Daily Report: Lifetime Achievement Q&A with Managing Partner David Aughtry
On Wednesday, June 19, the Daily Report shared a profile on Atlanta-based Managing Partner David Aughtry in light of his recognition as a Lifetime Achievement Award recipient as part of the publication’s Georgia Legal Awards. Aughtry will be honored at the June 20 event for his years of success and lasting impact on the Georgia legal community.
In the piece, Aughtry attributes his success and lessons learned to the great lawyers who came before him and the drive and work ethic they instilled in him, “I may fall short for many reasons, but lack of effort is not one of them – thanks to the most important lesson learned from greater lawyers.” “Born to try tax cases,” Aughtry had an interest in tax litigation early on, leading him to try cases for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for four years before crossing over to private practice and defending those facing agency scrutiny. His versatility and breadth of litigation skills is illustrated by winning both sides of the same issue – whether a horse could be recognized as a “deductible business tool” – in Topping v. Commissioner. Aughtry also shares his belief that tax litigation is the only area that truly captures the struggle between the federal government and its citizens, which is why he’s practiced tax law for so long. “[F]or me, no other area offers the confluence between literary persuasion, governmental power and the translation of thought into numbers.”
Among other insights detailed in the profile, Aughtry offers the suggestion that to be successful in legal practice, all lawyers must “find joy in the reality that law remains the most challenging, frustrating and intellectually rewarding walk of life. If you cannot find that joy, find something else to do.”