To many people, the ethical dimensions of the law may seem to be a topic that is contradictory. For many years, the image of attorneys in our society has been in decline. The public perception of the legal profession has evolved from that of reverence and honor, to disdain and distrust. Recent cases such as the OJ Simpson trial and the McDonald’s “hot coffee” case have only served to reinforce this negative image of attorneys. With the growth of government at the federal, state and local level over the past thirty years, there has been a virtual explosion of rules and regulations that encroach on the lives of all Americans. There has also been a corresponding explosion in the population of attorneys. There are nearly 900,000 attorneys in the United States today. It is expected that by the year 2000 this number will exceed one million.

Despite the image problem, most attorneys I know maintain very high professional and ethical standards. Unfortunately, others do not. Much of the public’s negative perception of attorneys is based upon real problems within the profession that must be addressed. However, to broadly categorize all attorneys as unethical, untrustworthy or devious is both unfair and incorrect.

I am an attorney and an Orthodox Christian. My practice is primarily in the area of federal taxation. The legal profession has become very specialized, with the general practitioner a dying breed. Each area of specialization within the legal profession has its own unique ethical issues and dilemmas.

As a tax attorney, I do not handle matters such as domestic disputes (e.g., divorce or child custody cases), personal injury litigation, or the prosecution or defense of criminal defendants (other than those charged with tax evasion). I do not have to face the ethical dilemma of whether or not to defend a guilty rapist, murderer or thief. I do not have to face issues of whether to be involved in the termination of a marriage or whether to bring a potentially frivolous lawsuit. However, there are many ethical issues that are common to all types of attorneys. There are also ethical issues unique to those who practice tax law. I will attempt to touch on several of these in this article.

I am somewhat of a unique tax attorney because I represent clients before the Internal Revenue Service. I do very little preparation of tax returns or tax planning. Clients hire me to assist them when they owe the IRS money and do not have the funds to pay. They also hire me when they are audited by the IRS or have previously been audited and dispute the results. In both types of cases, I regularly deal with a bureaucracy that can be irrational and even brutal. The IRS is one of the most powerful government agencies in the world. As such, that power can corrupt. To effectively deal with such an agency, obtain positive results for clients and to be a living witness to Jesus Christ as an Orthodox Christian can be a very difficult task.

Among the numerous ethical challenges I face is how to present the truth. An attorney is obligated under the standards of the profession to "zealously represent" his or her client. The bounds of this obligation can create many ethical issues. As a matter of principle, I never make misstatements of law or fact to either my clients or the IRS. Unfortunately, the IRS (and even some clients) doesn’t always abide by the same rule. My primary task in a case is to determine the proper facts and apply the law to the facts in order to minimize a client’s tax liability. When I discover a fact or legal authority that is damaging to a case, I face a decision point. Many times the facts are ambiguous, allowing the IRS to interpret them against my client and in their own favor. Many times the law is similarly ambiguous. The manner in which facts are presented, questions are answered, law is explained, and facts are applied to the law, all impact the outcome of a case. There is a fine line between packaging a presentation of facts, answering only what is asked, and outright lying. It is a tightrope that must be walked carefully to be a successful tax attorney and faithful Orthodox Christian.

Although I do not have to deal with the issue of whether to defend a guilty tax evader, the line between conduct that is tax evasion (which is illegal) and conduct that is tax avoidance (which is legal) can be very small. The issue is further complicated because the IRS can be ruthless in the handling of either type of case. Often, IRS agents are not so much interested in getting to the truth of a matter as they are in structuring the facts of a case in a manner that will lead to a conviction or the collection of a large amount of tax. In this type of environment, the ethical dilemma is not whether to represent the client, but rather how to do it effectively while avoiding the temptation to stoop to the level of the opposition.

An attorney must never manufacture or alter evidence. Pressure to do so may come from the client or from the attorney’s desire to be successful. An attorney’s assistance of a client’s criminal objectives is clearly improper. If a client is determined to pursue an unlawful objective, an attorney is under no obligation to aid the client in the crime. In fact, the attorney has a duty to prevent its perpetration, if possible. For example, if an attorney becomes aware that a client intends to perjure himself during an audit, the attorney must try to persuade the client not to do so. If the client does lie during the audit, the attorney may have a duty to reveal the perjury to the IRS.

The practice of law in the 1990s is extremely competitive. Unlike the past, an attorney can no longer just open an office and be financially successful. There is increasing pressure within law firms for attorneys to produce business. With those pressures come temptations. Overbilling clients, representing expertise one does not have, and handling too many cases at once, are the types of temptations that raise ethical dilemmas for attorneys. Not only must a lawyer work in a profession that is by definition adversarial, the competition for business among lawyers, and the inner law firm pressures to produce income, all converge to create an atmosphere that raises ethical challenges daily. To resist the temptation to be self centered, greedy, ruthless and deceitful is the task Orthodox Christian attorneys continually face. Attorneys must always remember that they are in a profession in which their task is to help people. An Orthodox Christian attorney must accomplish this while being a living witness to the Kingdom of God. Although it is difficult at times, it is entirely possible to be both a successful attorney and a faithful Orthodox Christian.