Flood v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 71-1329.

Decision Date20 October 1972
Docket NumberNo. 71-1329.,71-1329.
PartiesJohn N. FLOOD and Catherine Flood, Petitioners-Appellants, v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent-Appellee.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

John N. Flood, in pro per.

William A. Friedlander, Atty. (argued), Meyer Rothwacks, Thomas L. Stapleton, Mary J. McGinn, Attys., Fred B. Ugast, Acting Asst. Atty. Gen., Johnnie M. Walters, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tax Div., K. Martin Worthy, Chief Counsel, IRS, Washington, D. C., for respondent-appellee.

Before DUNIWAY and WRIGHT, Circuit Judges, and PREGERSON, District Judge.*

EUGENE A. WRIGHT, Circuit Judge:

The Tax Court denied petitioners' request for special leave to file a motion to vacate two Tax Court decisions which had become final in 1962, seven years earlier. Dr. and Mrs. Flood had not appealed the 1962 decisions, which had been based on settlement stipulations signed by their attorney of record at that time. In their motion for special leave, they urged that their attorney had perpetrated a fraud upon the court by entering into the stipulations knowing that the petitioners did not owe the largest part of the taxes involved, and also that he signed them without authority.

The Tax Court granted petitioners a full and fair hearing on their claims. After giving careful consideration to the briefs and oral argument of petitioners, we conclude that the Tax Court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion for special leave.

The stipulations upon which the Tax Court decisions were based were entered into by a lawyer to whom the Floods had given a general power of attorney. The record of the most recent Tax Court hearing, from which this appeal is taken, demonstrates beyond question that petitioners were well represented in 1962 by skilled tax counsel, an expert in the field. Acting under a general power of attorney, he settled the tax claim against the Floods on the basis of a recent Supreme Court decision. Petitioners' criticism of their former counsel is completely unwarranted.

Affirmed.

* Honorable Harry Pregerson, United States District Judge, Central District of California, sitting by designation.

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6 cases
  • Kelley v. C.I.R.
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit
    • 23 Enero 1995
    ...Feistman v. C.I.R., 587 F.2d 941, 943 (9th Cir.1978); Morse v. United States, 494 F.2d 876, 879 (9th Cir.1974); Flood v. C.I.R., 468 F.2d 904, 904-905 (9th Cir.1972), cert. denied, 411 U.S. 906, 93 S.Ct. 1529, 36 L.Ed.2d 195 (1973); Toscano v. C.I.R., 441 F.2d 930, 933 (9th Cir.1971); Lasky......
  • Abatti v. C.I.R.
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit
    • 7 Octubre 1988
    ...STANDARD OF REVIEW We review the Tax Court's denial of leave to file the motion to vacate for abuse of discretion. Flood v. Commissioner, 468 F.2d 904 (9th Cir.1972), cert. denied, 411 U.S. 906, 93 S.Ct. 1529, 36 L.Ed.2d 195 (1973); Toscano v. Commissioner, 441 F.2d 930, 938 (9th Cir.1971) ......
  • Flood v. Harrington
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit
    • 19 Marzo 1976
    ...for Prieve to testify against Flood. The Tax Court denied Flood's motion to vacate, and we affirmed. Flood v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 468 F.2d 904 (9th Cir. 1972), cert. denied, 411 U.S. 906, 93 S.Ct. 1529, 36 L.Ed.2d 195 Defendant Scott P. Crampton served as counsel to the Commis......
  • Senate Realty Corp. v. C. I. R.
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit
    • 20 Febrero 1975
    ...impartially. The only decided cases which are relevant to the issue raised on appeal, are of no assistance to appellant. In Flood v. CIR, 468 F.2d 904 (9th Cir. 1972), cert. denied, 411 U.S. 906, 93 S.Ct. 1529, 36 L.Ed.2d 195 (1973), a claim was made that counsel who had been given a genera......
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