Yankwitt LLP Secures Full Win for Third-Party Subpoenaed by DOJ in Tax Case, Using Fifth Amendment to Defeat Motion to Compel

Serving as co-counsel in a civil tax case brought by the Department of Justice, a Yankwitt LLP team led by Partner Ross Morrison secured a complete victory for a rabbi and his wife, on the government’s motion to compel documents and testimony.

In the underlying action, brought against the rabbi’s wife’s sister, the government alleged that the sister owed approximately $9 million in back taxes, interest and penalties related to the ownership of a house in Brooklyn, New York.

As part of the tax case, the DOJ subpoenaed Yankwitt LLP’s clients for documents and testimony related to the allegedly unpaid taxes. With the firm’s guidance, our clients responded to some of the government’s requests, but invoked their Fifth Amendment rights on others, refusing to produce some of the requested documents and testimony on the grounds that it possibly could incriminate them.

Following two court hearings, United States Magistrate Judge Lois Bloom of the Eastern District of New York issued an opinion upholding in full our clients’ assertion of their Fifth Amendment rights and denying the DOJ’s motion to compel them to produce additional documents.

This decisive victory for our clients highlights the powerful advantage of having a former Assistant U.S. Attorney at the helm — someone who knows the government’s strategy and how to effectively defend against it.