and rulings, and provide legal guidance to taxpayers, the IRS and the Treasury and Justice Departments. Attorneys have an extraordinary opportunity to develop expertise and sharpen technical skills. Furthermore, both field and National Office attorneys have the opportunity to work with a variety of tax practitioners and distinguish themselves within the greater tax and legal communities.
Our mission is to serve America’s taxpayers fairly and with integrity by providing correct and impartial interpretation of the internal revenue laws and the highest quality legal advice and representation for the Internal Revenue Service.
Honors Program
The IRS Office of Chief Counsel’s Honors Program offers entry-level positions that provide the opportunity to acquire significant training and experience in tax law. Honors Program positions are open to individuals each year who have superior academic qualifications or relevant experience to the work of Chief Counsel. The target start date for this position is fall 2019.
Eligibility is limited to graduating law students who will graduate from law school between October 1, 2018 and September 30, 2019 and recent law school graduates who began participating in eligibility preserving activities within 9 months of law school graduation. Eligibility preserving activities are full-time activities starting after law school graduation that can preserve a law school graduate’s eligibility for the Honors Program. The following are eligibility preserving activities: judicial clerkships, tax or accounting-related graduate programs (including Tax LL.M. programs), or qualifying legal fellowships. Qualifying legal fellowships must have a formal sponsor (e.g., a public service organization, a foundation, a bar association, a corporation, a law school, etc.), an established legal mission (e.g., purpose, type of work), and be publicly advertised as a fellowship at the time the candidate applied to the fellowship. Fellowships must also be of fixed duration (“bridge the gap” fellowships that require fellows to continue to seek other employment and terminate when the incumbent secures permanent legal employment do not qualify). Breaks between consecutive eligibility preserving activities cannot exceed 120 days. Participation in the eligibility preserving activity must be active through at least December 1 of the application year (may run later). Law school graduates who received their J.D. prior to October 1, 2015 are ineligible.
If you are not a licensed attorney when you join our Honors Program, you will initially be brought on board as a Law Clerk. Upon admission to the bar, and demonstration of satisfactory employment during the interim period, you will be eligible for conversion to an Attorney position.
We are currently recruiting for the following National Office divisions in Washington, DC: Corporate; Employee Benefits, Exempt Organizations, & Employment Taxes; and Procedure & Administration. Here is a link to a list of all our legal divisions: https://www.jobs.irs.gov/resources/job-descriptions/legal-divisions.
Summer Legal Program
The IRS Office of Chief Counsel’s Summer Legal Program provides exposure to the Office by enabling law students to work under the supervision, and with the assistance of, experienced tax lawyers. The training and work experience provides developmental assignments and helps prepare law students for a career as a tax lawyer and gives them an excellent view of what the practice of law is like at the Office of Chief Counsel. In the National Office, law students typically take part in a variety of educational and social events. Offers of full-time employment with our Honors Program may be made to summer law students at the conclusion of the program. It is anticipated students will work for us the full summer. The target start date for this position is summer 2019. This program has been established in accordance with 5 CFR 213.3102(r).
Current law students who have completed at least one full year of legal study by the application deadline are eligible to apply (part-time law students must be currently attending law school and have completed the equivalent of one year of full-time study by the application deadline). Most applicants participate the summer between their second and third year of law school; however, graduating law students who enter a judicial clerkship or tax or accounting-related graduate program (including a Tax LL.M. program) may participate the summer following graduation prior to the start of the judicial clerkship or graduate program. If you are applying for, but have not yet accepted a judicial clerkship or been accepted into a tax or accounting-related graduate program, you should consider applying to both the Honors Program and Summer Legal Program. Applicants must be available to accept full-time post-JD employment by September 30, 2020 to be eligible.
We are currently recruiting for our Office of the
Division Counsel/Associate Chief Counsel (Criminal Tax) in the following
cities: Indianapolis, IN; St. Louis, MO; Baltimore, MD; Philadelphia, PA; and
Richmond, VA.
We are also recruiting for the following National Office divisions in
Washington, DC: Corporate; Employee Benefits, Exempt Organizations, &
Employment Taxes; Financial Institutions & Products; Passthroughs
& Special Industries; and Procedure & Administration. Here is a
link to a list of all our legal divisions: https://www.jobs.irs.gov/resources/job-descriptions/legal-divisions.
Minimum Criteria for Both Programs (must meet this criteria to be considered):
Class Rank Requirement:
1. JDs: Top 25% class rank required (if school does not provide class rank information allowing us to determine if a student is in the top 25%, such as individual class rank or honors for students in a certain percentage of the class, at the time a selection is made, then a minimum GPA of 3.4 is required; if the school does not provide class rank or GPA at the time a selection is made, a minimum LSAT of 160 is required) or
2. Tax LLMs (including JD/Tax LLMs) who have completed any Tax LLM coursework: Must satisfy the JD class rank requirement above or have a minimum GPA of 3.3 in the Tax LLM program (if the Tax LLM program does not provide GPAs, a minimum LSAT of 160 is required);
• Must attend an ABA accredited law school; and
• Must be a US citizen
Attributes of an Ideal Candidate:
• Special high-level recognition for academic excellence in law school, such as selection to Order of the Coif or receipt of the American Jurisprudence Award in related courses; or top grades in tax or related course work (e.g., “A” grades in tax courses);
• Evidence of background or experience in the position to be filled, such as taking relevant law school classes (e.g., tax law, bankruptcy/debtor creditor law, administrative law) or relevant legal or tax experience (e.g., tax legal experience) or relevant tax volunteer experience (e.g., VITA, Tax Clinic);
• Work or achievement in the law school’s law review or other recognized law journal;
• Winning a moot court or mock trial competition or membership on a moot court or mock trial team
*PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING APPLICATION PROCEDURES*
To apply for the Honors Program or Summer Legal Program, you must apply using the following links.
Honors Program: https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/527333400
Summer Legal Program: https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/527325600
Complete application packages include:
– a resume
– a transcript from your law school (an unofficial copy is fine)
– unedited writing sample (5-10 pages in length)
– Form 6524, “Office of Chief Counsel Application” (must be submitted to determine if you meet the minimum criteria)
A copy of Form 6524 may be downloaded from our website at https://jobs.irs.gov/resources/job-descriptions/apply-office-chief-counsel. All application materials should be uploaded in your school’s online system (e.g. symplicity), if possible.
Veterans’ Preference Documentation
If you are applying under the Veteran Preference, you must submit a copy of your Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, DD-214 (Member 4 copy), or other official documentation from a branch of the Armed Forces or the Department of Veterans Affairs showing dates of service and type of discharge. Ten-point preference eligibles must also submit an Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference, SF-15, along with required documentation listed on the back of the SF-15 form. An SF-15 may be found at http://www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/SF15.pdf. For more information on veterans’ preference, please go to http://www.fedshirevets.gov/job/vetpref/index.aspx