Today marks Croke Fairchild’s third anniversary, and while in many ways it seems like the world is an entirely different place than it was on December 1, 2019, we wanted to take a moment to celebrate one thing that’s remained steadfast through all the tumult of the last few years: the spirit of true partnership we share with clients and colleagues alike.

We started with ten lawyers who wanted to do things differently.

Today, our team comprises 60 lawyers, and, with partners Jessica Fairchild and Lisa Duarte now co-chairing our management committee, we’ve been recognized as the largest WBENC-Certified WBE law firm in Chicago and one of the top-five largest in the United States.

We’re proud of this achievement, and particularly proud of the way we’ve accomplished it. We’ve worked hard to create an environment where women, along with other lawyers and staff from underrepresented groups, can truly thrive.

As important, we’re deeply grateful to the forward-looking business clients — entrepreneurs, investors, financial institutions, investment firms, growth-stage companies and Fortune 500 companies, to name just a few — whose work with us has fueled this expansion. The challenges of the last few years have required us all to be innovators. So we’ve responded flexibly to our clients’ needs, expanding our Venture Capital & Founders practice and continuing to build our litigation, government affairs and regulatory, M&A, debt finance, private funds, private client, tax, real estate, intellectual property, cryptocurrency, general corporate and securities expertise.

Since our clients are continuing to grow, so are we.

We are thrilled to announce that we are expanding our team and our space. We’ve just leased a nearly 10,000-square-foot space at 180 North LaSalle, in the heart of Chicago’s central business district, moving floors and broadening our footprint to accommodate our own growth and that of our entrepreneurial clients.

We will be dedicating a portion of our office space as an incubator for our early-stage clients – providing them with workspace and meeting space.  In our view, this is the spirit of true partnership that drives everything we do at Croke Fairchild.  We, ourselves, are founders.

As we look ahead, we can’t even begin to imagine what the next three years will hold, but, whatever change might come, we’re poised to help our clients continue to respond, from shifting financial markets and liquidity events to commercial expansion and new capital structures.

Thank you for your continued trust and happy anniversary to us all!