Our Practice

Partner

Jeffrey Kess is a founding partner at Kess & Chitty Law. He has practiced taxation and general business law for more than 35 years. He has achieved national recognition for his expertise in the field of tax controversy. Jeffrey has represented thousands  of clients before the Internal Revenue Service, the State of Georgia, and other state taxing authorities. Jeffrey also works closely with CPAs in devising strategies to eliminate or minimize potential taxes, penalties, and interest for their clients. 

Jeffrey has served in leadership positions with numerous professional and community organizations including the Georgia Society of CPAs, the State Bar of Georgia, the Family Law Section and the Tax Section of the Atlanta Bar  Association, The North Atlanta Tax Council, the National Business Institute, and the Institute of Continuing Legal Education in Georgia.

Education: 

• Emory University School of Law, J.D., 1981
• State University of New York at Buffalo, B.S., Business Administration, magna cum laude, with distinction, 1979 

Bar Admissions: 

• Georgia

Other Admissions:

• Certified Public Accountant, 1985

Awards and Recognition:

• Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating: Distinguished® 4.6 out of 5.0 
• CPA Magazine “Top 50 IRS Representation Practitioners in the Nation,” 2008 
• CPA Magazine “Top 40 Tax Advisors to Know During a Recession,” 2009 
• Best Lawyers: 2013-2023 
• Super Lawyers: 2022-2025

Partner

Chris Chitty is a founding partner at Kess & Chitty Law. His practice focus areas are tax credits, tax controversy & collection, and tax planning. He has experience assisting clients with tax credits, as well as representing individual and business clients during tax audits, tax appeals, and tax collection procedures before the Internal Revenue Service as well as various state tax authorities. 

Prior to co-founding Kess & Chitty Law, Chris was a Partner at MendenFreiman, and before that served as a senior associate at Gomel Davis & Watson, LLP. He previously worked at Ernst & Young in the Tax Services Group, where he gained experience dealing with tax controversy issues and numerous federal and state tax credits, as well as performing multi-state sales and use tax nexus studies. He also worked at the Georgia State University College of Law’s Phillip C. Cook Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic where he assisted low-income taxpayers with federal tax controversy and collection issues. 

Education: 

• University of Florida Levin College of Law, LL.M. Taxation, 2010 
• Georgia State University College of Law, J.D., magna cum laude, with Highest  Distinction, 2009 
• University of Georgia, B.A., Criminal Justice & Political Science, 2003  

Bar Admissions: 

• Georgia
• Virginia

Awards and Recognition:

• Best Lawyers: 2022-2023 
• Super Lawyers: 2024-2025
• Super Lawyers Rising Stars: 2018-2019
• The Senator Paul D. Coverdell Tax Clinic Award: 2008-2009

Associate Attorney

Ida Bolt is an Associate Attorney at Kess & Chitty Law. Her practice focuses on tax controversy & collection, tax compliance, and emerging tax matters related to cryptocurrency including tax planning and compliance. She has experience representing individual and small business clients during tax collection procedures, tax audits, and compliance issues with the Internal Revenue Service and various state tax authorities. 

Prior to joining Kess & Chitty, Ida was an associate attorney and cryptocurrency specialist at Bomar Law Firm, LLC. While in law school, Ida worked as a Law Fellow and assisted low-income taxpayers at Georgia State University College of Law’s Philip C. Cook Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic. While in undergraduate school, Ida worked as a social work intern assisting unhoused clients with civil legal issues at the Georgia Law Center for the Homeless. 

Education: 

• Georgia State University College of Law, J.D., 2022
• Georgia State University Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, B.S. Social Work, magna cum laude, 2013

Bar Admissions: 

• Georgia
• United States Tax Court

Awards and Recognition:

• CALI Award for Applied Legal Analytics Lab, Georgia State University College of Law, 2022
• The Dean R. Morley Fellowship Recipient at Philip C Cook Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic, 2021-2022
• CALI Award for Law and Social Welfare, Georgia State University College of Law, 2020 
• Social Justice Award, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University, 2013

Of Counsel

  Sarah Saterbo is Of Counsel to Kess & Chitty Law.  Her practice focuses on tax controversy & collection and tax planning.  She has experience representing individuals and businesses that have controversies and compliance issues with the Internal Revenue Service and state tax authorities.  She also works with clients to devise strategies to minimize potential taxes, penalties, and interest.

Sarah has previously worked at Gomel Davis & Watson, LLP, focusing on tax controversy and collection.  She also previously worked as a tax senior at Ernst & Young.  While in law school, Sarah assisted low-income taxpayers at the Georgia State University College of Law’s Phillip C. Cook Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic. 

Education: 

• Georgia State University College of Law, J.D., 2011
• Miami University, B.S., Accountancy, 2007

Bar Admissions: 

• Georgia

Of Counsel

Lacey J.S. Robb is Of Counsel to Kess & Chitty Law. Her practice focuses on R&D tax credits and other related deductions. With more than 20 years of legal and tax experience, she brings a unique perspective to each R&D tax credit study that she performs. During her tenure at multiple law firms and Big 4 firms, she has overseen filings of complex multistate tax return transactions and has practical contract and legal formation experience.  Since she has performed due diligence studies and participated in numerous audits, her breadth of knowledge allows her to take a holistic approach to each study, and not just identify the qualified expenditures, but understand the overall effect to a client's tax position. 

She has been invited to provide continuing education to CPAs, attorneys and other special interest groups. Given her compliance knowledge, she develops strategies to maximize R&D credits and other benefits. She has worked at law firms in California, Colorado and Minnesota along with KPMG and EY.

Education: 

• University of Denver College of Law, LL.M. Taxation, 2002
• North Dakota State University – Core Accounting Curriculum, 2001
• University of North Dakota College of Law, J.D., 1999 
• University of North Dakota, B.A. Psychology, 1996 

Bar Admissions: 

• California
• Colorado
• Minnesota