IRS Summer Internship Furthers Career Goal for Patton Boggs Foundation Fellow Susan Wilkerson ’15

As a summer intern in the Newark office of the Office of Chief Counsel, Internal Revenue Service, Susan J. Wilkerson, a member of the Rutgers School of Law–Newark Class of 2015, is gaining invaluable insight into the real-world application of tax laws and policies, the legal area in which she hopes to make a career.

Her commitment to the IRS position earned Wilkerson a 2014 Patton Boggs Foundation Fellowship. Each year the program awards fellowships to exceptional first and second-year law students who show a persistent dedication to public service and a developed interest in public policy.

“When people think of public interest work, they may not immediately think of tax policy, but I do,” Wilkerson wrote in her fellowship application. “Advocacy for greater income equality and greater funding for public education is something I believe can be addressed through market regulation and tax reform.”

At the IRS she is working in the Large Business and International Division, informing large pharmaceutical companies and international hedge funds on how to properly apply the tax code to calculate taxable income.

At the law school, Wilkerson is a Moot Court Board member, a David Cohn Appellate Advocacy competitor, and a member of the Minority Student Program. During the Spring 2014 semester, she was a legal intern in the Securities Fraud Prosecution Section of the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General and began a research assistantship with her Securities Regulation professor. During the Fall 2014 semester she will participate in the school’s Federal Tax Law Clinic.

Wilkerson received a B.A. in political science from American University, where she was a member of the Debate Society. At the University of Texas at Arlington, from which she received an M.A. in political science, Wilkerson was elected to the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society and chosen to present her thesis research at the Southwest Political Science Conference.

Launched in 2005, the Fellowship Program reflects Patton Boggs’ position as the leading public policy law firm and its strong commitment to public service and corporate social responsibility. Law schools are selected to participate in its program based on their dedication to public policy and the public interest.