The Office of Chief Counsel is the largest tax law firm in the country. The Office of Chief Counsel serves 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. We are as interested in your career as you are!
Please see below for a detailed description of the General Legal Services division and the Paralegal Specialist position.
Summary
The Office of Chief Counsel is the largest tax law firm in the country. The Office of Chief Counsel serves 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. We are as interested in your career as you are!
Please see below for a detailed description of the General Legal Services division and the Paralegal Specialist position.
Open to U.S. Citizens who are: Recent Graduates and have completed a degree or certificate from a qualifying education institution within the previous two years. Veterans unable to apply within two years of receiving their degree due to military service obligation have a full two-year eligibility period upon release or discharge from active duty. The eligibility period for veterans must be within six years of degree completion.
WHO IS GENERAL LEGAL SERVICES? The Office of Chief Counsel, General Legal Services (GLS) employs approximately 70 attorneys and 7 paralegals. Work in the GLS Area Counsel field offices is focused on providing advice, support, and litigation representation for IRS and Chief Counsel management in administrative forums and in arbitration, with the majority of case work centering on labor, EEO, and personnel law. The field offices also provide assistance to the Department of Justice in federal courts on such matters, as well as for suits against IRS employees, and may assist with processing claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act.
WHAT DOES A PARALEGAL DO? As a Paralegal in a GLS field office, you will provide legal and quasi-legal assistance to GLS attorneys. You will conduct legal research and analyses of issues and matters within the office's jurisdiction, participate in the development of cases, and provide litigation support.
WHAT IS THE PATHWAYS PROGRAM? The Department of the Treasury's Recent Graduates Program affords developmental experiences in the Federal Government intended to promote possible careers in the civil service to individuals who have recently graduated from qualifying educational institutions or programs. Successful applicants are placed in a dynamic, developmental program with the potential to lead to a civil service career in the Federal Government.
Following the completion of program requirements, selectees may be considered for non-competitive conversion to a career-conditional or term appointment. All conversion requirements will be identified in the Participant Agreement. If you are converted, you will be placed into a Paralegal Program requirements include but are not limited to:
Successful completion of at least 1-year of continuous service;
Completion of at least 40 hours of interactive training;
Demonstration of successful job performance; and
Meet the qualification standards for the position to which the Recent Graduate may be converted.
WHERE CAN I FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE PATHWAYS PROGRAM? For additional information regarding the Pathways Program, please refer to the following website: www.usajobs.gov/StudentsAndGrads
As a Paralegal, you will receive on the job training and assist the GLS staff with the following:
Searching for and summarizing articles in non-tax publications, law reviews, published studies, financial reports, and similar materials for use by attorneys in the preparation of opinions, briefs, and other legal documents.
Preparing digests of selected decisions or opinions which incorporates legal references and analyses of precedents involved in areas of well-defined and settles points of non-tax law.
Verifying citations and legal references on prepared legal documents.
Preparing and organizing trial exhibits, such as statistical charts and photographic exhibits.
Performing legal research by using database research systems, Bloomberg, WESTLAW, CyberFeds, and other appropriate electronic research tools.
Drafting and editing memoranda, research reports, and correspondence relating to cases.
Assisting with logistical support for hearings.
Drafting correspondence and pleadings for review.
Maintaining and updating databases and reports related to case inventory.
Click "Print Preview" to review the entire announcement before applying.
All selectees must sign a Pathways Participant Agreement.
Subject to a 1-year trial period is required (unless already completed).
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, 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.
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.
Qualifications
You must meet the following requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
To be eligible for the Recent Graduates Program, applicants must have, within the previous two years*, completed all educational requirements for a qualifying associates, bachelors, masters, professional, doctorate, vocational or technical degree or certificate from a qualifying institution. For more information on education requirements go to Treasury’s Pathways Program.
*Veterans who, due to a military service obligation, were precluded from applying to a Recent Graduates Program during any portion of the two-year eligibility period may have their eligibility period extended so that they receive the full 2 years of eligibility. The remaining two-year eligibility period will begin upon his or her release or discharge from active duty. The veteran's eligibility period may not extend beyond six years from the date of completion of all requirements of an academic course of study.
