Judy S. Kwok (Harvard, Class of 2005) has published The Perils of Bright Lines: Section 6110(k)(3) and the Ambiguous Precedential Status of Written Determinations, 24 Va. Tax Rev. 863 (2005).  Here is  part of the Conclusion:

The removal of § 6110(k)(3) from the Code would benefit the legal system greatly.  The decision whether to give heightened deference to written determinations should be ultimately a judicial one.  While certain safeguards can and perhaps should be legislated (e.g., taxpayers cannot rely on written determinations), there is a clear limit to how far the legislature can practicably control the courts.  Constitutional claims aside, the legal system as a whole has a practical interest in allowing the court to handle the nuances of its decision-making.  If we have learned nothing else from § 6110(k)(3), it should be that attempts to codify the fluid, intricate, and holistic manner in which judicial decisions are made inevitably become overly rigid or incomprehensible.