The ABA Tax Section offers a teleconference and webcast today on Dealing With an Uncooperative Client from 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. EST:
In a perfect world, a client would consult a lawyer before engaging in any transaction that might have significant tax consequences and would then attempt to implement the transaction in accordance with the lawyer’s advice; a client filing returns and other documents would seek advice where appropriate in advance and would file in accordance with the advice received, on a timely basis and without perjuring himself; a client advised by counsel not to enter a dubious tax shelter transaction would not do so; and a client advised of a material error in a prior communication to, or filing with, the Service or in testimony before a tribunal would agree to correct the error or at least consult with independent counsel about whether to do so.
But this is not a perfect world. Clients ignore the advice of their lawyers. They engage in transactions without following their lawyers’ advice or without getting advice at all. They file forms that contain inaccuracies, both unintentional and intentional. Sometimes they tell their lawyers of their intention to do so in advance of filing. Clients often refuse, or are at least reluctant, to correct misstatements in communications or filings with the Service or tribunals, even in situations where the errors are material. Please join our expert faculty as they discuss the principal obligations of a tax lawyer to the client and others when a client refuses to follow the lawyer’s advice.
Speakers:
- Michael B. Lang (Chapman University School of Law, Orange, CA (Moderator)
- Kathryn Keneally (Fulbright & Jaworski, New York, NY)
- Scott D. Michel (Caplin & Drysdale, Washington, D.C.)
- Charles A. Pulaski, Jr. (Snell & Wilmer, Phoenix, AZ)
