Khatib Law LLC(708) 722-2222Request a consultation

Palos Heights · Southwest Suburbs · Chicago

Estate Planning, Real Estate & Tax Attorney-CPA

One adviser for the legal side and the tax side of the decision.

Khatib Law LLC is a Palos Heights law firm for families, homeowners and small-business owners across Cook County. Its principal, Hani H. Khatib, is an attorney who is also a Certified Public Accountant with an LL.M. in Taxation, so the document and its tax consequence are designed together rather than handed between two offices.

Request a consultationCall (708) 722-2222
Hani H. Khatib, Attorney at Law and CPA
Hani H. KhatibAttorney at Law · CPA · LL.M. (Taxation)
  • In person on College Drive

    6600 W College Dr, Ste 207, Palos Heights. Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Directions and parking

  • By phone

    (708) 722-2222. If you have a court date, an IRS notice date or an appeal deadline, say so first and we will work around it.

Practice areas

What we handle, by the question you are asking

Six practice areas, one office. Each page explains what the work involves, what Illinois requires, and what happens when you call. Start with the question closest to yours.

Start here

Is this you?

  • You want a will or a revocable trust, and you want to know, before you sign, how the house, the IRA and the brokerage account will be taxed when they pass to your children. Start with estate planning.

  • You have a signed contract on a home in Orland Park, Palos Heights or the Southwest Side, and the attorney review period is already running. See real estate.

  • An IRS or Illinois Department of Revenue letter arrived: a balance due, an audit notice, a levy warning, or years that were never filed. See tax and IRS matters.

  • You are starting, buying or selling a small business and need the entity, the agreement and the tax election decided together. See business and the Illinois LLC guide.

  • Your Cook County reassessment notice looks wrong. Assessment appeals go to our sister company, Cook County Tax Appeals LLC; the property tax appeal page explains when an attorney-led appeal makes sense.

Injury claims from car crashes and falls in the southwest suburbs are handled on a contingency fee; see the personal injury page. If your matter sits in two areas, such as a widow who inherits a rental property or an owner who is selling a business and retiring in the same year, the practice areas page shows how the pages fit together, and a short call sorts out the rest.

Most matters that come through the door have a legal document at one end and a tax return at the other. Hani H. Khatib, Attorney at Law · CPA · LL.M. (Taxation), is licensed on both sides of that line, so the will, the deed, the operating agreement or the response to the IRS is drafted by the same person who worked out what it does to your taxes. More about Hani and the firm.

The difference

Why an attorney who is also a CPA

A CPA can prepare your return and represent you before the IRS. An attorney can draft your trust and take a dispute to court. People who need both usually end up paying two offices to review each other's work, and the tax question gets answered after the document is signed instead of before. Here is what changes when one person holds both licenses.

  1. Privilege

    Advice from a CPA is not protected the way advice from your lawyer is. When an attorney-CPA advises you as your lawyer, the tax-informed advice sits inside the attorney-client relationship.

  2. One engagement, one analysis

    The trust and the basis adjustment at death, the business sale and the Form 8594 allocation, the S-corp election and its filing deadline: each is designed as a single decision, not handed between two firms.

  3. Representation that can reach a courtroom

    An attorney can carry a matter past the administrative stage; a CPA who is not a lawyer generally cannot.

Who does what — a plain comparison
TaskAttorneyCPAAttorney-CPA
Draft a will, trust, deed or operating agreementYesNoYes
Represent you before the IRS in an audit, appeal or collection matterYesYesYes
Attorney-client privilege for the adviceYesNarrower federal tax-practitioner privilege onlyYes
Litigate the matter in courtYesNoYes

CPAs have full practice rights before the IRS under Treasury Circular 230, the same as lawyers and enrolled agents. The differences are privilege, drafting and court. The attorney-CPA page has the longer comparison, with the rules behind each row.

Khatib Law LLC is a law firm. Hani H. Khatib, the firm's principal, is also a licensed CPA. Every legal service described on this site is a service of the law firm; appeals filed through Cook County Tax Appeals LLC are that company's service.

The honest limit: privilege follows the work, not the license. A tax return and the worksheets behind it are not privileged whoever prepares them; legal advice about your exposure and what to do about it is. That distinction, and the federal and Illinois rules behind it, are set out on the attorney-CPA page so you can judge for yourself how much it matters in your situation.