To qualify for Paralegal position at the GS-07 level, you must meet the following requirements:
A. Education: In the Recent Graduates Program you may qualify based solely on education as follows: one year of related graduate education at an accredited college or university. OR
B. Superior Academic Achievement may be met by having a Bachelor's degree with one of the following: (1) a GPA of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale for all completed undergraduate courses or those completed in the last two years of study, or (2) a GPA of 3.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale for all courses in the major field of study or those courses in the major completed in the last two years of study, or (3) rank in the upper one third of the class in the college, university, or major subdivision, or (4) membership in a national honor society recognized by the Association of College Honor Societies; AND
C. Experience: You may qualify with one year of specialized experience at level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-5 grade level of the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position includes: writing opinions, legal memoranda, litigation reports, discovery requests, and affidavits; drafting settlement agreements; preparing in the preparation of paperwork necessary for processing and completion of the case; assisting the attorney in the presentation of the case; conducting information collection and researching statuses and precedents. OR
D. You may qualify by a combination of qualifying education and experience equivalent to that described above. Options for qualifying based on a combination will be identified in the online questions.
The experience may have been gained in either the public or private sector. One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-time work is considered on a prorated basis. To ensure full credit for your work experience, please indicate dates of employment by month/day/year, and indicate number of hours worked per week on your résumé.
Education
The education generally must be from an accredited (or pre-accredited) college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Additional information
We may select from this announcement or any other source to fill one or more vacancies.
Relocation expenses will not be paid.
This is a non-bargaining unit position.
Position may be converted to a permanent or term position.
We offer opportunities for flexible work schedules.
Pay will be set according to where the vacancy is filled.
Position is telework eligible and follows agency guidelines and approval.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, selectee may be permitted to telework from an alternate location, at management’s discretion, until normal business operations resume.
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 are very generous. Our benefits package includes:
Challenging work, opportunities for advancement, competitive salaries, bonuses, and incentive awards.
For full-time employees - ten paid holidays, 13 days of sick leave, and 13 to 26 days of vacation time each year.
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 health insurance premiums.
A retirement program which includes employer-matching contributions.
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.
How you will be evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Your application includes your résumé, responses to the online questions, and required supporting documents. Please be sure that your résumé includes detailed information to support your qualifications for this position; failure to provide sufficient evidence in your resume may result in a “not qualified” determination.
Rating: Your application will be evaluated in the following areas: 1) Knowledge of principles, concepts, and methodology used in research; 2) Skill in the use of computer programs, i.e., Westlaw, Lexis, Microsoft Word or other word processing software, Microsoft Excel or other spreadsheet software; to extract and input information; and 3) Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing. Category-like rating will be used to rank and select eligible candidates. If qualified, you will be assigned to one of three quality level categories - Category A, Category B, Category C - depending on your responses to the online questions, regarding your experience, education, and training related to this position. Your rating may be lowered if your responses to the online questions are not supported by the education and/or experience described in your application.
Veterans' preference is applied after applicants are assessed. Preference-eligibles will be listed at the top of their assigned category and considered before non-preference-eligibles in that category. Qualified preference-eligibles with a compensable service-connected disability of 10% or more will be listed at the top of the highest category.
Referral: If you are among the top qualified candidates, your application may be referred to a selecting official for consideration.
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 are very generous. Our benefits package includes:
Challenging work, opportunities for advancement, competitive salaries, bonuses, and incentive awards.
For full-time employees - ten paid holidays, 13 days of sick leave, and 13 to 26 days of vacation time each year.
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 health insurance premiums.
A retirement program which includes employer-matching contributions.
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.
A complete application includes 1. A resume; 2. Vacancy question responses; 3.Transcripts; and 4. Submission of any required documents. Please note that if you do not provide all required information as specified by the closing date of 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.
All applicants must submit a writing sample of no more then 10 pages, reflecting the applicant's original work product, preferably analyzing a legal issue or applying research to a factual analysis.
EDUCATION DOCUMENTATION: You must submit dated documentation showing completion of all educational requirements (e.g. letter from the registrar, unofficial transcripts). An official transcript will be required if you are selected.
A college or university degree generally must be from an accredited (or pre-accredited) college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools which meet these criteria, please refer to Department of Education Accreditation page.
If you are qualifying based on foreign education, you must submit proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency. Refer to the OPM instructions.
If you are qualifying based on a certificate program, please refer to the Treasury’s Pathways Program page for more information on qualifying certificate programs.
VETERANS' PREFERENCE DOCUMENTATION: If you are claiming veterans’ preference, you must submit a copy of your 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:
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.
The following instructions outline our application process. You must complete this application process and submit any required documents by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement. We are available to assist you during business hours (normally 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. ET, Monday - Friday). If applying online poses a hardship, please contact us by noon ET on the announcement's closing date.
Treasury provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis. Please contact us if you require this for any part of the application and hiring process.
