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Moreover, the Retainer Statements, signed by Mr. Tolpin, and
filed with the Office of Court Administration in New York, New
York, for each client, list petitioner as the attorney referring
the client. The Retainer Statement for the property damage
client states that petitioner is entitled to one-third of the
attorney’s fees. The Retainer Statement for the personal injury
client is silent as to petitioner’s fee. We note that although
petitioner claims that he received one-third of the legal fees
recovered for each client, the Closing Statements reflect that
petitioner actually received approximately one-half of the legal
fees recovered.
Petitioner reported the $35,789 received from Mr. Tolpin on
his Schedule D as a long-term capital gain. Petitioner listed
the date acquired as February 1, 1997, and the date sold as
September 1, 1998. These dates do not comport with the evidence
in the record. For example, for the property damage client, the
Retainer Statement signed by petitioner on January 20, 1998,
lists the date of damage as July 24, 1995, and the date of
agreement as to retainer as August 10, 1995. The Retainer
Agreement signed by Mr. Tolpin on February 13, 1998, lists the
date of agreement as to retainer as June 20, 1997. The Closing
Statement, signed by Mr. Tolpin on November 12, 1998, indicates
that the property damage claim was settled on November 2, 1998.
Similar discrepancies are in the documents relating to the
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