IRS, DOJ Hires With Rescinded Jobs Get Aid From Ex-Officials

Attorneys and law students who have had their job offers rescinded by the Treasury and the Justice Department’s Tax Division are getting help finding employment from a group representing law firms, accounting firms, nonprofits, and private companies.

The effort is prompted by President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 directive to freeze hiring at federal agencies for 90 days.

“This unprecedented turn of events presents an opportunity for the tax bar to step up and lean in,” the group wrote in an email to potential employers obtained by Bloomberg Tax.

On a recent call, which consisted of dozens of participants from the tax law field, the group agreed to first help with individuals whose offers were rescinded, the email said.

“Some of us are also reaching out to other sectors in an attempt to replicate this initiative in other areas as the IRS and the DOJ Tax Division are not the only federal agencies to rescind offers,” said Scott Levine, former deputy assistant secretary for international affairs at the Treasury Department.

The email has already been disseminated throughout the tax community, according to Levine.

The group has set up an email address (taxhiring25@gmail.com) where students and attorneys whose offers were revoked by the IRS and Justice’s Tax Division can send their resume, a writing sample, offer received, and notice of rescission.

A member of the group with access to the email will review these submissions, ensuring they’re complete, and then send the candidate a survey asking questions about the person’s preferred position, preferred employer such as a law firm, accounting firm, nonprofit, graduation years, and preferred location.

The information will be populated in a spreadsheet, which employers can use as a “sortable index of candidates,” the email said.

Caroline Ciraolo, a partner and founder of Kostelanetz’s Washington office, is a point of contact for the project. Ciraolo is a former acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Tax Division.

“Law firms, accounting and consulting firms, corporations, educational institutions, bar associations, state and local government agencies, courts, non-profits, and other stakeholders are spreading the word regarding these efforts, facilitating connections, and meeting with those seeking employment to offer encouragement, networking, and career counseling,” Ciraolo said in an emailed statement to Bloomberg Tax.

In the email, the group wrote that “a pool of approximately 200 candidates, including: law students who accepted summer internships; law and LLM students who accepted permanent positions through the Honors Program; and lateral attorneys with one or more years legal experience” lost their job opportunities.

In response, one unidentified firm, according to the email, is setting up a 2025-26 “tax fellowship,” which will be offered to a few candidates. The fellowship will be one year, and the group “anticipates” that the opportunity will include compensation commensurate to what the candidate would have received from the government, as well as full-time, short-term employee benefits like health care, bar dues, and ABA Tax Section dues.