Honors Program Law Clerk (Non-Tax) (LL.M. Students)

The IRS Office of Chief Counsels Honors Program is a highly competitive program available primarily to graduating or recently graduated LL.M. students. The program offers entry level positions that provide the opportunity to acquire significant training and experience in the assigned area. The positions are open to individuals each year who have superior academic qualifications or relevant experience to the work of the Office of Chief Counsel.

• Appointments will be made to a Law Clerk at the GS-12 for 14 months.
• Participants may be converted to an entry level Attorney position after admittance to a State Bar and demonstration of satisfactory employment during the interim period of 14 months from original appointment.

As a Law Clerk/Attorney with the Office of Chief Counsel you will work for Associate Chief Counsel General Legal Service (GLS). GLS employs approximately 76 attorneys and 7 paralegals and has both Field Office Divisions and a National Office component. Whether you are in a field office or National Office position you will receive substantial training and responsibility.

• GLS serves as in-house counsel to the IRS and the Office of Chief Counsel and provides legal services over a broad spectrum of non-tax matters including labor and employment ethics fiscal appropriations procurement contracts technology and other general government matters.
• As a customer-focused organization we provide our clients with the highest quality legal advice and advocacy to minimize legal risks reduce litigation exposure promote legal compliance and advance our clients objectives.
• We are one GLS. We embrace teamwork and embody our core values: United in Purpose Committed to Excellence and Dedicated to Each Other.

National Office:

• Claims Labor & Personnel Law (CLP): Attorneys in CLP provide legal advice and representation on a wide variety of complex issues including labor-management relations personnel and EEO matters; the interpretation of civil service laws and regulations; government representation; the Federal Tort Claims Act; and other related non-tax matters. CLP also provides program coordination to Field Office Divisions in all of these matters.
• Ethics & General Government Law (EGG): Attorneys in EGG provide ethics opinions advice and training on issues arising under the federal conflict-of-interest statutes related government-wide and agency-specific regulations and other rules. EGGalso issues advisory opinions to agency officials on non-tax laws regulations and decisions governing the management of federal agencies with respect to matters such as appropriations and fiscal law delegations of authority records and property management the Federal Advisory Committee Act intellectual property and a wide range of other general government issues.
• Public Contracts & Technology Law (PCTL): Attorneys in PCTL provide advice on complex legal issues on a wide variety of procurement matters involving the interpretation of applicable laws and regulations; advise on contract formation and administration licensing and intellectual property issues interagency agreements and memoranda of understanding and handle litigation before the Government Accountability Office and the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals.

Field Offices: Attorneys in the GLS Field Offices provide advice support and litigation representation for IRS and Chief Counsel management in administrative fora with the majority of case work centering on labor equal employment opportunity (EEO) and personnel law and assisting 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.

CLP Branch and Area Counsel Field Offices:
GLS is recruiting in the CLP Branch and the following Field Office locations: Atlanta GA; Chicago IL; Farmers Branch (Dallas Office) TX; Los Angeles CA; New York NY; San Francisco CA; and Washington DC.

Target Start Date: August - September 2027

Please note you will not receive an application status update or communication from the hiring office until early 2027.

• Refer to Additional Information.
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• Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.

Who May Apply:

Law School Students and Recent Law School Graduates who are eligible for participation in the IRS Chief Counsel Honors Program

• Students pursuing a LL.M. who will graduate from an ABA accredited law school by theGraduation Requirement Date: September 30 2027; OR
• Recent LL.M. Graduates from an ABA accredited law school who within 9 months of graduating law school began participating in eligibility preserving activities.

Eligibility Preserving Activities are defined as:
Full-time activities starting after law school graduation that can preserve a law school graduates eligibility for the Honors Program. The following are eligibility preserving activities: judicial clerkships graduate programs (including 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.

• 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 program year (may run later).
• Law school graduates who received their J.D. prior to October 1 2023 are ineligible.

To qualify for this position of Honors Program Law Clerk you must meet the qualification requirements listed below by the closing of this announcement:

Basic Requirements for Honors Program Law Clerk:

• Must attend a law school accredited by the American Bar Association

To qualify for the Law Clerk at the GS-12 grade level you must be a LL.M. candidate/graduate AND meet one of the following by the closing date of the announcement:

• A class ranking in the top 25% of J.D. program AND/OR a J.D. cumulative GPA of 3.35 or higher.
• A class ranking in the top 25% of your class in the LL.M. program AND/OR a LL.M. cumulative GPA of 3.25 or higher.
• If neither J.D. nor LL.M. program has class rank or GPA a minimum LSAT of 160 is required.

Your qualifications will be reassessed prior to a final offer being issued.

Attributes of an Ideal Candidate are as follows:

• Special high-level recognition for academic excellence in law school such as selection to Order of the Coif receipt of the American Jurisprudence Award or CALI Excellence for the Future 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 or participation in law school clinics
• Work or achievement in the law schools law review or other recognized law journal
• Success in a moot court or mock trial competition or membership on a moot court or mock trial team.