Duties & Responsibilities 

The Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School (LSC) seeks to hire a Clinical Fellow in the Federal Tax Clinic. The Clinic—through which Harvard Law students receive hands-on lawyering opportunities—provides direct legal representation in tax controversies to low-income taxpayers. The Clinic’s docket includes cases before the IRS, in Federal Tax Court, and in the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal. Many of the Clinic’s cases raise cutting-edge issues regarding tax procedure and tax law. The Fellow’s responsibilities will include screening cases for merit and law reform opportunities, representing clients, helping to manage the Clinic’s docket, contributing to community outreach and engagement efforts, and supporting the Clinic’s teaching mission. The position represents a unique opportunity to join Harvard Law School’s clinical program, to work in a dynamic public interest and clinical teaching law office, and to develop lawyering and clinical teaching skills. Salary is commensurate with experience. The position is for an initial two-year appointment. The possibility of reappointment depends on the availability of funding and Law School and project requirements.

Basic Qualifications 

Candidates must have received a J.D. within the last three (3) years or expect to receive a J.D. in spring 2017. Candidates must already be admitted to a state bar or be able to sit for a state bar exam in summer 2017 with the expectation of admission to a state bar in fall 2017. Massachusetts bar admission is not required.

Additional Qualifications 

The successful candidate will have experience in tax law, whether clinical, pro bono, government, or private practice; a demonstrated commitment to the needs of low-income taxpayers; the ability to work independently, as well as in teams; the ability to thrive in a high-volume litigation practice; superior oral and written communication skills; superior motivation and initiative and the ability to work creatively within broad program goals; the ability to learn and achieve highest level of professional practice; and superior organization and time management skills.

Additional Information 

About the Legal Services Center: Located at the crossroads of Jamaica Plain and Roxbury in the City of Boston, we are a community-based clinical law program of Harvard Law School. Through five clinical offerings—Family Law/Domestic Violence Clinic, Predatory Lending/Consumer Protection Clinic, Housing Clinic, Veterans Legal Clinic, and Federal Tax Clinic—and numerous pro bono initiatives, we provide essential legal services to low-income residents of Greater Boston and in some instances, where cases present important law reform opportunities, to clients outside our service area. Our longstanding mission is to educate law students for practice and professional service while simultaneously meeting the critical needs of the community. Since 1979, we have engaged in cutting-edge litigation and legal strategies to improve the lives of individual clients, to seek systemic change for the communities we serve, and to provide law students with a singular opportunity to develop fundamental lawyering skills within a public interest law setting. To these ends, we actively partner with a diverse array of organizations, including healthcare and social service providers and advocacy groups, and continually adapt our practice areas to meet the changing legal needs of our client communities. We encourage diversity, value unique voices, and pursue with passion our twin goals of teaching law students and advocating for clients. To learn more, please visit LSC website.

For term appointments only: This is a term appointment currently expected to extend to June 30, 2019, subject to funding and departmental need.

All offers to be made by HLS Human Resources.

A cover letter is required for consideration.

To apply please visit: http://bit.ly/2pZDKrz