THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 14, 1996 TAG: 9604120103
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LINDA MCNATT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 106 lines
IT'S A LONG WAY from Smithfield High School to sitting in judgment on the U.S. Tax Court in Washington - and probably no one is more surprised about being there than Joseph H. Gale.
``I didn't have that image of myself,'' he said on a recent weekend, sitting in the living room of his parents' home on Red Point Drive in this Isle of Wight County town. ``I had sort of thought about law school, but tax law was a complete surprise.''
Joe Gale, now 42, class of '71, had come home to celebrate his success at a party with former Smithfield High classmates.
It's a local-boy-makes-good-in-Washington story. In his new role, Gale is one of just 19 tax court judges. He brushes elbows with the Clintons and other top government officials, attends the same dinner parties as celebrities like Barbara Walters and participates in decisions that involve everything from disputes over a private citizen's business deductions to multimillion-dollar cases involving Fortune 500 companies.
And he says he never had an inkling in high school that he eventually would be involved in anything having to do with the Internal Revenue Service or taxes.
At Smithfield High, Gale was president of the Virginia Teen Democrats, and he was active in local political campaigns throughout high school and college. He graduated as high school valedictorian and went on to Princeton University. The summer between Princeton and the University of Virginia's law school, he worked on Andrew Miller's campaign for governor of Virginia. That experience solidified his interest in politics.
When he entered law school, he discovered tax law.
``It was a complete surprise,'' he said, chuckling. ``I found it absolutely fascinating.''
When Gale graduated from U.Va. in 1980, he joined the Washington office of a New York law firm and specialized in tax law. One of the partners in the firm was a friend of U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and the New York Democrat was looking for a tax expert.
``I interviewed for the job in 1984. They were getting ready to do a big tax reform in Congress. It eventually became the Tax Reform Act of 1986. I had thought I would stay on Capitol Hill for two or three years.
``I liked it so much that I stayed for an 11-year career.''
Working with Moynihan, Gale got to know the senator well, to respect his experience and enjoy his personality.
``He says what he thinks,'' Gale said. ``That's unusual in Washington. He's been there since the Kennedy administration. He's seen a lot. Working with him has been a great opportunity.''
Gale worked in Moynihan's Senate office from 1985 to 1995, when he moved to a Senate Finance Committee staff position in charge of tax matters. His admiration for the senator must have been mutual. It was Moynihan who suggested Gale to President Clinton when an opening occurred on the Tax Court.
One of its judges retired around the end of May last year, and Gale was nominated by Clinton in October. In December, Gale was approved by the full Senate, and he was investitured Feb. 9 as his parents, Bob and Charlotte Gale, looked on.
Later, when their son invited them to see his Washington office, the clerk of the Tax Court pointed out to the new judge what a big step he'd taken.
``He told Joe that it wasn't his office - it was his chambers,'' Charlotte Gale said, laughing and glancing proudly at her son.
As a tax judge, Gale will handle strictly tax matters, traveling a circuit that covers the entire United States.
``We visit large cities, like Los Angeles, every three months, smaller cities as needed,'' Gales said. ``One judge goes out and hears cases. I'll be going to Los Angeles in May for two weeks of hearings.''
Individual judges can make decisions on their own, even in unusual cases - as in 1994, when Judge Joan Seitz Pate ruled that exotic dancer Cynthia Hess could depreciate her assets like any other business person.
Hess, known professionally as Chesty Love, claimed a $2,088 deduction in 1988 for depreciation on surgical implants that enlarged her bust size to 56FF. Pate allowed the deduction because, she said, Hess had the surgery in pursuit of additional income and because Hess' breasts were so large that they ``ruined her personal appearance, her health and imposed severe stress on her personal and family relationships.''
A Tax Court judge also can ask that all 19 judges work together on an unusual case, Gale said. The majority decides. In one recent dispute, the full bench determined that a minister is an employee of a congregation rather than self-employed.
Gale has been traveling with more experienced judges to sit in on tax trials across the country, learning the ropes. And he says he's learned a lot.
``Taxes - it touches everybody and everything. There's a lot of human drama involved.''
Gale is single and lives about a mile from the White House with Otis, a pound puppy of terrier descent that accompanies him on visits to his Smithfield home. For the past several years, in what spare time he has, he's been restoring his Mission-style house, built in 1909.
If you happen to be in Washington, Gale invites you to stop by his chambers to say hello.
But don't get any ideas about not filing your taxes on time.
``If I know you well enough to do you any good,'' he said with a laugh, ``I'd probably have to recuse myself anyway.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo from the White House
Joe Gale, Smithfield High Class of '71, greets the Clintons.
B\W phot LINDA McNATT
Joe Gale visits his parents, Bob and Charlotte. The federal Tax
Court judge was back in town for his high school class reunion.
by CNB