Although the above is one takeaway from this morning’s Tax Court webinar on discovery (the “F” is for emphasis), Judge Travis A. (“Tag”) Greaves gave us a lot more. Tax Court Judges and STJs are pragmatists; if there’s a real takeaway, it’s “keep your eyes on the prize.” What do you need to win, or at least to mitigate damage?

In most cases, the stuff you’re fighting about is peripheral. If this is a run-of-the-mill deficiency case following Exam, IRS probably has all the evidence they need, and so do you. In a CDP, everything should have gone in at Appeals.

Of course, the big-ticket scenic-façade-conservation cases have to be fought at discovery. The phony, jacked-up valuations crash and burn with regularity. I note one panelist remarked in passing that her practice involved defending appraisers; I’m sure that panelist is an expert in discovery.

But for all practitioners, read the Rules, both USTC Rules of Practice and Procedure and the FRE.

And this webinar shoiuld really have been recorded and made available to those who were unable to view it this morning, and for all applicants for admission to USTC.