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Office of Chief Counsel, IRS Summer Legal Program (Class of 2022)
Duties
Summary
The Office of Chief Counsel, IRS, the largest tax law firm in the country, is looking for enthusiastic individuals to join our team and gain valuable experience in a legal environment.
Responsibilities
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. It is a great place to work with an excellent benefits package and family-friendly atmosphere.
Because of its tax-related mission, the Office of Chief Counsel requires fingerprinting, tax verification, and a background security investigation as part of the pre-employment process.
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 2022. 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 LLM program) may participate the summer following law school 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, 2023 to be eligible.
We are recruiting for both our National Office and our Field Office divisions throughout the country.
National Office
We are recruiting for our National Office divisions in Washington, DC.
Field Offices
We are currently recruiting for our Division Counsel (Small Business/Self Employed) in the following cities: Atlanta, GA; Austin, TX; Baltimore, MD; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; Denver, CO; Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Greensboro, NC; Hartford, CT; Houston, TX; Indianapolis, IN; Jacksonville, FL; Kansas City, MO; Laguna Niguel, CA; Las Vegas, NV; Los Angeles, CA; Milwaukee, WI; Nashville, TN; Newark, NJ; New Orleans, LA; New York (Manhattan), NY; Oklahoma City, OK; Philadelphia, PA; Phoenix, AZ; Portland, OR; Sacramento, CA; St. Paul, MN; San Diego, CA; San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA; Thousand Oaks, CA; Westbury (Long Island), NY.
We are currently recruiting for our Division Counsel (Large Business & International) in the following cities: Atlanta, GA; Austin, TX; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Cincinnati, OH; Dallas, TX; Houston, TX; Laguna Niguel, CA; Los Angeles, CA; Miami, FL; Milwaukee, WI; Newark, NJ; New York (Manhattan), NY; San Francisco, CA; San Jose, CA; Seattle, WA; St. Paul, MN; Washington, DC.
We are currently recruiting for our Office of the Division Counsel/Associate Chief Counsel (Criminal Tax) in the following cities: Chicago, IL; Indianapolis, IN; Houston, TX; Los Angeles, CA; Philadelphia, PA; Salt Lake City, UT; Washington, DC.
We are currently recruiting for our Office of the Division Counsel (Tax Exempt & Government Entities) in the following cities: Austin, TX; Baltimore, MD; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; Denver, CO; Greensboro, NC; Hartford, CT; Jacksonville, FL; Laguna Niguel, CA; Los Angeles, CA; Miami, FL; Seattle, WA; Thousand Oaks, CA; Washington, DC.
Here is a link to a list of all of our legal divisions: https://www.jobs.irs.gov/resources/job-descriptions/legal-divisions
This announcement has one cutoff date for applicants to be considered and selected after the deadline: September 15, 2021.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - Limited travel may be required.
Supervisory status
No
Promotion Potential
09
Job family (Series)
0901 General Legal And Kindred Administration
Requirements
Requirements
Conditions of Employment
- Please refer to conditions of employment.
- Print preview to review the entire announcement before applying.
Your application includes your resume, transcript, writing sample, responses to the online questions, and required supporting documents.
If you are using your GPA as your eligibility, you must include supporting documentation that confirms your GPA (for example, a transcript). If you are using your class ranking as your eligibility, you must include supporting documentation that confirms your class rank (for example, a document from your school showing your class rank, transcript, etc).
Please ensure that your package includes any necessary documentation to support your qualifications for this position, as failure to provide sufficient evidence in your resume may result in a “not qualified” determination.
Qualifications
Required Qualifications:
You must meet the following requirements by the closing date of this announcement:
Class Rank Requirement:
- JDs: Top 25% class rank or GPA of 3.35 or higher is required (if the school does not provide class rank or GPA at the time a selection is made, a LSAT score of 160 or higher is required);
- For Tax LLMs (including JD/Tax LLMs, if applicable) who have completed any Tax LLM coursework: must satisfy the JD class rank requirement above or have a minimum GPA of 3.25 in the Tax LLM program (if the Tax LLM program does not provide GPA, a minimum LSAT of 160 is required);
- Must attend an ABA accredited law school; and
- Must be a U.S. 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
Education
You must be enrolled in a J.D. and/or tax LLM program, or have graduated with a JD from an ABA-accredited law school. Please do not apply to this announcement if you are not currently enrolled in law school or meet the criteria and are a recent graduate of law school.
