Opinion
9469-20
03-09-2022
Jonathan Logan Petitioner v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue Respondent
ORDER
David Gustafson, Judge
This case is set for trial at the Court's New York City trial session beginning March 28, 2022. (See Doc. 13.) On March 1, 2022, the Commissioner filed a motion (Doc. 15) to dismiss this case for failure to properly prosecute. The Commissioner's motion alleges that petitioner Jonathan Logan has not provided documents or records to support his claims, and that he has been unresponsive to the Commissioner's requests for information and multiple attempts to communicate. In the motion, the Commissioner moves the Court to enter a decision in the amount of the deficiency originally determined for 2018 (i.e., $1,089).
The Court has not yet heard from Mr. Logan and does not prejudge the case based on the Commissioner's allegations. However, the Court's experience has been similar to what the Commissioner alleges, after the Court concluded that a pretrial telephone conference with the Court and the parties would be expedient. After multiple attempted phone calls to Mr. Logan, the Chambers Administrator ("CA") of the judge signing this order finally reached Mr. Logan and scheduled, with his apparent consent, a telephone conference to take place on March 7, 2022. But at the appointed time, Mr. Logan did not phone in and did not answer his telephone when the CA attempted to call him.
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. 14) served in this case on November 15, 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 tax deficiency for 2018 that the IRS determined against Mr. Logan.
In view of the foregoing, it is
ORDERED that, immediately upon receiving this order, and in any event, no later than Thursday, March 17, 2022, Mr. Logan shall telephone the Chambers Administrator (at 202-521-0850) for the purpose of scheduling a prompt pretrial telephone conference. It is further
ORDERED that the Commissioner's motion to dismiss for lack of prosecution is set for hearing during the Court's trial session in New York City beginning March 28, 2022. If Mr. Johnson wishes to oppose the motion, he should appear and be heard at that time. If Mr. Johnson fails to appear, we expect to grant the Commissioner's motion and to dismiss this case for lack of prosecution. Such a dismissal has the effect of upholding the income tax deficiency determined against Mr. Logan. If the Court denies the Commissioner's motion, then we expect that this case will proceed promptly to trial. It is further
ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court shall serve, with the copy of this order served on petitioner, copies of the Court's Notice of Trial (Doc. 13) and Standing Pretrial Order (Doc. 14) for the Court's March 28, 2022, trial session.