What Did a DOJ Tax Division Trial Attorney Do? Inside the Federal Government’s Tax Litigation Arm
The title “DOJ Tax Division Trial Attorney” carries weight in legal circles, but most taxpayers have only a vague sense of what the job actually involved. For nearly 90 years, these were the lawyers the federal government sent into court to represent the United States in tax cases. They handled refund suits, lien foreclosures, injunction actions against tax shelter promoters, criminal tax prosecutions, and a long list of other matters that made up the federal tax docket.
Understanding what Trial Attorneys actually did inside the Tax Division, and why that work was demanding and substantively rich, helps explain why former Tax Division attorneys bring something distinctive to private tax controversy practice today.
Key Takeaways
- DOJ Tax Division Trial Attorneys represented the United States in federal civil and criminal tax litigation across the country.
- A typical case load included refund suits, lien foreclosures, summons enforcement, wrongful levy actions, bankruptcy tax matters, and injunction actions against abusive tax shelter promoters and fraudulent return preparers.
- Trial Attorneys often carried dozens of active matters simultaneously, at every procedural stage from initial complaint through trial and appeal.
- The work required substantive expertise in federal tax law and federal civil procedure, plus practical courtroom skills including discovery, depositions, motion practice, and trial.
- Mark Milton served in this role at the Tax Division before its dissolution and now applies that experience to representing taxpayers nationwide.
The Role at a High Level
A DOJ Tax Division Trial Attorney was a federal civil and criminal litigator with one specialized client: the United States, in matters involving federal taxation. While IRS attorneys handled administrative matters and U.S. Tax Court litigation, Trial Attorneys took over when a tax case moved into federal district court, the Court of Federal Claims, the bankruptcy courts, or the federal courts of appeals. They worked closely with the IRS Office of Chief Counsel on case development, coordinated with IRS Criminal Investigation on criminal referrals, and partnered with U.S. Attorneys’ Offices on prosecutions.
The role demanded fluency in two distinct bodies of law. Federal tax law, with its layered statutes, regulations, and procedural rules, governed the substantive issues in every case. Federal civil and criminal procedure governed how those issues actually got litigated. A Trial Attorney needed to be comfortable in both worlds at the same time.
The Types of Cases Trial Attorneys Handled
Federal tax litigation is broader than most taxpayers realize. A Trial Attorney’s docket on any given day might include any of the following.
Refund Suits
Refund suits are filed by taxpayers seeking to recover taxes they already paid. The taxpayer pays the disputed liability in full, files an administrative refund claim with the IRS, and then sues in federal district court or the Court of Federal Claims when the claim is denied or goes unanswered. Trial Attorneys defended the government in these cases, which often involved complex tax positions, substantial dollar amounts, and detailed factual records.
Reduce-to-Judgment Suits
When the IRS has assessed tax liabilities that have not been paid, DOJ can sue to reduce those assessments to a federal court judgment. This converts the administrative assessment into a judicial debt, which extends collection authority and opens additional enforcement mechanisms. Trial Attorneys prosecuted these cases on behalf of the United States.
Lien Foreclosures
Federal tax liens attach to all property of a delinquent taxpayer. When the government decides to foreclose those liens, the case is filed in federal district court and assigned to a Trial Attorney to litigate. These matters often involved real estate, business assets, and competing claims from other creditors, requiring the government’s attorney to work through priority disputes and equitable considerations.
Summons Enforcement
The IRS uses administrative summonses to compel testimony and document production during investigations. When a taxpayer or third party refuses to comply, the government petitions the federal district court to enforce the summons. Trial Attorneys handled these proceedings, including responses to challenges based on privilege, scope, or improper purpose.
Wrongful Levy Actions
Third parties whose property was wrongfully levied by the IRS can sue for return of the property or its value. These cases involved factual disputes about ownership, notice, and procedural compliance, often with significant amounts at stake. Trial Attorneys defended the government’s levy actions in court.
Bankruptcy Tax Litigation
The federal government is a frequent creditor in bankruptcy proceedings, and tax claims raise specialized issues in bankruptcy court. Trial Attorneys litigated dischargeability disputes, priority fights, plan confirmation objections, and related matters across the bankruptcy courts.
Injunction Actions Against Promoters and Preparers
The federal government can seek injunctions against promoters of abusive tax shelters and against fraudulent federal tax return preparers. These cases were among the most complex on the Tax Division’s docket, sometimes involving hundreds of millions of dollars in alleged improper tax benefits and lengthy factual records developed over years of IRS investigation. Trial Attorneys investigated, litigated, and obtained permanent injunctions in these matters.