To begin, either click the “Create a New Account” button and follow the prompts to register or if you previously registered, click the "Apply Online" button and follow the prompts.
You will be re-directed to Treasury’s CareerConnector system to complete your application process; answer the online questions, and submit all required documents. (To submit supporting documents, click one of the available options; Upload; Fax; or Reuse existing documents. To protect your privacy, we suggest you first remove your SSN). Also, go to “My Account” to view and update your information, as necessary.
To complete, you must click the “Finish” button located at the bottom of the “Application Review” page.
To verify your application is complete, log into your USAJOBS account, select the Application Status link and then select the more information link for this position. The Details page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application.
To return to an incomplete application, log into your USAJOBS account and click Update Application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USAJOBS account or your application will be incomplete.
INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
4050 Alpha Road
4050 Alpha Road, 14th Floor
Staffing, Classification, and Benefits Branch
Farmers Branch, Texas 75244
United States
Next steps
Login to your USAJOBS account, select the "Applications" section and click on the vacancy you would like to view and have already applied for.
Under "Application Status," click "Additional Application Information" and you will be taken to the CareerConnector website where you can check your application status. The "Additional Application Information" link may not be available if your application status says "Unavailable." This indicates that your application is not complete.
If the "Additional Application Information" link is not available and the vacancy is still open, you can click on the job announcement and "Update Application" to be taken back to the CareerConnector portion of the application.
Please notify us if your contact information changes after the closing date of the announcement. Also, note that if you provide an email address that is inaccurate, or if your mailbox is full or blocked (e.g., spam-blocker), you may not receive important communication that could affect your consideration for this position.
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
A complete application includes 1. A resume; 2. Vacancy question responses; 3.Transcripts; and 4. Submission of any required documents. Please note that if you do not provide all required information as specified by the closing date of 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.
All applicants must submit a writing sample of no more then 10 pages, reflecting the applicant's original work product, preferably analyzing a legal issue or applying research to a factual analysis.
EDUCATION DOCUMENTATION: You must submit dated documentation showing completion of all educational requirements (e.g. letter from the registrar, unofficial transcripts). An official transcript will be required if you are selected.
A college or university degree generally must be from an accredited (or pre-accredited) college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools which meet these criteria, please refer to Department of Education Accreditation page.
If you are qualifying based on foreign education, you must submit proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency. Refer to the OPM instructions.
If you are qualifying based on a certificate program, please refer to the Treasury’s Pathways Program page for more information on qualifying certificate programs.
VETERANS' PREFERENCE DOCUMENTATION: If you are claiming veterans’ preference, you must submit a copy of your 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:
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.
The following instructions outline our application process. You must complete this application process and submit any required documents by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement. We are available to assist you during business hours (normally 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. ET, Monday - Friday). If applying online poses a hardship, please contact us by noon ET on the announcement's closing date.
Treasury provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis. Please contact us if you require this for any part of the application and hiring process.
To begin, either click the “Create a New Account” button and follow the prompts to register or if you previously registered, click the "Apply Online" button and follow the prompts.
You will be re-directed to Treasury’s CareerConnector system to complete your application process; answer the online questions, and submit all required documents. (To submit supporting documents, click one of the available options; Upload; Fax; or Reuse existing documents. To protect your privacy, we suggest you first remove your SSN). Also, go to “My Account” to view and update your information, as necessary.
To complete, you must click the “Finish” button located at the bottom of the “Application Review” page.
To verify your application is complete, log into your USAJOBS account, select the Application Status link and then select the more information link for this position. The Details page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application.
To return to an incomplete application, log into your USAJOBS account and click Update Application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USAJOBS account or your application will be incomplete.
INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
4050 Alpha Road
4050 Alpha Road, 14th Floor
Staffing, Classification, and Benefits Branch
Farmers Branch, Texas 75244
United States
Next steps
Login to your USAJOBS account, select the "Applications" section and click on the vacancy you would like to view and have already applied for.
Under "Application Status," click "Additional Application Information" and you will be taken to the CareerConnector website where you can check your application status. The "Additional Application Information" link may not be available if your application status says "Unavailable." This indicates that your application is not complete.
If the "Additional Application Information" link is not available and the vacancy is still open, you can click on the job announcement and "Update Application" to be taken back to the CareerConnector portion of the application.
Please notify us if your contact information changes after the closing date of the announcement. Also, note that if you provide an email address that is inaccurate, or if your mailbox is full or blocked (e.g., spam-blocker), you may not receive important communication that could affect your consideration for this position.
Fair and transparent
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
