Kara J. Cavallo is a Partner concentrating in the areas of real property tax certiorari, civil appellate practice, and civil litigation. Kara primarily represents taxing jurisdictions and petitioners in tax certiorari proceedings with respect to real property tax exemptions, valuation and assessment. Kara represents assessors, municipalities, and not-for-profit and for-profit entities with respect to a wide array of real property cases including condominiums, apartments, restaurants, golf courses, hemp and cannabis, manufacturing, residential subdivisions, senior care, rehabilitation and treatment centers, and other commercial and industrial properties. She handles cases at both the trial and appellate level involving the valuation of real property, charitable, religious, agricultural, business investment, and other real property tax exemptions, selective assessment, and constitutional issues impacting real property taxation and assessment.
Kara received her Bachelor of Science degree, magna cum laude, in 1994 from Arizona State University, with a major in Political Science and a minor in Spanish. Kara received her Juris Doctor degree in 1999 from the University of Arizona, College of Law, where she was an Executive Note Editor for the Arizona Law Review.
Kara was admitted to practice in the state and federal courts of New York in 2002. She clerked for the Honorable James B. Sult at the Arizona Court of Appeals after graduating from law school and practiced as a litigation associate in the Phoenix office of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, LLP before joining J&G in 2004.
Kara currently serves as Vice President on the Board of Directors of the Children’s Rights Society, Inc. and as a Trustee on Vision Hudson Valley’s Board of Trustees. Kara previously served on the Board of Directors of the Women’s Bar Association of Orange and Sullivan Counties (“WBAOSC”), including as its President, and is a member of both WBAOSC and the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York. She is also a member of the New York State Bar Association, Real Property Law Section, and the Committee on Condemnation, Certiorari, and Real Estate Taxation. Kara is a subscribing member of the Orange County Assessors Association and an associate member of the New York State Assessors Association and the International Association of Assessing Officers. Kara published her Note while serving on the Arizona Law Review and has lectured at seminars and continuing legal education presentations, including on the topics of appellate practice, not-for-profit governance and compliance, and real property taxation and assessment.
Kara has been selected as a Woman Leader in Law by Martindale-Hubbell in April 2023. Kara was also selected as a Super Lawyer by Super Lawyers in 2023.
