Lawyers Told to Name Clients Who Paid Cash

The Internal Revenue Service has served summonses on criminal defense attorneys around the country demanding that they reveal the names of clients who paid their fees with cash, an IRS official confirmed Tuesday.

Lawyers argue that such disclosures would violate the fundamental right of attorney-client privilege.

The attorneys were told to bring their financial records to IRS offices, said Miami attorney Neal Sonnett, president of the National Assn. of Criminal Lawyers. One lawyer served said an IRS agent told him that 900 lawyers were to receive summonses.

“We have heard from enough lawyers around the country to recognize that it appears to be a nationwide assault upon criminal defense lawyers,” Sonnett said.

In October, the IRS sent letters to about 940 criminal defense attorneys requesting information on clients who paid them more than $10,000 in cash, Sonnett said. The letters, signed by Christopher J. Lezovich, an IRS official in Detroit, was sent to attorneys around the country giving them 30 days to identify the clients. It also included a warning that non-compliance would result in summonses.

Lezovich confirmed Tuesday night that summonses had been issued.

The IRS is acting under a disclosure law passed by Congress in 1985. The law, initially widely ignored, was aimed at exposing tax evaders, including major drug dealers who often transact business in cash.