A federal tax court judge issued a ruling Feb. 14 finding three personal injury lawyers in the Rio Grande Valley used an improper tax shelter to reduce tax liabilities from contingent fees they received in 2001 from Firestone tire litigation.
In a Memorandum Findings of Fact and Opinion, U.S. Tax Court Judge Mark V. Holmes of Washington, D.C., found Larry Lawrence of Lawrence Law Firm in McAllen; Roberto Salazar of The Law Office of Roberto Salazar of McAllen, and Ricardo Garcia of The Law Office of Garcia & Karam of McAllen reduced their tax bills in 2001 using a "complicated transaction" that does not pass muster.
