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The undersigned copied the Petitioner’s file,
mailed same to Mr. Lehotsky, and prepared and mailed a
Notice of Substitution to the Tax Court indicating that
Mr. Lehotsky would be representing the Petitioners.
The undersigned also called Mr. Lehotsky and left a
detailed message regarding the status of the case and
inviting him to call the undersigned on his cell phone
should he desire to discuss the case. Thereafter the
undersigned closed his office and left town for a two
week vacation.
Upon returning it was discovered that the under-
signed’s Notice of Substitution of Counsel had been
returned and stamped “Not admitted U.S. Tax Court”.
The undersigned again left a voice mail message for Mr.
Lehotsky and forwarded discovery requests to his office
address. After having had no reply from Mr. Lehotsky
the undersigned contacted Mr. Binge and advised that
his office had been in contact with Mr. Lehotsky and
that they had assurances that the [sic] would be admit-
ted to practice in the Tax Court or would co-counsel
with another attorney admitted to practice who would
shortly enter an appearance. The undersigned cautioned
Mr. Binge about the importance of timely complying with
discovery and the sanctions that could be imposed for
failure to comply.
On September 4th [2001] the undersigned received
District Counsel’s Motion to Compel and very shortly
thereafter the Court’s Order directing petitioner to
respond to the Motion to Compel and the undersigned to
file a motion to withdraw as counsel on or before
September 13th [2001]. The undersigned contacted Terry
Bentivegna, an assistant to James Binge, who advised
that he was contacting Mr. Lehotsky who would take care
of the matter.
After having not had any communication with Mr.
Lehotsky the undersigned contacted Mr. Binge on Friday
the 7th [of September 2001] and related the urgency of
complying with discovery and the possible sanctions for
failure to comply. Mr. Binge indicated that he was
about to go out of town for a conference and that he
would have to attend to the matter when he returned to
the office on Tuesday. As a result of the Court’s
Order requiring a reply by the 13th [of September 2001]
and Mr. Binge’s inability to address the situation
until the 11th [of September 2001] the undersigned
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