New Bloomberg BNA Portfolio Helps Taxpayers Build Civil Tax Case Against the Government

ARLINGTON, Va., Feb. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --In fiscal year 2010, attorneys in the U.S. Department of Justice's Tax Division successfully defended $714 million worth of lawsuits against the United States and collected $566 million.  The government's extensive time and experience in the courtroom would appear to leave taxpayers at a disadvantage.  Obtaining Information from the Government in Discovery and Disclosure-Related Damages Actions Against the Government, Portfolio 626 from Bloomberg BNA Tax & Accounting, however, examines the damages actions that taxpayers can bring against the government to remedy unlawful disclosures and other violations of taxpayer privacy.

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Written by Christopher P. Murphy, Esq., of Bingham McCutchen LLP, Neeraj Pai, Esq., and Philip D. MacWilliams, Esq., Portfolio 626 serves as a companion volume to Portfolio 625, Obtaining Information from the Government — Disclosure Statutes.

Whereas Portfolio 625 covers government defenses to discovery, including the attorney-client privilege, attorney work product doctrine and deliberative process, Portfolio 626 examines the scope of discovery and the discovery tools available to a taxpayer in the context of civil tax litigation in the federal district courts, the U.S. Tax Court, and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. 

The authors address pre-litigation depositions and document requests and discuss the internal limitations on IRS responses to discovery.  In addition, they identify discovery for specific actions and issues, including TEFRA, tax shelter litigation, transfer pricing, and bankruptcy cases.

Portfolio 626 also examines electronic discovery, document retention and spoliation, and privilege logs and identifies government liability for unauthorized disclosures under such statutes as Internal Revenue Code (IRC) 7431, the Federal Tort Claims Act, IRC 7213, and the Right to Financial Privacy Act.

Obtaining Information from the Government in Discovery and Disclosure-Related Damages Actions Against the Government is part of Bloomberg BNA Tax & Accounting's U.S. Income Portfolios Library and is available for individual purchase from Bloomberg BNA's online store.

About the Authors
Christopher P. Murphy, Esq., graduated from Boston College and The American University Washington College of Law, cum laude.  He serves as the Tax Controversy Associate for Bingham McCutchen LLP, in Washington, D.C.  He is a member of the Washington, D.C., Bar, New York Bar, and D.C. Bar Association.  Mr. Murphy is also a speaker on tax return preparer penalty issues and the author of articles on tax return preparer penalty issues.

Neeraj D. Pai, Esq., graduated from Villanova University and Harvard Law School and is a member of the American Bar Association, Section of Taxation, and the bars of Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia. 

Philip D. MacWilliams graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the University of Maryland School of Law.  He served as a law clerk to the Honorable John A. Terry, District of Columbia Court of Appeals, and he is a member of the American Bar Association, Maryland Bar, and the Washington, D.C., Bar.

About Bloomberg BNA        
Bloomberg BNA, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bloomberg, is a leading source of legal, regulatory, and business information for professionals. Its network of more than 2,500 reporters, correspondents, and leading practitioners delivers expert analysis, news, practice tools, and guidance - the information that matters most to professionals. Bloomberg BNA's authoritative coverage spans the full range of legal practice areas, including tax & accounting, labor & employment, intellectual property, banking & securities, employee benefits, health care, privacy & data security, human resources, and environment, health & safety. bna.com

SOURCE Bloomberg BNA