Practice Areas

Ad Valorem Property Taxes

Litigation and Appeals

Education

J.D., University of California at Los Angeles, 1986

B.A., Claremont McKenna College, Summa Cum Laude, 1982

Bar and Court Admissions

California, 1986

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, 1987

Other Professional Affiliations

California State Bar (Member, Taxation Section, State and Local Tax Committee; Chair: 2001-2002)

Los Angeles County Bar Association (Member, State and Local Tax Committee; Chair: 1997-1998)

Institute for Professionals in Taxation

American Property Tax Counsel

California Taxpayers' Association

International Association of Assessing Officers

Los Angeles Chancery Club

Publications

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Speaking Engagements

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Ad valorem property tax and assessment counseling and litigation (appeal hearings and trials) are Cris' primary practice areas. For more than 17 years, he has represented a variety of California taxpayers in equalization proceedings before county assessment appeals boards, the Superior Court, the California Court of Appeal and the California Supreme Court.

The clients Cris has served include owners of oil and gas fields, power plants, airport concessions, port terminals, sanitary landfills, aerospace manufacturing facilities, hotels, theme parks, oil refineries, hospitals and cold storage facilities. He has also testified before the Los Angeles County Superior Court as an expert witness on property tax matters.

Since 1998, Cris has taught over two dozen one-day courses on California property taxation to accountants, attorneys, real estate professionals, corporate executives, bank trust officers and property tax representatives. He has also published articles on property taxation in Real Estate Southern California, a real estate industry trade journal, Cal-Tax Digest, a publication of the California Taxpayers' Association, The Journal of Property Tax Assessment & Administration, and Property Tax Alert.

As a member of the California Bar's State and Local Tax Committee, Cris helped draft property tax regulations and legislation relating to local equalization procedures which were subsequently adopted by the California State Board of Equalization. In addition, he has organized, chaired and spoken at American Bar Association / Institute for Professionals in Taxation (IPT) Advanced Property Tax Seminars and the IPT Property Tax Symposium.

Cris has also spoken on property taxation before the Western States Petroleum Association, the Los Angeles County Bar Association, American Property Tax Counsel (APTC), and other professional organizations. Cahill·Davis is the California member of APTC, the national affiliation of law firms specializing in property tax matters.

Expanded Profile

For an expanded profile on Mr. O'Neall click here.