Description:
Overview:Cleary Gottlieb is a pioneer in globalizing the legal profession. We have 14 offices in major financial centers around the world, but we operate as a single, integrated global partnership and not as a U.S. firm with a network of overseas locations. The firm employs approximately 1,100 lawyers from more than 50 countries.
Since 1946 our lawyers and staff have worked across practices, industries, jurisdictions, and continents to provide clients with simple, actionable approaches to their most complex legal and business challenges, whether domestic or international. We support every client relationship with intellectual agility, commercial acumen, and a human touch.
The Tax Practice Development Lawyer (“PDL”) is a key knowledge, training, and practice support resource for the US Tax group. The PDL maintains core forms, precedents, research resources, and information channels; supports adoption of legal technology and AI-enabled workflows; and helps ensure the group's knowledge infrastructure reflects current law, market practice, and client needs. The PDL also contributes substantive tax expertise to training, thought leadership, business development, and attorney development initiatives.
Responsibilities:
Knowledge Resources, Forms & Legal Technology
- Maintain the Tax group's library of forms, annotated models, precedents, checklists, research resources, practice guides, and other work tools, ensuring materials remain current, practical, and easy to use.
- Work with attorneys to identify priorities for new and updated knowledge resources, establish review cycles, and execute refresh projects.
- Administer and improve the group's internal knowledge channels, including practice sites, intranet pages, email distributions, and successor platforms.
- Partner with Practice Innovation and Knowledge Solutions to evaluate, test, and implement legal technology and AI tools for the Tax group.
- Serve as the group's legal quality-check resource for AI-assisted workflows, reviewing outputs for accuracy, identifying gaps, and refining prompts and processes.
- Support attorney adoption of legal KM and AI tools through hands-on guidance, training, and ongoing workflow support.
- Monitor federal, state, and international tax developments, including IRS and Treasury guidance, proposed rulemaking, cases, legislation, and market developments relevant to clients.
- Participate in drafting client alerts, articles, legal updates, and other thought leadership materials and coordinate publication with Business Development.
- Co-lead the planning and delivery of Tax group training, including first-year training, response-to-demand sessions, group-wide meetings, and other substantive or skills-focused programs.
- Serve as a day-to-day resource for associates on locating, interpreting, and applying research resources, Tax group forms, precedents, , and knowledge materials.
- Support associate development in coordination with the Associate Development Manager, including onboarding, skills development, staffing context, and associate support initiatives.
- Provide backup support to the Associate Development Manager during vacations or other absences, as needed.
- Collaborate with the Business Development team to support pitches, RFP responses, client meeting materials, external presentations, partner speaking materials, and substantive talking points.
- Develop and review tax-focused client materials, conference content, and practice credentials in coordination with Business Development and attorneys.
- Support client roundtables, professional association events, Cleary-sponsored programs, and other business and professional development initiatives.
- Maintain experience, matter, and precedent information used for pitches, presentations, client relationship management, and practice development.
- Act as a key liaison between the Tax group and the firm's Professional Staff teams.
- Collaborate with other PDLs and Practice Development colleagues to share best practices and promote consistent approaches to knowledge, training, technology, and practice support.
- Gather feedback, identify practice needs, and translate group priorities into practical KM, training, technology, and Business Development initiatives.
Qualifications:
The ideal candidate will have three to five years of experience as a tax lawyer and will be a self-starter with sound judgment, strong organizational skills, and the ability to work effectively with attorneys and professional staff at all levels. The candidate should be comfortable leading projects, taking direction, giving direction, and balancing independent ownership with collaborative execution. Additional qualifications include:
- Admission in good standing to the New York State Bar.
- Strong knowledge of US tax law and the work of a sophisticated US Tax practice, including familiarity with transaction documents and other materials routinely used by the group.
- Interest in knowledge management, legal technology, AI-enabled workflows, training, and attorney development
- Enthusiastic about developing junior talent
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including strong drafting, editing, and presentation skills.
- Strong attention to detail, organization, follow-through, and project management skills.
- Collaborative, service-oriented approach and ability to build credibility with lawyers and professional staff
- Sound problem-solving skills and ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced professional services environment.
