Before I started at Faucher Law, I was finishing up my MSA (master of science in accounting) at San Diego State University. When I used to tell people about my accounting background, they asked if I liked tax, and my answer was always NO! Now here I am, half a year later, switching my answer: I kind of love tax! Listed below are the most surprising things I have learned at my time at Faucher Law and how they have changed my perspective on tax and bankruptcy.
Lawyering
Why I’m “Only” Assertive and Not Antagonistic
Here’s something I discuss on the landing page of my website, because I think it’s that important: I’m assertive but not antagonistic. Okay. So what? Some clients are so angry with the IRS they want to use me primarily for revenge, even if their case would have a better outcome if we approached the adversary calmly Read more »
Hard Truths for Debtors Who Procrastinate
Since the fall, I have seen a big uptick in desperate people calling me for tax or bankruptcy help. What kind of desperation? These people have been either on the IRS’s radar, or been having debt problems, for many years and then the crisis hits: the IRS puts a lien on a house, or a creditor gets a default judgment and the sheriff Read more »
Tax Issues in Divorce: Who Represents Who?
Katie Clunen is a sharp family law attorney in Westlake Village, CA. She recently asked me whether a couple with tax issues going through a divorce need separate attorneys to Read more »
Why I Practice Tax Law
My life left the path of “average” when my father, a research chemist, received a posting in his company’s sales division in Geneva, Switzerland. I was eight years old at Read more »
A Dream Job
I love what I do. Intervening on behalf of my clients in tax audits, or helping people shed crippling debt, allows me to (1) draw on prior professional experience at the IRS and elsewhere, Read more >>
Bankruptcy, Humility & Happiness
I have a bankruptcy client who had been a high-earning executive with an ad agency. But he lost his job, savings and even retirement nest egg in the real estate crash. He now lives in a rental in the Valley Read more >>
Judge Riblet on the Absolute Priority Rule
The Absolute Priority Rule is an arcane part of the Bankruptcy Code (see 11 USC § 1129(b)(2)(B)(ii)). It says that, in a Chapter 11 plan, lower classes of creditors cannot be paid anything unless higher classes have either been paid in full Read more >>
Why Hiding Information In Bankruptcy Isn’t Good Strategy
Attorneys often try to hide a client’s information, disclosing as little as possible. This legal strategy sometimes has comical effects, as in this exchange I heard in a deposition:Read more >>