Defrees and Fiske LLC

Well into our second century, Defrees & Fiske is an experienced, innovative firm that provides our clients with advice and services on a wide array of legal issues. Throughout our history, we have been committed to the same time-proven mission - to provide personalized, legal services of the highest quality. This principle guided us more than a century ago when the first great communications revolution united the country and forever changed the speed of doing business. In a global economy where communication is virtually instantaneous, our success, then as now, depends on our ability to provide excellent service at a fair price.

Excellence requires diligence and a dedication to personal service. The breadth of talent and experience of our lawyers allow us to be expert in our craft, but excellence requires more than first-rate legal knowledge. It requires that we communicate fully, and often, with our clients, it requires that we are accessible for your questions, that we return your telephone calls, correspondence, and e-mail messages promptly, and that we complete the projects entrusted to us in a timely manner. It requires a personal commitment to the success of your business, and it requires that we do all of this at a fair price. We invite you to Contact us for a thorough review of your legal matters.

Our Practice

Our strength is our ability to provide high-quality, yet affordable legal services to businesses ranging from small, sole proprietorships to publicly-traded companies. We often serve as general counsel to privately held companies, in Chicago and around the nation, which require a wide array of legal service. Our clients can obtain expert advice and services in many legal practice areas -from Corporate to Copyright; from Labor to Litigation; from Employee Benefits to Environmental; from Tax to Trusts; from Real Estate to the Rights of Creditors - and can work with experienced attorneys, usually partners, each with a several years of specialized knowledge. We are particularly adept at working with entrepreneurs to structure new companies.

We provide specialty services to address the needs of publicly-held corporations and particular industries. Our public utility lawyers, who represent Midwest gas, electric and water companies, are pre-eminent. Our trademark protection expertise has been used by leading companies. We are local real estate counsel to a Fortune 500 retailer.

Our attorneys routinely provide counsel to business associations, park districts, hospitals and non-profit organizations.

Our History

In 1884, attracted by Chicago's resurgence just 13 years after the Great Fire, Joseph H. Defrees left his native Goshen, Indiana, and re-established his law practice here, in partnership with Percy L. Schuman.

For more than a century, the Defrees name has remained an integral part of our firm. In 1921, Kenneth M. Fiske joined us as an associate, becoming a partner in 1928. His name appeared on our doors in 1940.