As noted in this earlier post, U.S. District Judge James B. Moran of the Northern District of Illinois refused to dismiss a Justice Department lawsuit government lawsuit that seeks to force Dallas-based law firm Jenkens & Gilchrist to turn over the names of hundreds of clients who bought tax shelters that the firm allegedly promoted.
Now, Judge Moran issued a May 14 order for Jenkens & Gilchrist to turn over documents the Internal Revenue Service sought in five administrative summonses. In the order, Judge Moran said the law firm’s clients can raise claims of attorney-client privilege concerning the documents, but that few of such privilege assertions will prevail and he warned that clients could face sanctions for making frivolous privilege claims.
As noted here a couple of months ago, Jenkens & Gilchrist agreed to pay $75 million to settle civil claims from clients concerning tax-shelter legal opinions. Here are the other recent posts concerning the legal challenges facing Jenkens & Gilchrist in regard to the firm’s tax shelter advice.