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Mr. Cravens' returns for years still open under the applicable
statute of limitations to determine whether he had claimed
Kersting deductions for years not before the Tax Court.
Mr. McWade initially told Mr. Cravens that his settlement
assured that the Cravenses could not win or lose in the trial of
the test cases. Mr. McWade also told Mr. Cravens that, by reason
of the settlement, the Cravenses did not need an attorney.
Mr. Cravens therefore concluded that he no longer needed legal
representation. When Mr. Cravens asked Mr. McWade why he had to
remain a test case despite his settlement, Mr. McWade responded
that to remove the Cravenses from the group of test cases would
cause a delay in the trial of the test cases while a replacement
test case was selected.
After Mr. Seery's withdrawal from their cases, the Cravenses
did not retain new counsel. When Mr. Kersting asked Mr. Cravens
why the Cravenses had failed to authorize Chicoine and Hallett to
represent them, Mr. Cravens informed Mr. Kersting that he had
settled his cases.
On December 13, 1988, within 1 month before the trial of the
test cases, which began January 9, 1989, Mr. McWade forwarded to
the Cravenses proposed decision documents fixing their tax
liabilities for 1979 and 1980, to be signed and returned to
Mr. McWade. The proposed decision documents provided as follows:
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