OUR VALUES

At Croke Fairchild Duarte & Beres, we share a common set of values that guide our partnerships with our clients and our colleagues:

We partner with clients.

We are entrepreneurs. We navigate the same challenges that our clients face. We have been there. Informed by this perspective, we partner with clients as true counselors and collaborators rather than mere legal technicians. Our relationship-based model and flexible fee structures allow us to build long-term, authentic relationships so that we can advise our clients for years to come, not just in closing their current transaction. We scale and staff small teams that invest in learning about our multifaceted clients, their plans, and their anticipated challenges. That’s how we can stand shoulder to shoulder with our clients and provide innovative, superior client service.

We strive for excellence in everything we do.

We work tirelessly each day to deliver the strategic, knowledgeable, creative, experienced, and efficient counsel our clients demand and deserve in today’s fast-paced, challenging business environment. We purposefully pursue opportunities to continue to learn and innovate with our clients so we can grow and succeed together. We know this approach matters to clients, and we remain steadfastly committed to this philosophy no matter how much or how quickly our firm grows.

We put people first.

CFDB values entrepreneurial team members. We listen and embrace collaborative leadership; we encourage lawyers and non-lawyers alike to chart their careers and define success on their own terms. We embrace flexible work arrangements, as we have done since our founding, and we recognize that a person’s value and contributions to the firm and each other come in all shapes and sizes. While we measure hours worked and billed, this is only one metric for measuring contributions to the firm. Not only does this model allow people to bring their whole selves to work and manage caregiving and other personal responsibilities, but it is the reason we punch above our weight in recruiting top-tier legal talent. The best and brightest want to work for a firm that values them, listens to them, and provides a platform for them to succeed. Our clients reap the benefits.

We honor and seek diversity of all kinds.

CFDB has grown and succeeded because of our commitment to equity, inclusion, and diversity. We recognize that those words must be more than just words on a website; we must live, learn, and be humbled by the importance of those words as operating principles in every decision we make.

CFDB is majority women-owned and controlled. We are also a certified Women-Owned Business Enterprise (WBE) by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council. Businesses across a range of industries already know the importance and economic value of more diverse leadership teams. We have been, remain, and always will be committed to the foundation and future of our firm’s diversity across perspectives, race, gender, and LGBTQ+ and disability identities.

We respect every member of our team.

CFDB leadership works to create an open, productive culture that encourages sharing ideas, collaborating across experience levels, and voicing honest feedback. All team members are integral to the firm’s success. Firm committees include participation of staff at all levels, and all decisions are grounded in the respect we show one another. Partnering with our clients starts first with being authentic partners to each other.

We are proud to serve our hometown.

Though we can and do work anywhere — and many of us have worked in some of the largest firms in the world — we are first and foremost a Chicago firm. Our sense of place as a firm born, raised, and growing here, involving ourselves in the fabric of civic life, is an essential part of our culture. We are proud to serve Chicago, by creating jobs and opportunities, and to be part of the conversations shaping its future.