Duties

Summary

The Office of Chief Counsel, Internal Revenue Service, is looking for enthusiastic individuals to join the General Legal Services (GLS) team and gain valuable experience in GLS' three Program Branches: Ethics & General Government Law; Claims, Labor & Personnel Law; and Public Contracts & Technology Law. The successful candidate will serve a one-year rotation in each Program Branch before permanent assignment to a single Branch.

Learn more about this agency

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.

Because of its tax-related mission, the Office of Chief Counsel requires fingerprinting, tax verification, and a background investigation as part of the pre-employment process.

The IRS Office of Chief Counsel's Honors Program offers entry-level positions with opportunities to acquire significant training and experience. Honors positions are open to individuals who have superior academic qualifications or relevant experience. The target start for this position is fall 2020.

Eligibility is limited to candidates who will graduate from law school between Oct. 1, 2019 and Sept. 30, 2020 and recent graduates who began participating in eligibility preserving activities within 9 months of graduation. Eligibility preserving activities are full-time activities starting after graduation that preserve eligibility for the Program. They include judicial clerkships, relevant graduate programs, or qualifying legal fellowships. To qualify, fellowships must have a formal sponsor (e.g., a non-profit, bar association, corporation, school), an established legal mission, a fixed duration, and be publicly advertised as a fellowship at the time the candidate applied. Fellowships that require fellows to seek other employment and terminate upon permanent legal employment do not qualify. Gaps between eligibility preserving activities cannot exceed 120 days. Participation must be active through at least Dec. 1 of the application year. Graduates who received their J.D. prior to Oct. 1, 2016 are ineligible.

If you are not a licensed attorney when you join the Program, you will be hired as a Law Clerk. Upon admission to the bar, and satisfactory interim employment, you will be eligible for conversion to an Attorney position. You must be admitted to practice law within 14 months of your appointment.

The Office of Associate Chief Counsel, General Legal Services employs approximately 65 attorneys nationwide in six Area Counsel Offices and three Program Branches in the D.C. National Office. Additional information is available at irs.gov .

This position entails a three-year rotation through the National Office Program Branches, including one year with each Branch before permanent assignment to a single Branch.

The Ethics & General Government Branch (EGG) supports the agency in the areas of government ethics and general government matters. As an EGG attorney, you will:

• Provide advice concerning the Federal conflict of interest laws, Executive Branch Standards of Ethical Conduct, Treasury Supplemental Standards of Ethical Conduct, Treasury Department Circular 230, Model Rules of Professional Conduct, and other applicable ethics codes.
• Perform legal services relating to financial disclosure reporting, ethics training, and compliance related activities of the Office of Government Ethics.
• Provide advice concerning fiscal law, travel and relocation reimbursement, the Federal Advisory Committee Act, intellectual property law, Federal records and property management, delegations of authority, and other rules governing Federal administration.

The Claims, Labor and Personnel Law Branch (CLP) handles personnel and labor-management relations matters. As a CLP attorney, you will:

• Provide legal assistance and advice to the labor-management relations program, including litigation in arbitrations, unfair labor practices, and the negotiation of national collective bargaining agreements.
• Provide advice on labor-personnel and EEO matters, civil service rules, government representation, the Federal Torts Claim Act, and other related matters.
• Support the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Federal Court litigation.
• Advise and assist management officials and represent the agency in adverse action and equal employment opportunity cases before the Merit Systems Protection Board, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and other fora.

The Public Contract and Technology Law Branch (PCTL) advises the IRS and Department of Treasury on all aspects of Federal Government procurement, contracts, and technology matters. As a PCTL attorney, you will:

• Handle procurement litigation before the Government Accountability Office and the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals.
• Provide advice on a variety of contracting matters including: reviewing solicitations, contract awards, limited source justifications, determinations and findings, and significant pre-award decisions, for the acquisition of goods and services.
• Advise on contract administration, interpretation, changes, and claims; equitable adjustments; terminations; funding and contract type; computer security; licensing; indemnity and interagency agreements; technology law matters; and grants.
• Support the DOJ in Federal Court litigation.

Travel Required

Occasional travel - Limited travel may be required.

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
14

Requirements

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:

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

Labor and Employment Law LL.M. or Government Contract Law LL.M. (including those in combined J.D./LL.M. programs) who have completed any LL.M. coursework: must satisfy the J.D. class rank requirement above or have a minimum GPA of 3.3 in the LL.M. program (if the 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 classes related to the position to be filled;
• Evidence of background or experience in the position to be filled, such as taking relevant law school classes, participation in law school clinics and/or internship or work experience related to subject matter areas relevant to the position to be filled;
• 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 Labor and Employment Law or Government Contracts Law 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.

To preview questions please click here .

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Other

Drug test required
No

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)
• 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 here .

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: There is no formal rating system for applying veterans' preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Office of Chief Counsel considers veterans' preference eligibility as a positive factor in attorney hiring. 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.