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Office of Chief Counsel, IRS Honors Program

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service
This job announcement has closed

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.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
05/20/2019 to 09/30/2019
Salary
$68,036 to - $126,062 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 11 - 13
Locations
many vacancies in the following locations:
Phoenix, AZ
Laguna Niguel, CA
Los Angeles, CA
Sacramento, CA
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - Limited travel may be required.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent - Permanent (initial appointment is temporary if not admitted to practice law by date of appointment)
Work schedule
Full-time - Full-time excepted service appointment
Service
Excepted
Promotion potential
14
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Announcement number
CCHY-ARR-19-1
Control number
534283500

Duties

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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 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 2020.

Eligibility is limited to graduating law students who will graduate from law school between October 1, 2019 and September 30, 2020 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, 2016 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 our Division Counsel (Small Business/Self Employed) in the following cities: Atlanta, GA; Austin, TX; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Cleveland, OH; Dallas, TX; Detroit, MI; Greensboro, NC; Houston, TX; Jacksonville, FL; Laguna Niguel, CA; Los Angeles, CA; Miami, FL; Milwaukee, WI; Nashville, TN; New Orleans, LA; New York (Manhattan), NY; Newark, NJ; Oklahoma City, OK; Philadelphia, PA; Plantation (Ft. Lauderdale), FL; Phoenix, AZ; Richmond, VA; Sacramento, CA; Salt Lake City, UT; San Diego, CA; San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA; Thousand Oaks, CA; Washington, DC; 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; Buffalo, NY; Chicago, IL; Cincinnati, OH; Cleveland, OH; Dallas, TX; Denver, CO; Detroit, MI; Greensboro, NC; Hartford, CT; Houston, TX; Jacksonville, FL; Laguna Niguel, CA; Los Angeles, CA; Miami, FL; Milwaukee, WI; New York (Manhattan), NY; Newark, NJ; Oklahoma City, OK; Philadelphia, PA; Phoenix, AZ; Plantation (Ft. Lauderdale), FL; Richmond, VA; San Diego, CA; San Francisco, CA; San Jose, CA; Seattle, WA; St. Paul, MN; Washington, DC; Westbury (Long Island), NY

We are currently recruiting for our Office of the Division Counsel/Associate Chief Counsel (Criminal Tax) in the following cities: Baltimore, MD; Indianapolis, IN; Los Angeles, CA; Newark, NJ; Philadelphia, PA; Richmond, VA; St. Louis, MO; Washington, DC

We are currently recruiting for our Office of the Division Counsel (Tax Exempt & Government Entities) in the following cities: Chicago, IL; Denver, CO; Los Angeles, CA; Thousand Oaks, CA

We are also recruiting for our National Office divisions in Washington, DC. Here is a link to a list of all our legal divisions: https://www.jobs.irs.gov/resources/job-descriptions/legal-divisions

This announcement has several cutoff dates, and applicants can be considered and selected after each deadline: July 31, September 3, and September 30.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • Please refer to conditions of employment.
  • Print preview to review the entire announcement before applying.

Your application includes your resume, responses to the online questions, and required supporting documents. Please be sure that your resume includes detailed information 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:

  1. J.D.s: Top 25% class rank or 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 LL.M.s (including J.D./Tax LL.M.s) who have completed any Tax LL.M. coursework: must satisfy the J.D. class rank requirement above or have a minimum GPA of 3.3 in the Tax LL.M. program (if the Tax LL.M. 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 have graduated with a J.D. and/or a Tax LL.M. from an ABA-accredited law school before you begin the Honors Program position

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.
  • Relocation expenses are not authorized.
  • A one-year trial period is required.
  • Need to execute an employment tenure commitment, generally for a 3 year period.
  • Must successfully complete a 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.
  • Obtain and use a Government-issued charge card for business-related travel.
  • 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 two years of returns.
  • This is a bargaining unit position.

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.
   


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