The New York Appellate Division last week held that a tax lawyer’s criminal conviction in a tax shelter case results in automatic disbarment from the New York bar. Matter of Nissenbaum, 2011 N.Y. Slip Op 01847 (N.Y. App, Div. Mar. 8, 2011):

According to the petitioner, the respondent “was convicted of conspiring with others to create and implement illegal tax shelters for clients of Ernst & Young as well as for his own personal tax benefit. This scheme included making false statements and providing false documents to the IRS as well as understating his personal income.” Further, the respondent “was convicted of filing a fraudulent U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, Form 1040, which substantially understated his taxable income.” The respondent does not object to this description of the offense, but points out that he “was not convicted of filing a false tax return which substantially understated his taxable income. Rather, the tax evasion counts of [the] conviction[s] related to the tax returns of clients of . . . Ernst & Young.” Further, the respondent consents to his name being stricken from the roll of attorneys.

See Legal Profession Blog, Disbarred For Tax Shelter Advice.