Conversations with accomplished lawyers and the leaders who shape their field.
A personal note
Cited Authorities started as a hobby: a microphone and a camera for friends and colleagues who’ve built remarkable careers, telling the parts of their stories that never make a resume. The pivots. The setbacks. What carried them through. The show has grown since then. The ethos is the same.
The show documents people betting on themselves. This week, I entered the arena: I launched the Law Office of Alexander Powell, PLLC, a tax controversy practice based in Washington, DC.
I grew up spending time at my father’s neighborhood law office on East-West Highway in Riverdale, Maryland. I worked there in college before his appointment to the District Court of Maryland for Prince George’s County.
Those formative years taught me that exceptional client service earns lasting trust. That’s the standard I bring to my own practice.
I remember many details of that office that now belong to another era. The Rolodex, postage meter, and typewriter gave way to a Motorola cell phone and a Gateway computer.
The tools of the trade have changed since then. But the rules of excellent client service are the same: listen carefully, prepare thoroughly, and serve each client well.
I represent individuals and businesses in IRS examinations, missed-filing matters, penalty disputes, collections, and U.S. Tax Court cases. I also handle disputes involving foreign accounts and international information returns. My practice includes disputes with DC and Maryland tax authorities.
I fix IRS problems.
Visit www.alexanderpowell.law to learn more.
Telephone: (202) 821-1980
Email: [email protected]
Alexander Powell
Tax Attorney · Host, Cited Authorities
Episode 11
Terry Lemons: White House Reporter, IRS Insider, Baseball Historian
Terry Lemons spent more than 26 years at the IRS, 11 of them leading communications, and just wrote a book about the 1926 St. Louis Cardinals. Cited Authorities episode eleven is out today.
If you only have five minutes, here is what stays with me.
From the campaign trail to the briefing room. Terry covered the 1992 presidential campaign, then Congress and the White House, before he ever thought about working inside government.
He crossed over in 1998. The IRS was reeling from the Roth hearings and had nobody with a media background in its press shop. He filled the gap.
Journalism teaches you to report the news. Government lets you shape it. Inside an agency, you can influence newsworthy events.
He built the Dirty Dozen. Around 2002 he branded the IRS list of tax scams after the old war movie, and the IRS still runs it every year.
He tried to humanize a historically unpopular agency. The tax collector has carried a rough public image for thousands of years, and his job was to put a human face on it.
Six commissioners, one press shop. From Charles Rossotti to Danny Werfel, he watched priorities shift and borrowed the best moves for his own playbook.
Then there is the baseball book. His new book tells the story of the 1926 Cardinals and a World Series that ended with Babe Ruth caught stealing second base in Game 7.
“My whole goal was to try to humanize the agency.”
Terry Lemons, Episode 11
Thanks for reading.
Alexander Powell, Host of Cited Authorities
*Cited Authorities is a separate company, not part of the law firm. This newsletter is general information, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. The show goes on exactly as before.