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owes a fiduciary duty to the court and to the public. Estate of
Halas v. Commissioner, 94 T.C. 570, 578 (1990). An appraiser is
barred from presenting facts in a biased manner calculated to be
favorable to the client's position. Id. Experts who author
appraisal and valuation reports, moreover, serve as advisers to
the courts. See Fed. R. Evid. 702; Estate of Williams v.
Commissioner, 256 F.2d 217, 219 (9th Cir. 1958), affg. T.C. Memo.
1956-239. The appraiser's duty to the court exceeds any duty
owed the client. Estate of Halas v. Commissioner, supra. An
independent appraiser, therefore, could not subject himself or
herself to the control of the client, as an agent must do, and
still fulfill his or her duty to the court and to the public.
Accord Kirk v. Raymark Indus., Inc., 61 F.3d 147, 163-164 (3d
Cir. 1995) (expert witness generally would not be agent of client
because an expert normally would not agree to be subject to the
client's control with respect to consultation and testimony);
Taylor v. Kohli, 642 N.E. 2d 467, 468-469 (Ill. 1994) (generally,
the client can influence but not control an expert's thought
processes). Compare 1 Restatement, supra sec. 14N, comment a
(Independent contractor as an agent) with id. comment b (Non-
agent independent contractor). Moreover, we believe that an
agent appraiser must have to act as an advocate of the
principal's position to fulfill the fiduciary duty an agent owes
his or her principal. Such advocacy, however, is contrary to the
duty owed the court and the public in general and precludes the
assistance of the expert at trial. The Tax Court, in fact, has
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