Mark R. Davis joined
the firm in 1989 after serving ten years in the Office of
the State’s Attorney of Cook County in Chicago, Illinois.
From 1984 to 1989, Mr. Davis was the Supervisor of the Tax
Division in the State’s Attorney’s Office, where
he directed a staff of twelve attorneys and was responsible
for conducting all trial and appellate litigation on behalf
of Cook County government related to real and personal property
taxation. At the firm, Mr. Davis provides representation
and counsel to clients in Cook County and nationwide, focusing
on real estate tax issues, legislative drafting and related
litigation.
Special Assistant State’s Attorney
In February, 1997, Mr. Davis was appointed a Special Assistant
State’s Attorney of Cook County for a term of seven
months to study and recommend structural changes in the
State’s Attorney’s Tax Division. In June 1997,
Mr. Davis argued the case brought by the State’s Attorney
in the Illinois Supreme Court to uphold the reformed judicial
tax appeal provisions of the Illinois Property Tax Code,
enacted in 1995 by the state General Assembly as Public
Act 89-126. In March 1998, the Supreme Court issued its
opinion upholding the reforms.
Articles and Presentations
As a widely recognized expert in the field of real estate
taxation, Mr. Davis has written and spoken frequently in
seminars on real estate taxation sponsored by organizations
such as the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy’s National
Conference of State Tax Judges, the International Association
of Assessing Officers, the Illinois Institute of Continuing
Legal Education, the Illinois State Bar Association, the
Chicago Bar Association and the Chicago Tax Club. His articles
on real estate tax matters have appeared in various topical
law publications, including:
• |
Burdens
of Proof and Presumptions in Property Tax Litigation,
12 Journal of Property Tax Management 1 (Spring
2001) |
• |
Taxable and
Exempt Property, Real Estate Taxation(IICLE 1997
& Supp. 2000) |
• |
Recent Developments in Real Estate
Taxation, Exemptions and Tax Sales, Tax Trends,
Vol. 35, No. 5 (ISBA 1992) |
• |
Recent Cases in Real Property Taxation,
Tax Trends, Vol. 34, No. 2 (ISBA 1991) |
• |
Recent Changes in Exemption Procedure,
Tax Trends, Vol. 33, No. 3 (ISBA 1990). |
Additionally, Mr. Davis is a co-author of the Report
of the Civic Federation Task Force on Cook County Classification
and Equalization (Civic Federation, Chicago, 1999).
Legislative Involvement
As a member of a Task Force formed by the Chicago Civic
Federation, Mr. Davis was one of the principal drafters
of the reformed judicial tax appeal provisions of the Illinois
Property Tax Code (Public Act 89-126). This act provided
a broader judicial remedy to real estate taxpayers seeking
to challenge excessive assessments, and represented the
first such change in Illinois law in over a century. Additionally,
he was one of the principal drafters of a new rule for the
Circuit Court of Cook County to implement the tax appeal
reform law. Mr. Davis’ involvement in other proposed
legislative changes in this field is continuing through
the Civic Federation, the Illinois Taxpayer’s Federation,
the Illinois State Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Association.
Professional Associations
Mr. Davis is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association,
and served as Chairman of its State & Local Taxation
Section Council for 1996-1997; the Chicago Bar Association,
Committees on Real Estate Taxation and Legislation; the
International Association of Assessing Officers; and the
Institute of Professionals in Taxation. He has been designated
as a Certified Illinois Assessing Officer by the Illinois
Property Assessment Institute.
Mr. Davis also serves on the Civic Federation’s Board
of Directors, its standing Property Tax Committee, and on
the Illinois Taxpayer’s Federation’s Property
Tax Advisory Committee. In late 1996 Mr. Davis was appointed
Co-Chairman of the Civic Federation’s ad hoc Committee
on Illinois Education Funding Reform. In May, 1998, Mr.
Davis was appointed a member of the Housing Court Advisory
Committee of the Circuit Court of Cook County by Chief Judge
Donald P. O’Connell. In the Fall of 2001, he became
a member of the City of Chicago’s then newly formed
Property Tax Advisory Council.
Education and Bar Admissions
Mr. Davis received his B.A. with distinction from the University
of New Mexico, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He
received his J.D. from DePaul University College of Law.
Mr. Davis has been admitted to the bar of the Illinois Supreme
Court, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District
of Illinois (General and Trial Bar), the U.S. Courts of
Appeal for the Seventh Circuit and Federal Circuit, and
the U.S. Supreme Court.
Selected Case Decisions
• |
United
States v. County of Cook, 167 F.3d 381 (7th Cir.
1999), cert. den. 528 U.S. 1019 (1999) |
• |
People ex rel.
Richard A. Devine, State’s Attorney of Cook
County v. The Hon. Michael J. Murphy, 181 Ill.2d
522, 693 N.E.2d 349, 230 Ill.Dec. 220 (1998) |
• |
Monroe Dearborn Limited Partnership
v. Chicago Board of Education, 271 Ill.App.3d 457,
648 N.E.2d 1055, 208 Ill. Dec. 133 (1st Dist. 1995)
|
• |
In the Matter of the Appeals of Sears
Roebuck and Company and J.C. Penney Company, 119
N.C.App. 800, 461 S.E.2d 36 (1995) (unpublished), affirmed
342 N.C. 192, 467 S.E.2d 240 (1996) |
• |
United States v. Hynes, 20
F.3d 1437 (7th Cir. 1994) |
• |
Grais v. City of Chicago, 151
Ill.2d 197, 601 N.E.2d 745, 176 Ill. Dec. 47 (1992) |
• |
In Re Application of Rosewell (etc.)
v. Leyden Fire Protection District, 236 Ill.App.3d
165, 603 N.E.2d 681, 177 Ill. Dec. 611 (1st Dist. 1992) |
• |
In the Matter of the Application
of the County Treasurer (etc.) v. Ford Motor Company,
131 Ill.2d 541, 546 N.E.2d 506, 137 Ill. Dec. 561 (1989) |
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