Tax Law Options- Rising 3L Forum

[Anonymous User]

Obviously every thread needs relevant info to give advice.

T10
Top 20%
Highest grades in Tax courses

Basically I was wondering best options?

NYU LLM?
IRS (Would be dream job)
BigLaw (honestly this is not great, Not because I'm a 3L but these firms don't generally have large Tax departments)
Tax Court?
Midsize Tax firms?

[in my eyes]

TaxTalent.com

[XM3045]

BigLaw (honestly this is not great, Not because I'm a 3L but these firms don't generally have large Tax departments)

I'm a little lost about this statement. There are plenty of BigLaw firms that have big tax departments (Skadden NYC and DC, R&G Boston, Mayer Brown Chicago all have tax departments of 35+). If you end up doing the LLM at NYU or GULC they have a joint tax interview program (TIP). In addition to drawing in BigLaw firms, the Big 4 accounting firms are also there. Apparently the accounting firms have been snapping up LLM people over the past couple years. Although the starting pay is lower, the upside could be equally big and I've heard that the work you start out with is better than the bitch work 1st years get stuck with in the legal world.

There are also some good mid-size tax focused firms in DC that pay at or near market.

From speaking to the clerks at the tax court, if you want tax court you are going to have to get an LLM from either NYU or GULC. The hiring cycle is strange and most of them worked for a year or two before sliding over into a clerkship.

I think IRS had an entry level attorney hiring program that is separate from the 2L summer honors program. DOJ tax is even harder to crack but may be worth a shot if you really have THE top grades in all your tax classes.

Best of luck!

[in my eyes]

You might also want to look into Big 4 National Tax practices as they tend to love T14 JDs for research and writing. For exit options if you're looking to move outside law into business Big 4 international tax groups in major markets would provide you with a world of opportunity.

[Anonymous User]

Is there a way to do a search of Biglaw departments of tax with 15 or more employees?

[XM3045]

Is there a way to do a search of Biglaw departments of tax with 15 or more employees?

I haven't found a way yet outside of just NALP searching all the firms. It may make sense to start with the firms that are band 1 and 2 in tax and then go from there.

Does anyone have an opinion on when a tax department is big enough that they would make regular hires? 15 people? 30?

[nealric]

Does anyone have an opinion on when a tax department is big enough that they would make regular hires? 15 people? 30?

I'm a tax associate in biglaw. My office only has 8 tax people including myself, and I do think that doing tax in a small department is a wonderful gig. You get varied work, and the department tends to have very low leverage (I'm one of two associates). We hire someone new every third year or so.

Is there a way to do a search of Biglaw departments of tax with 15 or more employees?

Pretty much every chambers band 1/2 tax firm is going to have at lest 15 tax people or so.

Although the starting pay is lower, the upside could be equally big and I've heard that the work you start out with is better than the bitch work 1st years get stuck with in the legal world.

Although I've never worked in the accounting world, I doubt this is the case. Tax associates don't get stuck with nearly the amount of grunt work people in other departments get. The worst I have to do is the occasional tax diligence assignment- and that kind of thing is usually not completely mindless.

If you end up doing the LLM at NYU or GULC they have a joint tax interview program (TIP).

TIP was pretty worthless when I did my LLM. I didn't know anybody who actually got an offer out of it. Don't count on TIP.

DOJ tax is even harder to crack but may be worth a shot if you really have THE top grades in all your tax classes.

Not true at all. For the most part, DOJ Tax is litigation where the money in controversy just happens to be tax money. I did the SLIP program at DOJ tax- few of the attorneys there had taken more than a small handful of tax classes. One of the younger attorneys there had only taken tax I pass/fail. That said, they are looking for very solid credentials- lots HYS types and lots of circuit clerks.

In my experience, the best way to get into the IRS is to apply early and apply often and to cultivate relationships in any way possible The fact that you were rejected once does not mean you will be rejected if you apply again. Many of the people who got in with them did it through an externship. Government agencies are very beholden to budgetary whims. They might not hire anybody one year, and hire scads of people the next for reasons that have little to do with their workload.