- 27 -
335 (5th Cir. 1998), affg. T.C. Memo. 1995-184, and cases cited
therein; cf. Cohan v. Commissioner, 39 F.2d 540, 544 (2d Cir.
1930).
Mr. Izen has requested an award of attorney's fees of
approximately $1.2 million on behalf of his clients representing
amounts that they paid to the Belton fund. Mr. Izen reported
that he had received $425,352.82 in attorney's fees from the
Belton fund.
It is now evident that only a relatively small fraction of
the amounts that Mr. Izen's clients paid to the Belton fund
should be considered in determining the amount of the award
under section 6673(a)(2). As previously discussed, under no
circumstances will we award petitioners attorney's fees and costs
for any portion of the Belton fund used to pay for services
rendered to Mr. Kersting. We therefore exclude from
consideration all amounts paid from the Belton fund
(approximately two-thirds of the total) to Messrs. Bradt and
Fujiwara and the law firm of Yempuku and Kugisaki. There is no
evidence in the record that these amounts were paid other than to
compensate those attorneys for services provided to Mr. Kersting.
In addition, we impose a further reduction to account for the
strong evidence that a significant portion of the $425,352.82
amount paid to Mr. Izen from the Belton fund also represents
compensation for services rendered to Mr. Kersting. In the
absence of evidence of the specific amount attributable to such
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