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Petitioner contends that respondent failed to contact
petitioner in regard to his 1980 deficiency during the pendency
of the GIG case prior to 1994, and this led to petitioner's delay
in payment of his 1980 tax. Prior to 1994, petitioner was
represented by Mr. O'Donnell, and respondent was restricted by
ethical considerations from directly contacting petitioner about
his 1980 deficiency without Mr. O'Donnell's consent. See Model
Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 4.2 (1998). During this time,
however, respondent did contact Mr. O'Donnell on a number of
occasions to discuss the GIG case and the outstanding settlement
offers. We therefore conclude that petitioner's argument that
respondent failed to contact him is without merit.
Petitioner also claims that during two telephone
conversations with IRS agents concerning petitioner's 1981 and
1989 taxable years, respondent communicated misinformation to him
which constituted a ministerial error. Petitioner alleges that
respondent misled him into believing that his 1980 deficiency had
been settled.
During these conversations, petitioner intentionally asked
vague questions about whether unrelated issues in his 1981 and
1989 taxable years affected the 1980 taxable year. Petitioner
never told the IRS agents that a notice of deficiency had been
issued relating to his 1980 taxable year. When the IRS employees
stated that they knew nothing about petitioner's 1980 taxable
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