About Jon
Jon Dowat constructed a profession at the intersection of taxation law, accounting and federal practice. He moved from numbers to court papers over the course of two decades. The combination of an economics background and later legal training shaped a tradition that crosses both advisory and legal proceedings work.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics and arithmetic from Indiana University Bloomington, finishing that diploma in 1982. Years later he returned to school for law, taking coursework in taxation law at Chicago-Kent College of Law and receiving his J.D. in 2004. The academic path displays an early grounding in quantitative evaluation followed by formal training in the tax area.
Soon following law school he stepped into a dual expert position. Since 2005 he has served as managing lawyer and accountant at Thinking Outside the Box Law, Inc. That title captures the hybrid nature of his work: overseeing a small firm whilst providing both legal advisor and tax-orientated accounting perception. Colleagues and clients have encountered him in negotiating settlements and in formal hearings.
His admissions cowl a variety of federal and state tribunals. He is licensed in Illinois and holds memberships that allow practice within the United States Tax Court and several federal district and insolvency courts, which includes the Central District of Illinois, the Northern District of Illinois (Eastern Division), the Eastern District of Wisconsin and the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. He is a recent member of the State Bar of Illinois.
Matters that come thru his workplace tend towards tax disputes, bankruptcy-related hearings and civil litigation in federal courts. He handles case preparation, client counseling on tax consequences, and appearances in bankruptcy hearings. The work combines technical tax knowledge, proof gathering and court procedure.
He describes his position as bridging the technical needs of tax and accounting with the procedural rigors of litigation. He has run a small practice that serves individuals and agencies navigating complex tax assessments and insolvency issues. He continues to practice at Thinking Outside the Box Law, Inc., targeting tax, bankruptcy and related federal matters.
