I have not done so yet, but would like to retain an attorney just in case. I have clients that are attorneys and of course have offered to barter, but I'd rather find legal counsel that is not connected to me in that way.
I need someone, should things go awry, I can call to help me out. I don't tell my friends or family about my profession, and I'd just as soon rot in a jail cell than call someone to bail me out.
My question is, how do I go about telling a potential lawyer what I need and why? I mean, how does that work? The same question applies to finding an accountant. I need someone discreet and understanding, but yet I need to know exactly what to say to him or her in order to retain their services without trepidation.
Thanks in advance.
KBNY
Attorneys must maintain confidentiality and you must completely disclose all facts relevant to the matter if you want good legal advice. I would recommend meeting with several different attorneys, and maybe avoid disclosing the source of your income unless/until you are comfortable with that attorney.
It would help if you told us where you're located. Your user name implies that you're in New York, but you could be someplace else.
Contacting a criminal lawyer shouldn't feel awkward. Their clients are mostly criminals, after all. They won't be shocked or judgmental when you tell them what you do for a living, and they will protect your confidentiality just as vigorously if you don't retain them as they would if you do.
Legitimate attorneys won't give you advice about how to get away with being an escort, but they will be happy to take a retainer in order to ensure their availability just in case you need them to defend you later.
The important question is how you decide which lawyers to call in the first place. If there is a way for you to contact other providers in your area, ask them for recommendations. Or call your local bar association and ask it to refer you to some criminal lawyers. Then call and ask them how much experience they have with solicitation / prostitution cases. Most will have handled many such cases and will be competent to defend you if the need arises.
I don't have much advice to offer about getting an accountant. In most places, client communications with accountants are not privileged the way communications with lawyers are, so information you provide could end up being used against you some time in the future. Legitimate accountants, like legit lawyers, will not help you evade the law or cheat on your taxes. There are other services they can provide which might help you reduce your tax rate, make smarter investments or make your assets harder to find, but that's really all you can expect. If you can, ask some other local providers who they use.
-- Modified on 7/15/2005 3:55:36 PM
I am in the Adult entertainment industry..
Due to the business and all it entails, i actually do escort at times.
This would be an example of where you would NOT want a CPA. They are required to be squeaky clean as a condition of keeping their license, so will protect themselves first, and you second. Many good accountants (I'd like to think myself included) don't become CPAs, partly for that liability issue. In any event, you won't tell him (or her) that you made $x doing legal escorting and $xxxxx selling sex. You are an escort, which is legal, and you made what you made. You have deductions for things in the normal course of that biz. Let him do the rest.
Sideone, as always, offers sound advice. I would suggest that you might not need an accountant but more of a business advisor. For that, you might engage a business lawyer. it might be more money but you will have he greaat benefit of privilege which you cannot have with an accountant or even a CPA in most places.
I'd wager you need more business advice than bookkeepping advice. Buy QuickBooks and TurboTax; keep track of taxes & accounts that way. Nobody then knows the whole truth but you.
I frequently advise people to establish a real business; if they provide as well, it's their business, not mine. I never advise them to do that. But at least a legitimate business allows one to pay taxes, gain social security benefits, have medical insurance et al and be less likely to IRS audit for how to explain your lifestyle without a job or taxable income.
I appreciate rodmewell's compliment and I will probably seem rude for taking issue with his post, but there is a potential problem with doing as he suggests.
Doing your own accounting on your own PC will protect you from the risk of seeing your accountant forced to testify against you, but it will not address the risk that your PC will be seized as evidence and its hard drive analyzed. Your PC probably already has a lot of information you don't want the authorities to get ahold of, but if you add enough financial information to support a tax fraud prosecution your problems will multiply.
There may not be another viable option for you, but you should be aware that using an accountant and using your PC both carry risks.
Simple solution to avoid having your PC used against you in a tax fraud case:
Don't commit tax fraud.
Report all the income you receive from being a provider. The IRS really doesn't care where the money comes from, as long as they get their cut.
Further, just report the income as business income - consulting. The IRS doesn't ask WHAT your business is. Nowhere on any tax form I've ever filled out does it ask that. They just want to know who my employer was (in this case, the individual provider), how much they paid me, and what has already been withheld.
The IRS can do audits..plus, ya think this might look silly down the road, on background & credit check????
...is what lawyers do.
No legitimate lawyer will barter his services for yours. You don't want one who will.
Many criminal defense lawyers can also recommend a bail bondsman. Guessing from your name that you're in New York. A good website, and a good outfit, is www.nacdl.org.
I am a criminal defense lawyer in New York and I handle everything from misdemeanors through homicides. There are many instances in which a lawyer is retained so that he is available in case something goes wrong and the client is arrested. The bottowm line: the lawyer will be available to you from the moment of arrest. Please remember that criminal defense lawyers generally require retainers to be paid up front.
If you would like to discuss this issue further, please e-mail me at [email protected], and I will get back to you.