General Attorney (Tax) - Honors Attorney Program (2025)

Who May Apply:

Recent law school graduates who are eligible for participation in the IRS Chief Counsel Honors Program AND who have been admitted to a State Bar.

• Recent law school graduates from an American Bar Association (ABA) accredited law school who within 9 months of graduating law school began participating in eligibility preserving activities such as Judicial clerkships, tax or accounting related graduate programs (including Tax LL.M. program) or qualifying legal fellowships. Specific requirements for eligibility preserving activities are detailed at the bottom of this section.

Applicants Not Admitted to a State Bar:
Applicants who have not been admitted into a State Bar are not eligible to apply to the Honors General Attorney (Tax) Program and must apply to the following Honors Program (Law Clerk) announcement for consideration: https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/799725600.

To qualify for this position of Honors General Attorney (Tax), you must meet the qualification requirements listed below by the closing of this announcement:

Basic Requirements for Honors General Attorney (Tax):

• Possess at least the first professional law degree (J.D.) from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA); AND
• Be an active member in good standing of the bar of a State, U.S. Commonwealth, U.S. territory, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

To qualify for the Honors General Attorney (Tax) at the GS-11 grade level, you must be a J.D. 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, OR
• A J.D. cumulative GPA of 3.35 or higher, OR
• If the school does not have class ranks or GPAs, a minimum LSAT of 160 is required.

To qualify for the Honors General Attorney (Tax) 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, OR
• 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, OR
• If neither J.D. nor LL.M. program has class ranks or GPAs, a minimum LSAT of 160 is required.

Note: See "Required Documents" section for GPA/Class Rank/LSAT supporting documents.

Attributes of an Ideal Candidate are:

• 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 tax or related course work (e.g., "A" grades in tax courses),
• Evidence of background or experience in the position to be filled, such as taking relevant law school classes (e.g., tax law, bankruptcy/debtor creditor law, administrative law) or relevant legal or tax experience (e.g., tax legal experience) or relevant tax volunteer experience (e.g., VITA, Tax Clinic),
• 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.

Eligibility Preserving Activities are defined as:

Full-time activities starting after law school graduation that can preserve a law school graduate's eligibility for the Honors Program. The following are eligibility preserving activities: judicial clerkships, tax or accounting-related graduate programs (including Tax 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, 2024 (may run later).

Law school graduates who received their J.D. prior to October 1, 2021 are ineligible.