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Office of Chief Counsel, IRS Summer Legal Program (Class of 2022)

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
07/15/2021 to 09/15/2021
Salary
$53,888 to - $65,180 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 09
Locations
many vacancies in the following locations:
Phoenix, AZ
Laguna Niguel, CA
Los Angeles, CA
Sacramento, CA
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
Occasional travel - Limited travel may be required.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Temporary
Work schedule
Full-time - Temporary, not-to-exceed eighty-nine (89) days
Service
Excepted
Promotion potential
09
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Announcement number
CCHY-ARR-21-2
Control number
608238400

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 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).

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.

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, 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.

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. 

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

You must meet the following requirements by the closing date of this announcement:

Class Rank Requirement:

  1. 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);
  1. 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);
  1. Must attend an ABA accredited law school; and
  2. 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.

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).

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.




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