Criminal Tax Prosecutions
The Tax Division also worked alongside U.S. Attorneys’ Offices on criminal tax prosecutions, including tax evasion, willful failure to file, false return, and conspiracy charges. Some Trial Attorneys handled criminal matters directly, while others provided expert support on parallel civil-criminal coordination.
A Day in the Life
The work of a Trial Attorney was substantively varied and procedurally demanding. A single attorney might carry dozens of active matters at any given time, spread across multiple federal districts and at every stage of litigation.
On any given week, a Trial Attorney might be drafting a complaint to reduce assessments to judgment in one case, briefing a summary judgment motion in another, taking the deposition of a defendant in a third, preparing exhibits for trial in a fourth, and arguing a motion to compel in a fifth. Appeals would run in parallel, sometimes requiring brief writing or oral argument in the courts of appeals.
Case management was constant. Settlement evaluations had to be made and approved through internal channels. Investigations had to be coordinated with the IRS. Depositions and document productions had to be scheduled, taken, and analyzed. Trial calendars had to be managed against discovery deadlines and motion schedules.
The volume produced a particular kind of practitioner. Trial Attorneys saw how cases developed, settled, and tried out across the full range of federal tax litigation. That breadth of experience is hard to replicate outside of a centralized federal tax litigation practice, which is one reason former Tax Division alumni stand out in private practice.
The Substantive Knowledge Trial Attorneys Built
The substantive expertise that came with the role extended well beyond the basics of federal tax law. Trial Attorneys developed practical knowledge about how the government evaluates cases, how IRS Chief Counsel and DOJ coordinate, and what factual and legal positions tend to hold up under scrutiny.
They learned which arguments the federal government finds persuasive and which it dismisses. They saw which taxpayer defenses succeed in court and which collapse under cross-examination. They understood how settlement authority works inside DOJ, including the dollar thresholds and substantive considerations that govern when cases get resolved without trial.
That insight does not appear in a treatise or a CLE outline. It comes from doing the work over multiple years, across dozens of cases, in coordination with the IRS, IRS-CI, and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices. Former Trial Attorneys carry that knowledge into private practice, where it informs how they evaluate taxpayer cases and advise clients on strategy.
“The Tax Division job teaches you something most tax lawyers never get to see, which is how the federal government actually thinks about its tax cases. You learn what makes a case worth taking to trial, what makes one worth settling, and what makes one not worth bringing in the first place. That perspective changes how you advise taxpayers. You stop guessing about the government’s position and start anticipating it.”
Mark C. Milton, Founder and Managing Attorney, Milton Law Group
Why This Background Matters for Taxpayers Today
The Tax Division has been dissolved, but the substantive work of federal tax litigation continues across other DOJ components and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices. The procedural rules, the analytical frameworks, and the dynamics of federal tax cases remain substantially the same.
What that means for taxpayers is straightforward. The institutional knowledge that former Trial Attorneys built inside the Tax Division continues to apply. When a former Trial Attorney advises a taxpayer on how the federal government is likely to view a case, that advice is grounded in years of doing the work from the government’s side. When the same attorney negotiates with current DOJ counsel, the familiarity with how DOJ operates internally informs the conversation.
Mark Milton served as a Trial Attorney in the DOJ Tax Division before its dissolution, having been recruited through the prestigious Attorney General’s Honors Program. He received the DOJ’s Outstanding Trial Attorney Award in 2014 for the quality of his federal tax litigation work during his government tenure.
Mark’s case work included co-counsel responsibility in the first-ever LB&I-referred injunction action against promoters of DAD/DAT/§743(f) tax shelters, a matter involving more than $370 million in alleged fictitious losses. All defendants ultimately conceded. He also served as lead counsel in multiple permanent injunction actions against tax shelter promoters and fraudulent federal tax return preparers nationwide, in employment tax refund litigation that resulted in a jury verdict for the full assessment amount, and in a wrongful levy action that prevailed on cross-motions for summary judgment. Results depend on specific facts. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.
How This Differs From What National Tax Resolution Companies Offer
Most taxpayers facing federal tax problems will encounter national tax resolution companies long before they encounter a former DOJ Tax Division attorney. Those companies advertise heavily on television and radio, often promising to settle IRS debts for a fraction of what is owed.
The structural difference is significant. National tax resolution companies are generally not law firms. The person signing the client up is typically a commissioned salesperson, not a licensed attorney. The case work is then delegated to back-office staff, sometimes including enrolled agents or contract attorneys, who may or may not have meaningful federal tax experience.
