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Be true to your school, but file your taxes

December 23, 2009

Criminal tax defense attorney Jack Townsend tells of a lawyer who failed to file his tax returns for ten years. He lost his license to practice law for a year, in spite of his work for death row inmates and his contributions to his college:

n the within matter, while there are some mitigating factors, we find aggravating factors vastly more compelling. Specifically, while at his law firm and receiving a substantial income, respondent purchased a five bedroom house in New Jersey and a four bedroom house in Florida. He also owned a Lincoln Town car, a Nissan Mini Van, a BMW SUV, and paid for his children to attend private school. In addition, respondent lied to his wife by telling her that tax matters had been taken care of and did not notify his partners of the pending criminal investigation before resigning from the firm to take a position as president of two corporate entities engaged in energy operations in the Philippines.

The Moral: If you have time to be a corporate president, donate to your alma mater, and help out guys on death row, you have time to do your taxes.