Insurance Defense vs. IRS Chief Counsel? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hello fellow job seekers, I need some feedback on a job choice dilemma I'm facing. I'm a 2L at a top 50 law school out west. I'm currently on the grind to find summer employment for post-2L summer. Struck out on BigLaw in OCI, but late September through present has been a better month.

My current choice is between (1) a summer associate position at the insurance defense firm Lewis Brisbois, and (2) a summer program position with an IRS Chief Counsel field office. LB pays $1.5k/wk for their summers, and looks like starting associates earn around $80k/yr. IRS is on the GS-9 pay grade, not sure what step their attorneys start at though. So looking around $55k-62k starting. The IRS summer program is paid, unsure how much. Both jobs are 100% litigation.

Which of these positions looks better on the resume and will lead to more opportunities down the road? My debt load is relatively light, so I'm not under pressure to accept more money over a better/more enjoyable line of work. I appreciate the advice.

[12YrsAnAssociate]

I'd take IRS. In my opinion, a well-paved road to being able to command a very high billable rate is to gain in-depth insider knowledge at a regulatory body that brings big dollar enforcement actions against big businesses. Insurance defense is the opposite of that. It will signal that you're worth a small fraction of what a normal biglaw litigator is worth. IRS Chief Counsel isn't quite as niche as I'd go for if I did it all over again. I would probably look for some niche HHS or EPA enforcement arm. But IRS is definitely on the correct side of the spectrum.

[Anonymous User]

Here is the case for IRS CC

You likely have an SB/SE (or perhaps LB&I) offer. I have friends who are small-time self-employed tax lawyers (mainly tax controversy for small biz and moderately to highly well-off individuals) working for themselves making 200k+ a year (net). (they are usually settling before these cases b4 they are litigated. it's not a very difficult job once u master the process. They aren't working crazy house either once they have networked and established sufficient referral flow. Much of those earnings are better than salary since u can write off many of them as biz expenses (e.g. section 179 eligible vehicles). If you have the sufficient hustle and entrepreneurial drive u can parlay SBSE into a lucrative private practice doing tax controversy for individuals and small (under 10 MIl) biz. If you arent able to see yourself hustling and bundling your own practice SBSE might be difficult to leave, in terms of exiting to a law firm (extremely unlikely/impossible to lateral there from SBSE) or one of the big4 ((highly unlikely) or in-house at a large company (SBES only deals with small biz).
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Note To Be Honest
I have no idea if they are outliers or if most self-employed controversy-focused tax lawyers do pretty well.
(I'd love to hear about self employed tax controversy lawers - if anyone on TLS can chime in)
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If u have an LB&I field offer u can likely parlay that into a private-sector tax controversy job if u are dealing with major taxpayers in good markets. While the (lateral) path from LB&I to the private sector isn't as straight as lateraling from BL or even Big4 if you hustle and have relevant experience it should be possible. Plus if u just decide to stay in the IRS for your career you can live a pretty comfortable life and might even be able to get yourself transferred to a more exciting market/LB&I field office, if that interests you. You might also be able to parlay your experience into a lower-tier law firm or lower-tier accounting firm. while the initial comp might not be much better than the IRS salary + benefits (+lifestyle) there may be more upside in the long term.

[Anonymous User]

U will start at GS 11-9 at the IRS as a law clerk (once graduate and start there full time). Ur actual comp will be influenced by ur location (i.e. locality pay)

[Jchance]

Hello fellow job seekers, I need some feedback on a job choice dilemma I'm facing. I'm a 2L at a top 50 law school out west. I'm currently on the grind to find summer employment for post-2L summer. Struck out on BigLaw in OCI, but late September through present has been a better month.

My current choice is between (1) a summer associate position at the insurance defense firm Lewis Brisbois, and (2) a summer program position with an IRS Chief Counsel field office. LB pays $1.5k/wk for their summers, and looks like starting associates earn around $80k/yr. IRS is on the GS-9 pay grade, not sure what step their attorneys start at though. So looking around $55k-62k starting. The IRS summer program is paid, unsure how much. Both jobs are 100% litigation.

Which of these positions looks better on the resume and will lead to more opportunities down the road? My debt load is relatively light, so I'm not under pressure to accept more money over a better/more enjoyable line of work. I appreciate the advice.

Lewis Brisbois is a recognized firm that can be parlayed into biglaw.

[CanadianWolf]

Do you want to practice tax law or insurance defense ?