Helvering v. Curren

The only question involved in this appeal is whether the fixed statutory salary of the counsel for the County Clerk of Kings County, New York, is exempt from taxation under Article 643 of Regulations 77. The taxpayer is an attorney and counsellor at law living in Brooklyn, appointed as counsel to the County Clerk under section 6 of chapter 704 of the Laws of 1901 of that State, which gives County Clerks power to appoint and remove "deputies, clerks and other employes and assistants in his office" and to "prescribe and resulate their respective duties." The county clerk appointed him by formal certificate and he took the constitutional oath of office; the statute fixed his salary at $4,500 for the year 1932, but reduced it in 1933. He might, and did, engage in outside practice and earned a substantial income by doing so; but he was always at the call of the County Clerk for advice, legal or administrative; and at times he advised the justice of the Appellate Division and their clerks, and the clerks of the Supreme Court and of the County Court. His duties were not specified in detail; they covered anything connected with the office which raised a question of law; he was subject to no direction by the County Clerk himself in their discharge.