Consumer Tax: Preparing to Meet with a Lawyer

It can be a big waste of time for both you and the lawyer if you aren't prepared for your first meeting. Tax lawyers usually charge by the hour, so being unprepared will also end up costing you money, because it will take longer for the lawyer you hire to get up to speed on your legal matter.

• First of all, the lawyer will want to know who you are and how you can be contacted. The lawyer may also ask for a personal and business background. If you are acting as a representative of someone else, for example, the lawyer will clearly want to understand your relationship to the other person and will want to be comfortable that you have the authority to speak on is or her behalf. Therefore, you need to write down all this information in a logical matter and have it available for the lawyer.
• Sometimes, a lawyer will try to speed up the information-gathering process by sending you a questionnaire to fill out filled out before your meeting. If this happens, be sure to fill out the questionnaire and send it in to the lawyer's office before the meeting. Also send along copies of any available documents that may be requested in the questionnaire.

Written documentation is especially important on tax matters. So even if a lawyer doesn't ask for documentation beforehand, it's still a good idea to bring a copy of all documents relevant to your situation to the meeting. Spend some time thinking about what you may have on hand. Try to organize the documents in a logical manner before you meet with the lawyer. With tax problems or issues, relevant documentation would include:

• Tax returns, financial statements and supporting documentation
• Corporate, business or personal records that relate to your tax issues, including information that provides a concise organizational overview (e.g., incorporation documents, tax elections, tax I.D. numbers)
• A copy of any documentation that has already been prepared or entered into in connection with the tax issues at hand
• Letters, memos and other correspondence relating to your tax issues, including any notices or correspondence received from the IRS or other taxing authorities
• Powers of attorney that you have or that you have given

Diagram out your business or personal relationships, as they may be relevant to the tax issues that you are facing. Drawing out a picture before you meet with your lawyer may be the best thing you can do. It will help you to organize your thoughts and it will help your lawyer understand what you want to do. Identify parties and contractual or familial relationships.

Prepare a list of questions to take with you to your first meeting. In theory, no question is too silly to ask. Keep in mind, though, that you don't want to scare a lawyer out of representing you. Some questions you might ask a tax lawyer would include:

• If you're looking at a tax audit, ask how much experience the lawyer has:
  • How many cases has he or she handled?
  • Has the lawyer taken any cases to tax court in the past year?
  • How many of his or her cases have settled?
  • Has the lawyer been successful in compromising tax claims?
  • What percent of his or her practice is in the area of expertise that you need?
  • What kind of client mix does the lawyer have, and does he or she see this as a potential problem in representing you?
  • What problems does the lawyer foresee with your case?
• If you're hiring a lawyer to do tax planning, you would want to ask similar questions about the lawyer's background:
  • How many transactions of a similar nature has the lawyer handled?
  • How much of his or her work is done in this area?
  • What paperwork is involved and how long will it take to finalize?
  • How would the lawyer go about handling your situation? What is the process?
  • How long will it take to bring the matter to a conclusion?
  • How would the lawyer charge for his or her services?
  • What is the lawyer's hourly rate?
  • What would the estimated fees be for your matter?
  • Would the lawyer consider doing the work for a flat fee?
  • Would a contingency fee arrangement be possible?
  • Does the lawyer advance out of pocket costs?
  • Would there be a retainer payable up front? Would any unused portion be refundable?
• Would the lawyer handle the case personally or would it be passed on to some other lawyer in the firm? If other lawyer may do some of the work, could you meet them?

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