Opinion
11642-20L
09-08-2021
Alex Brandon Williams Petitioner v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue Respondent
ORDER
David Gustafson, Judge.
This "collection due process" ("CDP") case is scheduled to be tried at a Columbia, South Carolina, session of the Court beginning October 4, 2021 (to be conducted as a remote proceeding) pursuant to our notice of trial and standing pretrial order served May 5, 2021 (Doc. 5-6). On Friday, September 3, 2021, the Commissioner filed a motion to dismiss (Doc. 7) this case for lack of prosecution. In the motion, the Commissioner alleges that petitioner Alex Brandon Williams has not provided the requested documents or records to support their claims, and that he has been unresponsive in pretrial preparation. The motion sets out the Commissioner's unsuccessful attempts by telephone and mail to communicate with petitioners. In the motion, the Commissioner moves to enter decision sustaining the proposed collection of Mr. Williams's unpaid tax liabilities for 2013 and 2016. To learn more about the status of this case, the Court attempted to conduct a telephone conference with the parties, but so far Mr. Williams has not returned our phone calls.
In this Court, a petitioner has the duty, as part of properly "prosecuting" his case, to cooperate and communicate with his opponent (counsel for the Commissioner) in order to prepare his case for trial (and so that the parties can resolve among themselves any issues that can be resolved without the Court's involvement). A petitioner's failure to fulfill this duty can result in dismissal of the case "for failure ... properly to prosecute", pursuant to Rule 123(b). Our standing pretrial order (Doc. 6) served in this case on May 5, 2021, stated: "The parties must begin discussing settlement and/or preparation of a stipulation of facts (facts on which the parties agree) as soon as possible.... If a party has trouble communicating with another party or complying with this Order, that party should tell the Judge right away ...."
The Commissioner so advised the Court by his motion to dismiss. If the facts are as the Commissioner alleges, and if the Commissioner's motion to dismiss is granted, it will have the effect of upholding the IRS's determination sustaining the proposed collection of tax liabilities for 2013 and 2016.
In view of the foregoing, it is
ORDERED that, immediately upon receiving this order, and in any event no later than September 10, 2021, petitioner Alex Brandon Williams shall telephone the Chambers Administrator of the undersigned judge (at 202-521-0850) for the purpose of scheduling a prompt pretrial telephone conference. It is further
ORDERED that, no later than September 13, 2021, Mr. Williams shall file with this Court a response to the Commissioner's motion to dismiss. That response should correct any factual errors in the Commissioner's motion and, more important, should describe Mr. Williams's current compliance with our pretrial order and his cooperation with his opponent in preparing this case for trial. (Or, if Mr. Williams has decided to concede this case, then his response should so state, and he should cooperate with his opponent in filing a proposed stipulated decision reflecting that concession.) Failure to comply with this order may result in the granting of that motion and entry of a decision sustaining the proposed collection of petitioner Alex Brandon Williams's unpaid tax liabilities for 2013 and 2016.