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extraordinary. We find respondent's stance to be correct but not
entitled to much weight.
Kleindienst was highly motivated, productive, and
indispensable to petitioner's business. She worked long hours,
performed the functions of corporate officer and manager, and
spent the majority of the hours as an escrow officer.
Kleindienst was a well-qualified escrow officer with 12 years of
experience. She handled most of petitioner's complex escrows.
Some controversy surrounded the number of escrows that
Kleindienst closed, and she believed she closed 850 escrows in
1989. Based on the closing commission they received, the escrow
officers other than Kleindienst closed escrows that generated
fees of approximately $877,795 and $778,144 during the years in
issue. This leaves a possible $588,523 and $684,099 in escrow
fees generated from Kleindienst's closings. On average, an
escrow transaction generated an $800 fee. This confirms
Kleindienst's belief as she would have closed about 735 and 855
escrows, respectively. Although respondents' experts doubted
that Kleindienst could close this number of escrows given her
administrative responsibilities, Kleindienst's testimony was
credible.
Perhaps the most valuable service that Kleindienst provided
to petitioner was marketing. She personally solicited escrows
that generated $1.2 million of petitioner's approximately $1.46
million gross receipts during each year in issue. Respondent
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