[MoeMatters]

My thought exactly this is considered income

[Svartalfiar]

My thought exactly this is considered income

It is not. IRS does not consider gifts as income, and any transfer of money or value for nothing/less in return, is considered a gift.

The lawyer will owe gift taxes on $2MM - $15M annual exclusion, but Hunter is in the clear, assuming that the gift payment included all fines, penalties, and interest on top of the base amount Hunter owed.