Duties

Summary

With the Internal Revenue Service as its client and 1,500 attorneys on staff, the Office of Chief Counsel is the preeminent employer for tax attorneys in the country. Our attorneys are valued assets and the legal experience provided by Chief Counsel is unlike any other. Chief Counsel attorneys provide top quality legal advice and representation to the IRS in the administration of the nation's tax laws.

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

What is Procedure and Administration? The Office of the Associate Chief Counsel (Procedure and Administration) provides legal advice and litigation support services on tax matters involving the procedural aspects of filing returns and paying taxes; information reporting; assessment and collection of taxes (including interest and penalties); abating, crediting or refunding over-assessments or overpayments of tax; whistleblower matters; disclosure, privacy and the Freedom of Information Act; bankruptcy practice and procedure; summonses and the gathering of information; ethics; the Administrative Procedure Act; Foreign Bank Account Reporting; user fees; and judicial practice and procedures. Within the scope of PA's subject matter, attorneys may draft Treasury regulations, revenue rulings, revenue procedures, notices, letter rulings and Actions on Decision; prepare or review suit defense, appeal, and settlement recommendations to the Department of Justice; review briefs, motions and other pleadings filed in the United States Tax Court; or advise the Internal Revenue Service with respect to the administration of the federal tax laws.

The following are the duties of this position at the GS-11. If you are selected at the GS-9 level, you will have the opportunity to learn to perform all these duties, and will receive training to help you grow in this position. This list is not all-inclusive.

• Serves as a general attorney with the primary responsibility of reviewing, redacting, preparing and producing legal and electronic discovery (e-discovery) responses in litigation, FOIA, congressional and other requests and providing litigation support services to field offices.
• Conducts document review of both electronically stored information (ESI) and/or paper material in response to e-discovery and related discovery request using Concordance, Relativity, Clearwell, or other e-discovery document review platforms.
• Conducts appropriate level of legal review of ESI and paper materials determining relevance of documents, the correct application of legal privileges, IRC section 6103 and 6110, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) exemptions, U.S. Tax Court Rules, Federal Rules of Evidence, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and other procedural provisions.
• Drafts legal documents required in connection with e-discovery and electronic litigation support such as declarations, memoranda, motions and other documents.
• Researches case law related to electronic discovery, evidence production, submission of evidence at trial, and privileges.
• Implements and advises on how to fulfill legal requirements to preserve ESI using formal IRS guidelines, as well as advising on informal preservation management when appropriate.
• Maintains case production schedule by coordinating with field attorneys, Senior Level Counsel, Paralegals and Technology Advisors.
• Ensures compliance with production schedules on e-Discovery and where doing so is not possible, recommends scheduling alternatives.
• Coordinates with the Branch Chief, Senior Level Counsel, Paralegals, and Technology Advisors to develop e-Discovery case strategy as appropriate.
• Organizes and maintains accurate record of assigned e-discovery and related discovery requests, including keeping detailed case notes, using discovery plans, using spreadsheets, and entering case information into appropriate databases.
• Analyzes the facts, identifies relevant issues and applies e-discovery case law in advising the principal Counsel attorney on the appropriate scope of e-discovery request with regard to cases in litigation.

Travel Required

Not required

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
11

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• Please refer to "Conditions of Employment".
• Click "Print Preview" to review the entire announcement before applying.
• Applications will accepted on-line via Career Connector.
• If unable to apply on-line please contact careerconnectorhelp@do.treas.gov

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; failure to provide sufficient evidence in your resume may result in a "not qualified" determination.

Qualifications

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

For GS-9: Possess first professional law degree (LL.B. or J.D.)

For GS-11: 1) Possess the first professional law degree (LL.B. or J.D.) plus have one year of professional legal experience; OR
2) Possess LL.M. degree; OR
3) Possess an LL.B. or J.D. degree plus superior law student work or activities.

Superior law students work or activities is defined as follows:

• Academic standing in the upper third of the law school graduating class;
• Work or achievement of significance on law school's official law review;
• Special high level honors for academic excellence in law school, such as election to the Order of the Coif;
• Winning of a moot court competition or membership on the moot court team which represents the law school in competition;
• Full-time or continuous participation in a legal aid program as opposed to one-time, intermittent, or casual participation;
• Significant summer law office clerk experience; OR
• Other equivalent evidence of clearly superior achievement.

PLEASE NOTE: The J.D. and/or the LL.M must be from an ABA-accredited law school.

Candidates must be admitted to practice law before the highest court of a state or territory of the United States; the District of Columbia; or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and must be an active member by the closing date of the announcement.

• The professional legal experience may have been gained in the public sector, private sector, or Volunteer Service . 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/year, and indicate number of hours worked per week, on your resume.

Education

Additional information

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:

• A 1-year trial period is required.
• Must successfully complete a background investigation.
• Public Trust security clearance.
• 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.
• 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 2 years of returns.
• This is a temporary appointment not-to-exceed 2 years that can be extended 2 years or converted to a permanent appointment.

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 experience/education defined under the requirement section.

Referral: Professional Order will be used to refer and select eligible candidates. Veterans' preference is applied after applicants are assessed. Preference-eligibles will be listed at the top of the certificate in alphabetical order and considered before non-preference-eligibles. All other candidates will be listed in alphabetical order and 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

Position sensitivity and risk
Moderate Risk (MR)

Trust determination process
Suitability/Fitness

Required Documents

A complete application includes 1. A resume, 2. Vacancy question responses, and 3. Submission of any required documents. 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 .

In addition, applicants are required to submit: 1) An unofficial or official transcript(s), and 2) An 8-10 page legal writing sample.

EDUCATION DOCUMENTATION

For positions with an education requirement, or if you are qualifying for this position by substituting education or training for experience, submit a copy of your transcripts or equivalent. 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.

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 selected, you will be required to submit proof of bar membership. You must be a member of the bar before the closing date of this vacancy announcement.

Contact Information:

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.