No, not politics; must I again state that this is a nonpolitical blog? What I mean is the swamp on the margin of DAWSON’s Creek, where the page count of orders is a quagmire. Orders with tens of pages are collated not in numerical order, but by first digit. Hence, an 11-page order like Howard L. Abselet, Docket No.1063-24, filed 2/27/26, got buried at the bottom of the heap of 1 page pay-the-sixty-Georges, continuance granted, and amend-the-petition among today’s Orders, so I almost missed another attempted goal-line diving save by The Jersey Boys.

And yes, readers, I did tell the Genius Baristas.

Howard got more than half his med mal recovery scammed away. His then-trusty attorneys (not the Jersey Boys) failed to pursue the villains to Howard’s satisfaction, so he hired another trusty bunch who sued for legal malpractice, and got him $1.25 million out of the $6 million for which the scammers bilked him. 

Everyone agrees the med mal recovery was Section 104 exempt.

Howard, perhaps justifiably done with lawyers, does his own taxes, omitting the $1.25 million and his Social Security. The Jersey Boys claim the $1.25 million is return of capital, hence not accretion to wealth and thus not taxable; wherefore his Social Security is under the Section 86 85% taxability bar.

Negatory, says ex-Ch J L. Paige (“Iron Fist”) Marvel.

Look at the settlement agreement from the legal malpractice suit. All it says is legal malpractice, nothing about the med mal recovery. Tax Court looks at what you settled and said you settled, not what you wish you’d settled. And there are no “complex legal questions” regarding legal malpractice recoveries. See my blogposts “Would’a,” 2/18/21, and “Boilerplate Can Be Hazardous to Your Tax Health,” 6/7/21.

Wherefore IRS wins deficiency and five-and-ten chop. 

I thought The Jersey Boys read this my blog.