Additional information
- We may select from this announcement or any other source to fill one or more vacancies. Positions may be filled in one or more of the cities indicated in the announcement.
- We take into consideration applicants’ stated preferences to join a particular division/associate office and/or to be assigned to a particular office location. However, we may be limited in accommodating applicants’ stated preferences based on the needs of our organization to fill necessary open positions. As such, applicants who are selected for hire will be provided just one offer from our organization only with respect to the Summer Legal Program. Upon selection to be hired as part of this Summer Legal Program, you may be provided one or more options to join specific operating divisions/associate offices and/or work locations.
- Relocation expenses are not authorized.
- Must successfully complete a fingerprint clearance and/or background investigation.
- Complete a Declaration for Federal Employment to determine your suitability for Federal employment, at the time requested by the agency.
- If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, please certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System or are exempt from having to do so.
- Have your salary sent to a financial institution of your choice by Direct Deposit/Electronic Funds Transfer.
- Go through a Personal Identity Verification (PIV) process that requires two forms of identification from the Form I-9. Federal law requires verification of the identity and employment eligibility of all new hires in the U.S.
- May undergo an income tax verification.
- The employment of any candidate, including a current employee or a new hire, selected for this position may be conditional upon classification and/or audit of federal tax returns. This audit may include up to three years of returns.
How You Will Be Evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Rating: Your application will be evaluated using the requirements in the qualifications section.
Referral: Veterans' preference is applied after applicants are assessed. Preference-eligibles will be listed at the top of the referral list and considered before non-preference-eligibles. All other candidates will be listed below those with preference. If you are among the top qualified candidates, you may be required to participate in a selection interview. We will not reimburse costs related to the interview, such as travel to and from the interview site.
To preview questions please click here.
Background checks and security clearance
Security clearance
Other
Drug test required
No
Required Documents
Required Documents
Complete application packages include:
- A resume
- An official or unofficial transcript from your law school (an official copy will be required if you are selected)
- An unedited writing sample (5-10 pages in length)
- Supporting documentation as applicable
If you are using your GPA to qualify, you must include supporting documentation that confirms your GPA (for example, a transcript). If you are using your class ranking to qualify, you must include supporting documentation that confirms your class rank (for example, a document from your school showing your class rank, transcript, etc). Please ensure that your package includes any necessary documentation to support your qualifications for this position, as failure to provide sufficient evidence in your resume may result in a “not qualified” determination.
Please note that if you do not provide all required information as specified in this announcement, you may not be considered for this position (or may not receive the special consideration for which you may be eligible). All applicants are required to submit a resume either by creating one in USAJOBS or uploading one of their own choosing. (Cover letters are optional.) To receive full credit for relevant experience, please list the month/year and number of hours worked for experience listed on your resume. We suggest that you preview the online questions, as you may need to customize your resume to ensure that it supports your responses to these questions. Please view resume tips.
VETERANS' PREFERENCE DOCUMENTATION: If you are claiming veterans’ 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 the required documentation listed on the back of the SF-15 form. For more information on veterans' preference, view FedsHireVets.
If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
Benefits
Benefits
A career with the U.S. Government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
Our comprehensive benefits for full-time permanent employees, such as attorneys, are very generous. Our benefits package includes:
- Challenging work, opportunities for advancement, competitive salaries, bonuses, and incentive awards.
- Eleven paid holidays, 13 days of sick leave, and 13 to 26 days of vacation time each year.
- Opportunities for telework and flexible work schedules.
- Access to insurance programs that may be continued after you retire.
- A wide choice of health insurance plans, coverage for pre-existing conditions, and no waiting periods. We pay a substantial amount (up to 75%) of the health insurance premiums.
- A retirement program which includes employer-matching contributions.
- Learn more about Federal benefits programs at: https://help.usajobs.gov/index.php/Pay_and_Benefits
Review our benefits
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time, or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
This job is open to
Federal employees - Excepted service
Current excepted service federal employees.
The public
U.S. citizens, nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.
Clarification from the agency
U.S. Citizens; no prior Federal experience is required.
