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facts of petitioner’s claim. Ms. Hawkins moved to amend the
petitions and asserted a claim for innocent spouse relief under
section 6015(c). Ms. Hawkins, on behalf of petitioner, sent
respondent two offers to settle the case and asked that
petitioner’s claim be evaluated by CCISO. Upon respondent’s
failure to settle the case and upon receipt of CCISO’s
determination, Ms. Hawkins drafted and filed a motion for partial
summary judgment arguing that, in accordance with CCISO’s
determination, there was no evidence to suggest that petitioner
had any actual knowledge of the erroneous items. Respondent was
ultimately unable to discover facts supportive of his position
that petitioner did have knowledge of the items giving rise to
the deficiency. Thus, while Ms. Hawkins achieved a successful
result for her client, there is nothing that convinces this Court
that a similar result would not also have been achieved by an
attorney with a more limited knowledge of the Internal Revenue
Code, generally, and section 6015, specifically. Accordingly, we
find no reason to depart from the statutory rate.
Further, as respondent points out, it appears Ms. Hawkins
billed her client for associate time at $125 an hour but seeks
recovery of fees for her associate at $150 an hour. We find that
petitioner is only entitled to recover fees for the amount
actually incurred for the associate’s time.
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Last modified: November 10, 2007