About Jessica
Jessica Christophillis built a foundation in numbers before she ever set foot in a courtroom. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of South Carolina in 2001. That accounting background shaped the next steps in her career and informed the law studies that followed.
Christophillis returned to the University of South Carolina for law school and completed her J.D. in 2008. She then pursued an advanced law degree in taxation, earning an LL.M. in Taxation from Northwestern University School of Law in 2009. Those consecutive degrees—accounting, a J.D., and an LL.M.—give her a technical grounding that is uncommon among general practitioners.
Her academic record points clearly to tax law as the logical area for practice. The accounting degree supplied the financial literacy. The law degrees supplied the doctrinal and analytical tools. Together they allow Christophillis to approach tax issues from both numbers and legal principles.
Over the years she has worked on matters that require an understanding of tax rules, financial reporting and regulatory detail. She advises on tax compliance and planning, and she handles disputes where analysis of transactions and tax positions is required. Clients encounter complex questions about federal tax liability, structuring and tax procedure; those are the situations that call for the sort of cross-disciplinary thinking Christine’s training fosters.
Colleagues describe her as methodical and exacting in her work. She tends to papers and filings the way an accountant tends to ledgers: carefully, and with attention to small but significant details. That temperament serves well in tax controversy and in advisory roles where small errors can have outsized consequences.
She has continued to follow developments in federal tax law and related regulations. Tax statutes change frequently. Practitioners must read new guidance, re-evaluate positions, and update client strategies accordingly. Her background makes her comfortable with that ongoing process.
Outside of direct client work she has participated in professional gatherings and trainings that focus on tax topics. Those settings provide opportunities to hear varied perspectives on emerging issues and to refine practical approaches to technical questions.
Christophillis currently practices tax law, drawing on her accounting background and advanced tax training to advise clients on tax compliance, planning and dispute matters.
