Foley Hoag LLP (formerly Foley, Hoag & Eliot LLP) is a

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise consumer, clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and Obligation, respon ...

headquartered in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, with additional offices in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. The firm represents public and private clients in a wide range of disputes and transactions worldwide. It offers regional, national, and international legal services.

History

The firm was founded on April 1, 1943 when Henry Elliot Foley teamed with Garrett Scattergood Hoag. The two founders began their firm in a three-room office at 10 Post Office Square in Boston's Financial District. The firm was involved in Boston's early civil rights struggle and the Boston busing crisis when it represented the plaintiffs in a 1970s lawsuit that brought

desegregation Racial integration, or simply integration, includes desegregation (the process of ending systematic racial segregation), leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws ...

to Boston Public Schools. This legal victory resulted in the firm establishing the Foley Hoag Foundation, which focuses on improving

race relations Race relations is a sociological concept that emerged in Chicago in connection with the work of sociologist Robert E. Park and the Chicago race riot of 1919. Race relations designates a paradigm or field in sociology and a legal concept in th ...

in Boston. Foley Hoag is also involved in the Boston-area

entrepreneurial Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entrepreneu ...

community, providing counsel local technology

startup A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship includes all new businesses including self-employment and businesses that do not intend to ...

companies. In 2002, the firm moved its main office to its current location in the Seaport District in

South Boston South Boston (colloquially known as Southie) is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay (Boston Harbor), Dorchester Bay. It has under ...

. Foley Hoag opened its first office outside of Massachusetts in Washington, D.C., in 1985, focusing on international litigation and arbitration practices. The firm's

corporate social responsibility Corporate social responsibility (CSR) or corporate social impact is a form of international private business industry self-regulation, self-regulation which aims to contribute to societal goals of a philanthropy, philanthropic, activist, or chari ...

, government strategies and healthcare practices are also based in D.C. In June 2011, the firm opened an office in Paris to serve overseas companies and sovereign states in international arbitration and litigation matters. In May 2015, the firm opened its first office in New York to expand its intellectual property and international litigation practices. From 2015 through early 2019,

Martha Coakley Martha Mary Coakley (born July 14, 1953) is an American lobbyist, lawyer, and former politician who served as Attorney General of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015. She is most notable for having lost a race for the United States Senate in what was ...

, former Attorney General of Massachusetts, worked for Foley Hoag as a lawyer and

lobbyist Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by various entities, in ...

. While at the firm, Coakley represented the fantasy sports website

DraftKings DraftKings Inc. is an American gambling company based in Boston, Massachusetts. It offers sportsbook and daily fantasy sports (DFS) services. The company was originally launched in 2012 as a DFS provider, competing principally with the New Yor ...

and student-loan firm

Navient Navient Corporation is an American financial services company and former student loan servicer based in Wilmington, Delaware. The company was formed in 2014 by the split of Sallie Mae into two distinct entities: Sallie Mae Bank and Navient. Th ...

when state governments were examining the practices of these industries.

Practice areas

Foley Hoag has industry-focused practices in energy and cleantech, education, life sciences, healthcare, investment advisers and private funds, professional services, sovereign states and technology. The firm also has an international litigation and arbitration practice group which represents both corporations and foreign governments. In 2008 the firm successfully represented the government of

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

in a challenge to the

nationalization Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with p ...

of a telecom company. From 2010-2018, the firm's Global Business & Human Rights practice served as the Secretariat for the

Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights The Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPs) is a collaborative effort by governments, major multinational extractive companies, and NGOs to provide guidance to companies on tangible steps that they can take to minimize the risk of hu ...

Notable alumni

* Alicia Barton, president and CEO, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (

NYSERDA The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), established in 1975, is a New York state public-benefit corporations, New York State public-benefit corporation, located in Albany, New York, with regional offices in New York ...

). *

, former Attorney General of Massachusetts. * Vickie L. Henry, associate justice, Massachusetts Appeals Court. * Joseph P. Liu, professor of intellectual property at

Boston College Law School Boston College Law School (BC Law) is the law school of Boston College, a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. It is situated on a campus in Newton, Massachusetts, about from the university's main campus in Chestn ...

. * Hans F. Loeser, retired senior partner, civil rights lawyer and

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

opponent. * Sandra Lea Lynch, judge on the

United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (in case citations, 1st Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Maine * District of Massachusetts ...

. *

Michael Rustad Michael Rustad is a law professor at Suffolk University Law School, and an author and television commentator. Education and career He received a BA from University of North Dakota, an MA from the University of Maryland, College Park, a Ph.D. fr ...

, professor of law at

Suffolk University Law School Suffolk University Law School (also known as Suffolk Law School) is the Private university, private, non-sectarian law school of Suffolk University located in Downtown Boston, downtown Boston, across the street from the Boston Common and the Fr ...

. *

Paul Tsongas Paul Efthemios Tsongas ( ; February 14, 1941 – January 18, 1997) was an American politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1979 until 1985 and in the United States House of Representatives from 1975 until 1 ...

, former United States Senator from Massachusetts. * Barry B. White, former

United States Ambassador to Norway The United States ambassador to Norway (formally the ambassador of the United States to the Kingdom of Norway) is the official representative of the President of the United States, president and the government of the United States of America to ...

. *

James Boyd White James Boyd White (born 1938) is an American law professor, literary critic, scholar and philosopher who is generally credited with founding the " law and Literature" movement. He is a proponent of the analysis of constitutive rhetoric in the anal ...

, professor at

University of Michigan Law School The University of Michigan Law School (branded as Michigan Law) is the law school of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1859, the school offers Master of Laws (LLM), Master of Comparati ...

. * Gloria Cordes Larson, former president of

Bentley University Bentley University is a private university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded in 1917 as a school of accounting and finance in Boston's Back Bay, Boston, Back Bay neighborhood. Bentley has one undergraduate school which off ...

Industry Recognition

Some Foley Hoag attorneys appear annually in compendiums such as ''Chambers USA'', ''Chambers Global'', ''Best Lawyers'', ''Latinvex'', and ''Legal 500''. Several of its practices have also been noted in publications such as U.S. News & World Report and ''Corporate Counsel'' The firm has also been listed in various business and legal industry rankings as a premiere workplace. Vault's 2015 "Top Best Firms to Work For" list named Foley Hoag the third-best law firm to work for nationally. The firm also placed first nationally in firm culture, hours, and LGBT diversity, and was ranked in the top 10 in many other individual categories, including training and mentoring, pro bono work, and transparency. Foley Hoag has been in the Vault top 10 for several years, coming in at fifth for 2012, and sixth for both 2013 and 2014, and ninth in 2018. In 2011, 2012 and 2013, the firm was recognized by the Boston Globe's "Top Places to Work" survey as a leading place of employment in Massachusetts. In 2014 the firm was ranked ninth nationally in The American Lawyer 2014 Mid-Level Associates Satisfaction survey. ''Law360'' named Foley Hoag a 2018 Regional Powerhouse, an accolade awarded to law firms handling some of the biggest deals and most high-profile courtroom battles that make a lasting impact on the law at the state and local level.

References

External links

Homepage

Foley Hoag Technology & Entrepreneurship Collaborative

Corporate Social Responsibility and the Law

Chambers USA profile

on Martindale.com {{Authority control Law firms based in Boston Law firms established in 1943 Intellectual property law firms 1943 establishments in Massachusetts