Tax Attorney

Job Description

Title: Senior/Tax Attorney - Research

Company: Talley Law Group (Orange, Ca.)

Schedule: Hybrid (Needs to be able to come to Wednesday meetings)

Employment Status: Direct Hire FTE Opportunity

About the Firm

Talley Law Group (TLG) and its affiliated entity Talley LLP (Talley) deliver integrated tax, legal, accounting and consulting services to entrepreneurially driven businesses and high-net-worth individuals. Our professionals act as each client’s Most Trusted Advisor (MTA) by providing strategic and technically sophisticated solutions across complex financial, tax, and legal matters, along with the legal documentation necessary to substantiate them.

Position Summary

The Senior Tax Attorney will serve as the firm’s primary resource for advanced tax research, technical analysis, and written tax guidance. This role is ideal for an attorney who excels in deep statutory and regulatory interpretation, complex issue spotting, and producing research-based recommendations that support internal attorneys, CPAs, and firm leadership.

You will focus on

• Conducting in-depth tax research across corporate, partnership, individual, and international tax matters.
• Preparing authoritative technical memoranda and internal guidance.
• Identifying emerging tax issues and interpreting new legislation and IRS guidance.
• Supporting complex planning initiatives through precise, research-driven analysis.
• Developing and maintaining internal tax research guides, issue summaries, and reference materials to support firmwide technical consistency.
• Support the Tax and Legal Departments by validating complex tax positions through thorough analysis of statutes, regulations, case law, IRS guidance, and treatises.
• Enhance the firm’s planning initiatives by performing comparative research on alternative structures and identifying risks, limitations, and opportunities.
• Maintain awareness of federal and state legislative developments, providing timely briefings to attorneys and tax leadership on changes that may affect client strategies.
• Assist in the creation and refinement of internal tax methodologies, templates, and research standards to ensure consistency and technical accuracy across departments.

The role is not advisory-focused, its core purpose is to strengthen the firm’s legal and tax capabilities through rigorous research and technical expertise.

Essential Functions of the Position

Technical Skills

• Conduct comprehensive tax research and prepare well-reasoned technical memoranda for internal use.
• Interpret statutes, regulations, case law, revenue rulings, IRS guidance, and international tax rules.
• Leverage research technologies, including AI-assisted tools (e.g., Bloomberg, LexisNexis, Checkpoint, Blue J and GPT-based tools), with the ability to evaluate accuracy and relevance.
• Review complex individual, entity, and cross-border tax filings to identify technical issues and planning considerations.
• Support internal teams during audits, notices, and compliance reviews through research-driven analysis.

Substantive Tax Experience In:

• Closely held businesses and entity structuring.
• Joint ventures and strategic business arrangements.
• Business reorganizations and restructuring.
• Partnership tax, corporate tax, and international tax matters.
• High-net-worth family and multi-generational planning considerations.

Internal Support

• Serve as a technical resource to attorneys, tax managers, and consulting personnel.
• Provide research-driven insights during internal strategy meetings and select client discussions.
• Ensure firmwide work product reflects current, accurate, and authoritative tax law.

Client Service

• Participate in client meetings as needed to provide technical tax insights.
• Communicate complex tax concepts clearly in writing and verbally.
• Support planning discussions with research-backed analysis rather than frontline advisory responsibilities.

Training and Personnel

• Develop and maintain a personalized Balanced Scorecard (“BSC”) that outlines the strategic steps required to achieve both personal and professional growth objectives in alignment with firm goals.
• Provide high-quality technical on-the-job training to tax preparers, staff, and outsourced service providers, ensuring consistent development of skills and adherence to best practices.
• Actively participate in departmental initiatives, contributing to presentations, knowledge-sharing sessions, and team-based activities that support the success of the department and the firm.
• Maintain required CPE/CLE.

Key Deliverables

The primary objective of the Tax Advisory and Research Consultant is to operate as a highly skilled technical tax professional who plays a strategic role within both the Tax and Legal departments, as well as firm leadership. This individual will contribute meaningfully to the firm’s growth, operational excellence, technical quality and overall business objectives by providing sophisticated tax insights, high-quality research, and forward-thinking advisory support.

To achieve this, the key deliverables include, but are not limited to:

• Quickly develop a thorough understanding of the Tax and Legal Department’s policies, processes, and workflows by meeting with operations managers and designated attorneys, reviewing firm documentation, and preparing sample memos and agreements. Gain familiarity with the firm’s culture through meetings with partners and management, and actively participate in weekly tax department and communication meetings.
• Review and understand the department’s Balanced Scorecards (BSCs) and, with guidance from the Legal Director or their direct supervisor, develop a personalized BSC aligned with departmental goals.
• Within 45 days, develop a solid understanding of the Tax and Legal Departments’ core practices; demonstrate competence in reviewing assigned returns and completing tax research for active client projects; and operate effectively within the firm’s time and billing, project management, workflow, and tax/legal software systems. Additionally, finalize your personal BSC and complete an initial review meeting with your direct supervisor.
• Within the first 90 days, actively participate in tax planning and strategy projects, including return review meetings; begin drafting foundational legal documents such as estate plans or business formation materials; and prepare tax planning memoranda based on client return reviews. Identify areas requiring further technical training as projects progress. By day 90, consistently review more complex tax returns and draft core legal documents with increasing independence.

Recommendations for 90 days:

• Demonstrate active progress on the Balanced Scorecard (BSC).
• Show a clear understanding of the firm’s processes and procedures.
• Attend, participate in, and contribute meaningfully to client meetings in the MTA capacity.
• Manage a client list appropriate to your experience level.
• Exhibit effective time management skills.
• Consistently deliver accurate work products in alignment with your client's expectations.

Recommendations for 180 days:

• Successfully complete the onboarding process.
• Manage projects within agreed-upon budgets.
• Maintain steady, measurable progress on the Balanced Scorecard (BSC).
• Actively participate in training and mentoring, with identifiable contributions noted by the Tax Manager, CSM, and Attorney.
• Proactively recommend process improvements that enhance departmental efficiency and effectiveness.

Within 1 year:

• Demonstrate strong technical research and documentation skills and the ability to review increasingly complex tax returns with confidence.
• Successfully implement the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and develop a second-year BSC.
• Consistently contribute to departmental improvement initiatives and ongoing process enhancements.

Preferred Attributes

• Minimum 5+ years of tax technical experience in a CPA firm or law firm.
• Strong background in tax research, analysis, and review of complex returns.
• Advanced proficiency with AI-supported legal/tax research tools.
• Excellent analytical writing skills and ability to distill complex issues.
• Ability to manage multiple research projects and meet deadlines.
• Highly self-directed, detail-oriented, and intellectually curious.

Travel

It is anticipated that only infrequent travel will be required.

Compensation

Compensation is at or above market value, depending on skills and experience.