William L. Smith, Jr.
Of Counsel
William L. Smith, Jr. graduated from the University of Iowa in 1968 and earned his law degree from the University of Iowa Law School with honors in 1971. During his years at Iowa he won six monograms on the Iowa football team and track team. Upon graduation he practiced for three years at Lewis, Overbeck & Furman as a general practitioner and litigator.
In 1974 he joined the firm, then know as Hollobow & Taslitz, and began practicing in the area of state and local taxation with concentration in commercial, office and industrial properties, including property tax incentives and abatement. In addition, he began his extensive career as a real estate investor and developer.
In 1978 he drafted amendments to the Revenue Act of the State of Illinois to extend the Senior Citizens Homeowners Exemption to life care retirement communities. It was during this time that he began purchasing various types of real estate including multi-tenant, single tenant, industrial and office properties located in the Chicago loop and Suburban Chicago, and as far east as Ohio and as far west as San Francisco, California. In addition he developed more than of 1,000 single-family homes in residential subdivisions and started a golf course investment company, which currently owns and manages several golf courses located in Illinois and Florida.
As a result of Mr. Smith’s extensive real estate investments he has developed a unique and critical insight into the valuation of real property, the key issue in protesting real estate tax assessments. His combination of professional expertise and practical experience as a real estate investor produces exceptional results in protesting real estate taxes.
As of January 1, 2022, Bill has retired as a Partner of SHBK and transitioned to an “Of Counsel” role. In this role, he continues to share his institutional knowledge and insight with other attorneys in the firm, but will not be involved in the day-to-day operations of the practice.