I struggle to share the learned District Judge's interpretations of "assisting in the conduct of litigation" and "in chambers", but otherwise agree with the judgment.
If the argument had been that the "agent" had gone beyond merely assisting, the point might have merit, but it seems absurd that conduct of advocacy alone is somehow separate from the conduct of litigation.
The real issue, IMHO is that "in chambers" was clearly intended to refer to administrative matters that did not require an advocate. The suggestion that the locus was intended to describe the person conducting the exempt activity, rather than the nature of the activity exceeds my comprehension.
