Colette Jean Karam

Meet the Founder: Colette Karam
Founder, The Karam Firm, PLLC

Colette Karam founded The Karam Firm, PLLC to provide sophisticated, practical, and highly responsive business consultation, dispute resolution, and tax controversy representation to individuals, businesses, and professional advisors facing complex federal and state issues.

With more than 20 years of experience handling business disputes and tax controversy matters at the federal and state levels, Colette brings a rare combination of technical tax depth, litigation awareness, and practical dispute-resolution judgment. She spent most of her career with a Big Four accounting firm as a specialist in its Federal Tax Controversy group, where she worked on complex IRS examinations, administrative appeals, and high-stakes tax disputes involving large corporate taxpayers, closely held businesses, and individuals.

Colette continues to represent clients in tax disputes involving the Internal Revenue Service, the Franchise Tax Board, the California Office of Tax Appeals, and other taxing authorities. Her experience includes IRS examinations and appeals, penalty abatement matters, administrative hearings, settlements, state tax disputes, research and development tax credit defense, state apportionment issues, unitary business analysis, and matters involving international and cross-border tax considerations.

Throughout her career, Colette has advised clients across a wide range of industries on complex tax issues, including transaction planning, disclosure obligations, debt-equity characterization, migration of intellectual property, penalty defense, and cross-border royalty and interest payments. Her work is grounded in the belief that tax controversy representation should be both technically rigorous and strategically practical. Clients facing a tax dispute often need more than a legal answer; they need a clear path forward, a careful assessment of risk, and an advocate who understands how tax authorities evaluate complex facts.

Originally from Chicago, Illinois, Colette brings a disciplined, direct, and solutions-oriented approach to her practice. She received her undergraduate degree in Business Law from DePaul University, graduating summa cum laude. She then earned both her J.D. and LL.M. in Taxation from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law, where she graduated at the top of her class and served as Candidacy Editor for the Journal of Computer and Information Law. She later completed a Certificate in Accounting from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Colette is admitted to the State Bar of California and the State Bar of Illinois. Her professional background allows The Karam Firm to serve clients who need experienced tax controversy counsel, thoughtful strategic guidance, and a sophisticated understanding of both federal and state tax procedure.

Education
University of California, Los Angeles
Certificate in Accounting, 2014

University of Illinois Chicago School of Law
J.D. and LL.M. in Taxation, 2006
Dean’s Scholarship and Baim Excellence Scholarship
Candidacy Editor, Journal of Computer and Information Law

DePaul University
B.A., Business Law, summa cum laude, 2003

Bar Admissions
State Bar of California, 2010
State Bar of Illinois, 2006 (Inactive)
State Bar of Nevada (Pending)

Publications
“How RARs, Federal Waivers, and Competent Authority Agreements Trigger and Complicate State Tax Compliance,” BNA Weekly State Tax Report, Vol. 2011, No. 44, October 28, 2011.