DOJ Tax Attorney, Jordan Howlette, In the News (10/11/21)

A Tax Division Attorney, Jordan Howlette (LinkedIn here), is mentioned prominently in this Thomson Reuters article:  Natalie Runyon, Meaningful Work: How the pursuit of fairness leads some lawyers to the DOJ, here.  Here are the relevant excerpts:

In reading the U.S. Department of Justice’s mission, it is hard not to get chills in digesting the magnitude of it. In particular, the parts about “defending the interests of the United States according to the law” and ensuring “fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans,” produce a resounding emotional response on its significance.

It is this very mission that inspires thousands of attorneys to join the department. Jordan Howlette and Jessica Massey are two of these lawyers.

The DOJ as a ‘beacon of hope’

Howlette pursued his dream of becoming a Department of Justice (DOJ) attorney, after serving in the military and taking the bar exam while deployed in Afghanistan. He says that he viewed the agency as a “beacon of hope, in that the agency served as a bulwark against those seeking to harm others and a staunch defender of our civil liberties.”

Now, working on the civil side of the tax division as the litigating arm of the Internal Revenue Service, Howlette says he finds meaning each day because he gets to pursue justice through prosecutions by “seeking injunctions against dishonest tax return preparers who promoted fraudulent tax schemes and arrangements.” Many victims are from low-income backgrounds and are usually people of color, and Howlette says he finds this aspect of his work in particular, meaningful as an attorney of color himself.

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Autonomy, prosecutorial discretion & development opportunities

From a career development and litigation experience perspective, Howlette — as an early career attorney himself — believes his DOJ employment has allowed him tremendous autonomy to grow in comparison to private practice. From day one, he was the lead on his assigned cases. He is the person determining if justice is served by applying the law to the facts and circumstances of the case; and more specifically, he has the prosecutorial discretion to decide the direction of the case and how the arguments are framed.

For example, he had one case that involved a business owner who had a significant amount of unpaid taxes that accumulated while the owner was experiencing a series of dire health problems that impacted his ability to pay the back taxes and penalties. Howlette had the autonomy to come up with an equitable strategic solution to avoid taking the business owner’s assets, including his home, and to make recommendations for the settlement. Howlette says he did not see justice being served by us taking this person’s house to collect the back tax revenue when the home served as the residence of the business owner’s kids and grandkids. “This is the discretion that that I find to be very, very meaningful in my day-to-day work,” he adds. 

Collegial work environment & informal mentoring

In addition to his high level of job satisfaction, the DOJ’s work culture is extremely welcoming, Howlette describes. “From my first day on the job, I felt like I was part of a family here in the tax division — a family filled with very intelligent, humble, and caring individuals.” He says that he felt a sense of community, in part, because of the mission. Also, he says he always felt comfortable seeking guidance on the litigation strategy of a case or about getting advice on a career question because of the supportive, harmonious culture.