Senior Tax Attorney - Research

Talley LLP•Orange, CA

14d•Hybrid

About The Position

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. 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.

Requirements

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.

Nice To Haves

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.

Responsibilities

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.