Law Office of James Kottaras, P.C.

Focus and practice areas

The Law Office of James Kottaras works in real estate law from an office in the Chicago Loop. Residential and commercial closings make up the core of the caseload. Real estate litigation and business transactions sit alongside that work.

The closing work covers specific tasks. The firm reviews title, examines seller disclosures, negotiates sales contracts and handles tax prorations. For commercial purchases, it conducts due diligence.

Eviction matters form a defined part of the docket. The firm represents Cook County landlords in residential and commercial eviction cases, and the website states plainly that it does not act for tenants. In my opinion, that kind of published boundary helps a prospective client decide in about ten seconds whether to pick up the phone.

How the eviction work is handled

The firm follows the Illinois Forcible Entry and Detainer Act and the Chicago Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance. Its stated process runs through serving notice and obtaining an order for possession. Those two statutes govern most Chicago landlord matters, so naming them tells a landlord what procedural track their case will follow.

The attorney behind the office

James Kottaras founded the firm in 1993 and has run it since. He earned a B.A. from Indiana University in 1986 and a Juris Doctor from Valparaiso University in 1989. He was admitted to the Illinois State Bar in 1990 and to the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois the same year.

His path into real estate started before the firm existed. During law school he interned for two civil court judges. He then joined a local law firm where he handled litigation for real estate developers and personal injury clients.

A second chapter shaped the commercial side of his work. In 1997 he became general counsel for a local real estate developer that owned several Loop office and commercial buildings. That role covered real estate leasing and litigation.

Credentials beyond the bar

James Kottaras carries two licences that most attorneys in this field do not. He is a licensed Managing Real Estate Broker. He is also a title agent for Chicago Title Insurance Company and for Professional National Title Network.

Those credentials have a practical effect on a transaction. Title questions and brokerage questions arrive constantly in a closing, and an attorney who holds both licences can speak to them directly. As a reviewer, I read that combination as the clearest signal on this website about how the firm approaches its work.

The title agency relationships also place the firm inside the closing machinery. Title commitments, exceptions and endorsements pass through the same office that reviews the contract.

Where the firm works

Clients come from Cook, DuPage, Lake and Will Counties. Those four counties cover Chicago and the collar suburbs that surround it. Real estate rules shift at county lines in Illinois, and eviction procedure in particular differs between the City of Chicago and the rest of Cook County.

The office has stayed in the Chicago Loop since 1993. That location puts it near the Daley Center, where Cook County civil and eviction matters are heard.

What the record shows

The firm has operated continuously for more than 30 years under the same attorney. Continuity of that length is worth noting on its own. The name on the door in 2026 is the name that opened it in 1993.

The website keeps its claims narrow. It describes tasks, statutes and licences, and it says which side of an eviction case the firm takes. Readers looking for a wide-ranging general practice will find something else here: a real estate office with a stated scope.

How to read the scope

The four practice areas connect to each other in daily work. A commercial building purchase involves due diligence, a title review and often a business entity. A landlord who buys a residential building may later need eviction counsel. One attorney handling all of it keeps the file in one place.

Business transactions receive less description on the site than the real estate work does. The real estate pages carry the detail, down to tax prorations and seller disclosures. That weighting matches how the firm presents itself online, where the X handle reads ChicagoRELawyer.

Who this office suits

Buyers and sellers of Chicago-area residential property make up an obvious group. So do commercial purchasers who want due diligence handled by counsel who also holds a title agency appointment. Cook County landlords facing an eviction fall squarely inside the stated practice.

The firm maintains a presence on Facebook, X and LinkedIn. Those accounts appear in the structured data on its own website, which is a small sign that the site itself has been kept current.

James Kottaras has practised real estate law in the same square mile since 1990, when he was admitted, and has run this office there since 1993.