Careers in Tax

UC Law SF’s tax program is designed to prepare you for a career as a tax professional.  Tax Center faculty can help you select a course of study that will give you a strong foundation in tax law and an opportunity to build the deeper substantive knowledge and skills needed for success in the tax specialty practice that you want to pursue.

The Tax Center can also help students understand the range of tax careers that J.D. students can pursue.  While non-tax people may think of the tax field as a very narrow niche, tax professionals know there is actually great diversity in the career paths available to law school graduates.  We host career programs every semester through which you can learn more about opportunities in the tax profession.  For upcoming events, click here.  If you would like more insight into the range of tax careers for J.D.s, click here for a short article that Professor Field published in the ABA Tax Times.

In addition, we encourage students to connect with some of our many alumni practicing in the tax field so that they can get a better understanding of what a tax career entails.  Our alumni have successful careers in law firms, accounting and consulting firms, government, and in-house positions, and they practice in a wide array of tax practice specialties in the Bay Area, throughout the United States, and around the world.  To connect with a tax alum, click here.

We can provide you with assistance and resources that will help you find the right tax position for you.  Many tax employers regularly recruit at UC Law SF, and we encourage you to search 12twenty for current postings.  Students also find great tax opportunities through referrals and through networking (often with our alumni), and we can help you make a job search plan.

Students can access generally applicable career resources here and tax-specific career resources here. To meet with an attorney-counselor in the Career Development Office, click here, and for career advice from Tax Center faculty (including advice about planning a curriculum that will prepare you for a tax career), click here.

We are pleased to offer a variety of recruiting services to help employers find outstanding candidates for tax positions. More information about recruiting at UC Law SF can be found here.

UC Law SF’s rigorous tax curriculum prepares students for tax careers. Students fulfilling the tax concentration must take at least 19 units of tax coursework and at least 3 additional units of tax or tax-related coursework, for a total of almost as much work as a tax LL.M. program requires. All tax concentrators graduate with a strong foundation in federal income tax, business tax, estate and gift tax, and tax research skills.  Additional tax coursework is designed to give students the substantive knowledge and skills needed for specialized practice areas, including tax controversy, U.S. international tax, state and local tax, corporate and partnership tax, wealth transfer tax, estate planning, and more.

Our students regularly go on to successful careers in law firms, accounting and consulting firms, government, and in-house positions, and they practice in a wide array of practice specialties in the Bay Area, throughout the United States, and around the world.

All of our tax courses are taught by faculty members who have significant practice experience and who are committed to teaching students what they need to know to succeed in tax practice. If you would like to speak with the directors of the Tax Center to learn more about how UC Law SF prepares students for tax careers, please contact us.