Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Legal Commentary Blogs -> Balkinization

Legal Commentary

: Balkinization

Lawyers Charged with Criminal Conspiracy for Legal Opinions

By Jack M. Balkin

The Department of Justice recently indicted a number of tax lawyers for issuing fraudulent legal opinions designed to shield clients from criminal prosecution.

In order to encourage clients to participate in the shelters, and to shield the clients from substantial penalties that could be imposed if the IRS disallowed the claimed tax benefits, the [lawyer] defendants conspired to provide J&G's clients with opinion letters which claimed the tax shelter losses or deductions would "more likely than not" survive IRS challenge. The defendants knew those opinions were based on false and fraudulent statements, and omitted material facts. By helping their clients obtain false and fraudulent opinion letters, with the understanding and intent that those opinion letters would be presented to the IRS if and when the clients were audited, the defendants sought to undermine the ability of the IRS to ascertain the clients' tax liabilities and determine whether penalties should be imposed.

Predictably, the lawyers expressed disappointment at the indictments, claiming that they had rendered good faith interpretations of the law.

Full post as published by Balkinization on June 17, 2009 (boomark / email).