Representation by a former DOJ Tax Division Trial Attorney sits at the opposite end of the spectrum. The attorney is licensed and bound by the ethical rules of the bars in which they are admitted. The substantive knowledge comes from years of handling the federal government’s most complex tax cases. The advice is candid and grounded in actual experience with how the federal government approaches tax litigation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was a DOJ Tax Division Trial Attorney?
A DOJ Tax Division Trial Attorney was a federal litigator who represented the United States in civil and criminal tax matters in federal court. Before the Tax Division was dissolved, these attorneys handled the federal government’s tax litigation docket nationwide.
What kinds of cases did they handle?
Trial Attorneys handled refund suits, suits to reduce tax assessments to judgment, lien foreclosures, summons enforcement, wrongful levy actions, bankruptcy tax litigation, injunction actions against tax shelter promoters and fraudulent return preparers, and criminal tax prosecutions in coordination with U.S. Attorneys’ Offices.
Did Trial Attorneys handle U.S. Tax Court cases?
No. U.S. Tax Court cases are litigated by attorneys from the IRS Office of Chief Counsel, not by DOJ. Trial Attorneys handled cases in federal district courts, the Court of Federal Claims, the bankruptcy courts, and the federal courts of appeals.
How were DOJ Tax Division Trial Attorneys recruited?
Many Trial Attorneys were recruited through the Attorney General’s Honors Program, the federal government’s most selective entry-level legal recruitment track. Others joined laterally after experience at law firms, U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, or the IRS Office of Chief Counsel.
Why does this experience matter now that the Tax Division has been dissolved?
The substantive work of federal tax litigation continues even though the organizational structure has changed. The procedural rules and the federal government’s analytical approach to tax cases remain the same. Former Trial Attorneys retain the institutional knowledge they built inside the Tax Division, and that knowledge continues to apply when representing taxpayers today.
How does Mark Milton’s experience benefit clients at Milton Law Group?
Mark spent years inside the Tax Division handling the same types of federal tax matters his clients now face. That perspective informs how he evaluates cases, advises on strategy, and negotiates with the federal government on behalf of taxpayers. Clients work directly with Mark rather than being routed through sales staff or junior associates.
About Mark C. Milton
Mark C. Milton is the Founder and Managing Attorney of Milton Law Group. Mark served as a Trial Attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice Tax Division, the federal government’s specialized tax litigation arm prior to its dissolution, after being recruited through the prestigious Attorney General’s Honors Program. He received the DOJ’s Outstanding Trial Attorney Award in 2014. Mark brings nearly two decades of combined experience in tax controversy, federal litigation, and accounting, having previously practiced at an AmLaw 100 firm in St. Louis and worked at two large public accounting firms in Chicago and St. Louis prior to law school.
Mark earned his J.D., with Honors, from Saint Louis University School of Law, where he received the ALI-ABA Leadership and Scholarship Award, and his B.S. in Accountancy, cum laude, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is admitted to the bars of Missouri, the District of Columbia, Illinois, and Florida, and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Tax Court, the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri, and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (Trial Bar).
Mark serves as Chairman of the Summer Tax Summit, is Co-Founder and Past President of the St. Louis Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, served as Co-Chair of the FBA’s 39th Annual Tax Law Conference in Washington, D.C., and is the Taxation Section Chair of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis (BAMSL). He has been recognized on the POWER List of Top 100 Attorneys by Missouri Lawyers Media (2022), the POWER List of Missouri Tax Attorneys (2021, 2022, 2025), and as a Missouri Super Lawyers Rising Star (2019 through 2025).
For the broader picture on why former DOJ Tax Division experience matters when choosing federal tax counsel, see our pillar article, Why Hire a Former DOJ Tax Division Attorney? What Mark Milton’s Federal Government Experience Means for Your IRS Case. For more on the recent restructuring of federal tax litigation responsibilities, see What Happened to the DOJ Tax Division? Understanding the Restructuring of Federal Tax Litigation.
Trusted Legal Representation for Troubled Taxpayers
Contact the IRS Problem Solvers at Milton Law Group to schedule a paid privileged consultation by calling 833-LAW-1040 or at miltonlawgroup.com/schedule-now.
Related practice areas: Tax Controversy | Federal Court Litigation | About Mark C. Milton
Disclaimer: This article is provided for general informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading this article does not create an attorney-client relationship with Milton Law Group or any of its attorneys. Every tax matter depends on its specific facts and circumstances, and readers should consult a qualified tax attorney about their particular situation. Results depend on specific facts. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.