Tax Law

ABA Voices Concern Over IRS Proposals That Could Threaten Attorney-Client Privilege

The ABA is voicing concerns over several announced Internal Revenue Service proposals that it fears could undermine the protections afforded by the attorney client privilege and attorney work product doctrine. Those concerns were detailed in a letter (PDF) to the agency Friday by Thomas Susman, director of the ABA’s governmental…

May 28, 2010 8:44 PM CDT

Law Firm Warns Super-Yacht Owners: Beware of Ship Seizures in Italian Waters

A London law firm has issued a travel-advisory to super-wealthy clients planning to sail their super-yachts into Italian waters. Due to an apparent crackdown on suspected tax evaders as Italy struggles to deal with a budget deficit, even legitimate vessels under a Cayman Islands flag could be seized there for…

May 25, 2010 9:04 PM CDT

$9M Malpractice Suit Sparks Finger-Pointing Among Multiple BigLaw Firms

A former accounting and financial client says Morgan Lewis & Bockius committed malpractice and is suing for a return of $9 million in fees. Morgan Lewis not only says that it did not commit malpractice, but it is seeking sanctions against plaintiff BDO Seidman and its counsel, DLA Piper, for…

May 17, 2010 11:37 PM CDT

A Challenge: Law Practice. 6 Words.

A recent call in the blogosphere for readers to provide six-word descriptions of tax practice has made us wonder: How can law practice, in general, be described in six words? A few possibilities come to mind: Pass bar. Get job. Make partner. Or perhaps, in these tough economic times, Pass…

May 14, 2010 8:27 PM CDT

Student’s Prizewinning Law Review Article Ignites Texas Tax Debate

Nikki Laing is no ordinary law student. And her upcoming Baylor Law Review article is more than a bit unusual, too. At 35, she is the mother of an 11-year-old and has already put together a successful small business. Plus, she is not only an accountant but last year scored…

May 10, 2010 8:21 PM CDT

Lawyer Tells Sentencing Judge He Didn’t Know Tax-Lien Deal Was Illegal

A 72-year-old Baltimore-area lawyer apparently learned a lesson about the law of bid rigging too late to avoid a prison sentence. Harvey Nusbaum was sentenced Tuesday to a year and a day in prison for his role in a conspiracy to divvy up the bidding at tax lien auctions, according…

May 5, 2010 4:42 PM CDT

Bail Set in Swiss Bank Case Against Ex-Lawyer Once Dubbed ‘Most Obnoxious’

A New Yorker once dubbed the state’s “most obnoxious lawyer” is facing charges that he tried to evade federal income taxes by hiding $26.4 million in a Swiss bank account. The one-time maritime lawyer, Kenneth Heller, was disbarred in 2004 for screaming at, threatening and disparaging judges and adversaries. He…

May 3, 2010 1:22 PM CDT

Lawyers in ‘Lower Upper Class’ Begin Revolt with Goldman Case, Columnist Says

Members of the lower upper class—professionals who are living better than 99 percent of other Americans due to education, hard work and good luck—are beginning to revolt against those who are an economic step above them. That’s the view of Washington Post columnist Matt Miller, who sees a connection between…

Apr 22, 2010 12:00 PM CDT

Happy Tax Day: IRS Charges 7 More Ex-Clients of UBS Swiss Bank

In a move apparently timed to coincide with the annual Internal Revenue Service tax return filing deadline, the U.S. Department of Justice has announced that criminal charges are being pursued against seven more former clients of UBS AG by federal authorities in New York. Nine other individuals were convicted earlier…

Apr 15, 2010 7:16 PM CDT

Feds Say Lawyer Promoted Tax Fraud Using Roth IRAs and Claimed Charity

The Internal Revenue Service is seeking a court order permanently barring a Missouri lawyer from promoting what it describes as fraudulent tax schemes. Many of the claimed schemes allegedly promoted by Philip Kaiser of The Kaiser Law Firm in St. Louis involve abusive use of deductions for charitable contributions or…

Apr 15, 2010 5:56 PM CDT

TurboTax Revises Software After Retired Lawyer Spots a Glitch

Intuit is revising its TurboTax software after a retired lawyer alerted the company to an error. Charlie Freret, a retired lawyer from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs living in Chantilly, Va., used TurboTax to file his tax return electronically after he had already prepared his tax documents on paper, the…

Apr 7, 2010 11:43 AM CDT

PI Lawyer Pleads in $2.2M Client Theft, Will Get Between 3 and 9 Years

A New York personal injury lawyer has pleaded guilty in a $2.2 million client theft case and is expected to get between three and nine years. In addition to pleading guilty to grand larceny and scheming to defraud concerning the theft of client escrow and settlement funds, Marc Bernstein, 55,…

Apr 5, 2010 9:18 PM CDT

Paying Too Much to See a Baseball Game? Blame the Tax Code, Law Prof Says

A law professor says there is a critical factor that helps explain why the average price of a Chicago Cubs ticket has increased 265 percent in the last two decades—the tax code. Business write-offs are spurring skyrocketing ticket prices to sporting events in two ways, according to a New York…

Apr 5, 2010 12:07 PM CDT

Play it Safe

Tax lawyers urge solo and small-firm practitioners to err on the side of caution

Apr 1, 2010 6:10 AM CDT

Ex-Arnold & Porter Partner Gets Probation in Tax-Shelter Case, Wanted to Be ‘Big Shot’

A federal judge in Manhattan this week sentenced a former Arnold & Porter partner to three years of probation in a tax shelter case, citing the personal and professional damage he has already suffered and his extensive cooperation as reasons for not sending him to prison. Peter Cinquegrani, 50, who…

Mar 30, 2010 9:42 PM CDT