December 6, 2023 – Croke Fairchild Duarte & Beres LLC (CFDB), a Chicago-based full service law firm, is partnering with Legal Innovators, a technology-enabled alternative legal services provider focused on innovative talent management solutions, on a pilot program to recruit and train new lawyers.
CFDB, which has grown from 10 attorneys to over 65 attorneys in less than four years, is including a first-year law school graduate recruited, trained and mentored by Legal Innovators in its current class of new associates. Through this collaboration, the Legal Innovators’ lawyer will be fully integrated into CFDB’s client teams, while continuing to receive the support of Legal Innovators’ unique training, performance coaching and mentorship program.
“As a newer and growing firm, we are excited to leverage an outside organization to support our growth and enhance the professional development opportunities we offer to our newest attorneys,” said Jessica Fairchild, CFDB founding partner and co-chair of its management committee. “We are especially impressed with Legal Innovators’ science-backed recruiting methodology.”
Legal Innovators looks beyond traditional hiring metrics across a broad network of law schools. Utilizing predictive analytics, they consider approximately 20 factors, such as accolades and work experience in undergrad, to determine the potential success of a candidate. Once hired by Legal Innovators, these high-potential recruits work in top-tier law firms in an apprenticeship model that combines continued support from Legal Innovators with on-the-job experience and development. Law firms have the option to hire the Legal Innovators team members based on performance.
“The opportunity to be continuously trained, coached and mentored while working in a growing, dynamic firm like CFDB, combined with the opportunity to secure permanent employment, is the hallmark of the value proposition Legal Innovators offers to the young lawyers who work for us,” said Bryan Parker, CEO of Legal Innovators.
Early results of the CFDB pilot are strong, with the firm’s partners and clients offering positive feedback.
“Legal Innovators’ broad network of more than 40 law school partners reaches well beyond our ability to recruit directly and allowed us to identify some truly top-notch talent to add to our team,” said Lisa Duarte, CFDB partner and management committee co-chair.
Legal Innovators has similar partnerships in place with numerous global and AmLaw100 firms, as well as with corporate legal departments. As a growth-minded mid-sized firm, CFDB offers an entrepreneurial environment and collaborative culture that add new elements to the collaboration.
“We’re humbled and thrilled have added CFDB as a new law firm partner,” added Parker. “We’re excited to have been chosen to assist them in finding, training and retaining their legal talent and to develop new opportunities with them.”
About Croke Fairchild Duarte & Beres
A full-service law firm with offices in Chicago and Milwaukee, Croke Fairchild Duarte & Beres LLC is home to a diverse team of trusted advisors and counselors valued for their legal skill, intellectual curiosity and commitment to forging pragmatic solutions. The firm’s clients include entrepreneurs, investors, growth-stage companies, family offices, family businesses, and Fortune 500 companies. Croke Fairchild is also a certified women’s business enterprise and a member of the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms (NAMWOLF).
For more information, visit www.crokefairchild.com.
About Legal Innovators
Legal Innovators is a technology-enabled talent management solution changing the way the law approaches the hiring, pricing, and training of junior legal talent through a two-year work-based program. Legal Innovators also assists clients in meeting their diversity, equity and inclusion goals. Legal Innovators pairs law firms and corporate legal departments with high quality, trained and BigLaw ready junior lawyers. The lawyers take on substantive work as a member of the client’s legal teams. Law firms and corporations gain first-hand exposure to the lawyers’ capabilities and make more informed decisions based on legal competencies and cultural fit before hiring them permanently.
To learn more, visit www.Legal-Innovators.com or contact Chief of Staff, and Director of Operations, Meghan Smith, at meghan@legal-innovators.com or 202-916-8773.