Process

What happens when you call Khatib Law

  1. Call or send the form

    Day one · a few minutes · by phone or online

    Tell us in a sentence what the matter is: a will, a closing date, an IRS letter, a new business. Call (708) 722-2222 or use the contact page. If you mention a deadline, it is read first.

  2. Conflicts check and consultation

    Usually within the first week · about an hour · in person or by phone

    We confirm there is no conflict with an existing client, then meet with you at the Palos Heights office, or by phone where that suits the matter, to understand the facts and explain your options and the realistic range of outcomes. You are told what the consultation involves, and whether there is a charge for it, before anything is scheduled.

  3. Written engagement and plan

    Before any work begins · a short agreement to read and sign

    You receive a written engagement agreement stating the scope, the basis of the fee and what we need from you. Advance payments are held in trust until earned, and unearned fees are refundable. Then we begin.

What to bring to the first meeting

  • Estate planning: any existing will or trust, the deed to your home, and a list of accounts with their named beneficiaries.
  • Real estate: the signed contract, the listing sheet and any inspection report.
  • Tax or IRS: the notice itself, every page, and your most recently filed return.
  • Business: your articles or operating agreement, last year's return, and the agreement you are being asked to sign.
  • Any matter: the names of the other people or companies involved, so the conflicts check can be run, and any date you are working against.

Nothing you send through the form creates an attorney-client relationship until that engagement is confirmed in writing, so hold confidential details for the consultation. If you are facing a deadline, such as a court date, an IRS notice date or an assessment appeal deadline, say so when you call and the date goes on our calendar the same day. The FAQ page explains how fees are set and how a deposit is applied as work is done.

Hani H. Khatib

The attorney

Hani H. Khatib

Attorney at Law · CPA · LL.M. (Taxation)

Hani Khatib founded Khatib Law LLC in Palos Heights in 2017. He is an attorney licensed in Illinois, a Certified Public Accountant, and holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Taxation. He concentrates his practice in estate planning, real estate, tax controversy and small-business matters.

He also founded Cook County Tax Appeals LLC, the firm’s sister company, which handles property-tax appeals for homeowners and commercial owners from the same office.

Role
Founder and managing attorney, Khatib Law LLC (established 2017)
Licences
Attorney at Law, licensed in Illinois · Certified Public Accountant
Degree
LL.M. (Taxation)
Sister company
Founder, Cook County Tax Appeals LLC
Office
6600 W College Dr, Ste 207, Palos Heights, IL 60463
About Hani Khatib and the firm

Where we work

Areas we serve

The office is at 6600 W College Dr, Ste 207, Palos Heights, IL 60463. The firm serves the southwest suburbs: Palos Heights, Palos Park, Palos Hills, Orland Park, Orland Hills, Tinley Park, Oak Lawn, Oak Forest, Frankfort, Mokena, Homer Glen, Lemont, Evergreen Park, Burbank, Bridgeview, Hickory Hills, Chicago Ridge, Worth, Alsip and Crestwood, along with Chicago, especially the Southwest Side, and the rest of Cook County. Real estate and business matters are also handled in Will and DuPage counties, and IRS and Illinois Department of Revenue matters for clients anywhere in Illinois. Cook County probate matters are filed at the Daley Center in Chicago, suburban civil cases are heard in Bridgeview (Fifth Municipal District) and Markham (Sixth), and Will County cases in Joliet.

Schematic map of the southwest suburbs served by Khatib LawThe Palos Heights office is marked at College Drive near Harlem Avenue. Surrounding towns run from Lemont and Homer Glen in the west to Evergreen Park and Chicago’s Southwest Side in the east, and south to Tinley Park, Mokena and Frankfort. Not to scale.Chicago — Southwest SideCal-Sag ChannelI-294 Tri-StateHarlem Ave (IL-43)College DrLemontHomer GlenHickory HillsBridgeviewBurbankOak LawnEvergreen ParkPalos HillsChicago RidgeWorthPalos ParkAlsipCrestwoodOak ForestOrland ParkOrland HillsTinley ParkMokenaFrankfortKPalos HeightsSchematic, not to scale

Schematic, not to scale. The office is at 6600 W College Dr, Ste 207; the list beside the map is the authoritative one.

