Meet Chardea - Litigation & Advisory

My name is Shardae Murray. I work with the Small Business Self-Employed Division in Jacksonville, Florida. I've worked with counsel for about four years and I attended law school at Florida A&M University College of Law, and I earned my LLM in taxation at the John Marshall Law School in Chicago. While enrolled in my LLM program, I externed with the IRS Appeals Office for an entire semester, but I started my career serving low- to moderate-income taxpayers as a low-income tax school director at a legal aid in North Florida for about four years. Thereafter, I transitioned to working for the service as an estate and gift tax attorney where I examined estate and gift tax returns concerning high-income taxpayers for about three years. The work was extremely challenging and rewarding, but I really missed the courtroom. So, as soon as an opportunity presented itself, I applied and was offered a position with the IRS Chief Counsel in Jacksonville, Florida. I enjoy being at the forefront of developing issues and having an opportunity to work on very complex casework. Also, at counsel, it seems like everybody plays a vital role, whether you're a legal assistant, a paralegal, an attorney, or even a manager. We all play a vital role, and we all contribute to the overall function and success of the organization because we're tasked with meaningful work that matters. The internal opportunities here at counsel are top-tier. I would actually compare them to like a NEA training or NEA program, which actually costs thousands of dollars to attend based off just tuition alone, not including hotel and travel if you're not attending a session that's online. But here at counsel, our trainings are free. They can be presented and hosted via Zoom. Sometimes they're live and in person, and when they are in person, counsel actually sends us. They provide for hotel accommodations and travel accommodations as well as per diem. So it's an incredible learning experience, and also the trainings are incredibly engaging. They're interactive and typically involve assignments and drills where you get immediate feedback from the course instructors. If you're looking for a fulfilling career where your work matters and you can excel while working at the forefront of complex legal issues while getting regular training to hone your skills, I would tell you to run, don't walk to your nearest computer, and apply on USAJOBS to work for counsel. It is absolutely one of the best decisions of my career, and I'm actually just getting started.