Our Approach

Founded To Serve Our Clients

We founded TDR in 2001 and designed it to work for our clients. To us, that means:

  • Working in small, nimble teams,
  • Maintaining a laser focus on our clients’ objectives, and
  • Regularly looking for ways to innovate.

Informed by decades of experience in law firms, government, and corporations, we believe that this win-win approach leads to superior results. It can be found in everything we do.

TDR “kept a laser focus on the goals and issues that mattered the most for me and my firm.”

Client and 30-year owner of a Chicago-based law firm.

Organized to succeed

We attribute our success not just to the tireless work of our lawyers and staff, but to the way we have organized our firm. 

We are trial and appellate attorneys

Our lawyers have dedicated their careers to trying cases and handling appeals, and we are at our best in the courtroom. We regularly advise world-class transactional lawyers when their clients face important disputes, and we consult them when our clients need their expertise, but our attorneys focus on litigation.

Our team is resourceful and adaptive

We come from diverse backgrounds. Our team includes a former Illinois Appellate Court judge, an accountant, and more than one former college athlete, law clerk, and Congressional aide. We do not have practice groups so that we can collaborate freely, and we harness our diversity of experience to meet the unique needs of each case.

We have a plan

From the first day of any new case, we prepare a trial plan. Resolving an important dispute without a trial plan is like building a skyscraper without a blueprint—it simply cannot work.

We find business solutions

Although we never shy away from a fight, a “win” at trial is only a win for us if it meets our clients’ business objectives. We serve a diverse group of companies and entrepreneurs in a wide range of industries. In each case, we learn the needs of our client’s business and tailor our strategy to meet those needs.

We align our incentives with our clients’ interests

We are committed to providing value to our clients. For that reason, our rates are well below those of the mega-firms that we routinely oppose, and we often consider alternative fee structures that align our incentives with our clients’ goals. 

We love our work

We thrive on our work and we never stop learning and growing.

TDR attorneys are “truly among the best of our profession.”
Former partner at AmLaw 100 firm and Chief Executive of a Chicago-based non-profit.

Guided by principle

It is not enough for us to be highly successful in practice. We are also dedicated to serving the highest ideals of our profession. 

We perform outstanding pro bono service

We believe that each of us is obligated to serve our profession by helping to bring justice to those in need. In cases big and small, our attorneys have devoted themselves to representing those who cannot afford a lawyer, and to advancing worthy causes in partnership with non-profits, legal services agencies, and other like-minded organizations. 

We care about our clients and each other

We are, in the words of one general counsel speaking about a TDR partner, “good neighbors.” That means counseling and supporting our clients outside the courtroom and being present for each other in everything we do.