Towns we serve

  • Palos Heights
  • Palos Park
  • Palos Hills
  • Orland Park
  • Orland Hills
  • Tinley Park
  • Oak Lawn
  • Oak Forest
  • Frankfort
  • Mokena
  • Homer Glen
  • Lemont
  • Evergreen Park
  • Burbank
  • Bridgeview
  • Hickory Hills
  • Chicago Ridge
  • Worth
  • Alsip
  • Crestwood
  • Chicago

Reviews

What clients say

We do not publish testimonials on this site, because Illinois attorney-advertising rules require written consent and context for each one, and we would rather you read reviews where we cannot edit them. Khatib Law LLC has been a BBB Accredited Business since April 2022 and holds an A+ rating. Recent articles from the firm appear below the questions that follow.

Questions

Before you call

What does an attorney who is also a CPA do differently?

Two things. First, the legal document and its tax result are worked out together: a trust is drafted with the basis adjustment at death in mind, a business sale is structured with the purchase-price allocation already agreed, an S-corp election is timed to its filing deadline. Second, when Hani advises you as your lawyer, the tax-informed advice is covered by attorney-client privilege, which advice from a CPA alone generally is not. The attorney-CPA page explains both points, including their limits.

Is the first consultation free?

It depends on the matter. You are told whether the first consultation is billed, and on what basis, before anything is scheduled, never after. Personal injury and Cook County property tax appeals are handled on contingency. How fees and consultations work is explained on the FAQ page.

Where is your office and is there parking?

The office is at 6600 W College Dr, Ste 207, Palos Heights, IL 60463, open Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Call (708) 722-2222 before a first visit for directions, parking or step-free access. A map is on the contact page; more is on the FAQ page.

Which suburbs do you serve?

Palos Heights and the southwest suburbs of Cook County: Palos Park, Palos Hills, Orland Park, Orland Hills, Tinley Park, Oak Lawn, Oak Forest, Frankfort, Mokena, Homer Glen, Lemont, Evergreen Park, Burbank, Bridgeview, Hickory Hills, Chicago Ridge, Worth, Alsip and Crestwood, plus Chicago and the rest of Cook County. Real estate and business matters are also handled in Will and DuPage counties, and IRS and Illinois Department of Revenue matters for clients anywhere in Illinois.

Do you handle Cook County property tax appeals?

Yes. Appeals that do not need a lawyer, which covers most homeowners, go through Cook County Tax Appeals LLC, a sister company founded by Hani Khatib that works on contingency, (708) 888-8880. Khatib Law LLC handles the appeals that need a lawyer or go past the Board of Review: property held in an LLC, corporation or partnership, Property Tax Appeal Board cases and tax objections in circuit court. The property tax appeal page explains the appeal levels; the FAQ page explains how the two companies divide the work.

How do I pay an invoice?

Online through LawPay, which accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover; the link is on the pay online page. A retainer or deposit to be held in trust goes to a different page, so call (708) 722-2222 before paying one by card. Payment questions are answered on the FAQ page.

Request a consultation

Tell us what you are facing.

A sentence or two is enough to start. We will tell you what the first meeting involves, and whether there is a charge for it, before you commit to anything.

(708) 722-2222
Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. · 6600 W College Dr, Ste 207, Palos Heights

What happens next

  1. Your message goes to the firm’s office, not a call centre.

    If you mention a deadline, it is read first.

  2. We run a conflicts check and, if we can help, call or email you to set a time.

    We confirm the kind of matter and what the first meeting involves, including whether there is a charge for it.

  3. If we go forward, you receive a written engagement letter.

    Scope and fee basis in writing before any work begins. Please do not email documents until we have confirmed an engagement in writing.

Fields marked * are required. Give us an email address or a phone number, or both.

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Used only to return your call. We do not send marketing texts.
Mention any date you are working against. Please do not include confidential details.

Submitting this form does not create an attorney-client relationship and does not mean the firm has agreed to represent you. Until we confirm an engagement in writing, please do not send confidential or time-sensitive information. We will not treat unsolicited information as confidential beyond what the law requires, and sending it does not prevent us from representing another party.

We never ask for Social Security numbers, account numbers or medical details through this form. If you have a court date, an IRS notice date or an assessment appeal deadline, call (708) 722-2222 instead of waiting for a reply.

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