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motions to withdraw as counsel in the Thompsons’ cases, which the
Court granted.
In ruling on a subsequent motion, Judge Goffe observed that
there could be a conflict of interest if Seery represented both
petitioners and Kersting. Seery subsequently filed motions to
withdraw as counsel in the Kersting project cases (both test
cases and nontest cases), citing concerns about a possible
conflict of interest. The Court granted Seery’s motions in
November 1986.
C. The Thompsons Engage DeCastro, Who Settles
Their Cases
On or about November 15, 1986, the Thompsons retained
attorney Luis DeCastro (DeCastro), who was also a certified
public accountant, to settle their Kersting tax issues. Mr.
Thompson retained DeCastro to resolve all the Thompsons’ Kersting
tax years, not only the 1979-1981 years docketed in the Tax
Court. The Thompsons provided DeCastro with tax records for all
those years. The retainer agreement between the Thompsons and
DeCastro provided for a $5,000 fee, which covered only efforts to
negotiate a settlement; it did not cover preparation for and
conduct of a trial. None of the other petitioners in the
Kersting project, whether test case petitioners or piggybackers,
incurred any attorney’s fees in connection with the preparation
and trial of the test cases. Kersting paid all such fees.
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