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 clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to ...

headquartered in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

, with additional offices in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

, and

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

life sciences This list of life sciences comprises the branches of science that involve the scientific study of life – such as microorganisms, plants, and animals including human beings. This science is one of the two major branches of natural science, th ...

, healthcare,

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, scie ...

energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of hea ...

cleantech Clean technology, in short cleantech, is any process, product, or service that reduces negative environmental impacts through significant energy efficiency improvements, the sustainable use of resources, or environmental protection activities. Cl ...

, investment advisers & private funds,

professional services Professional services are occupations in the service sector requiring special training in the arts or sciences. Some professional services, such as architects, accountants, engineers, doctors, and lawyers require the practitioner to hold profes ...

and

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. ...

. Foley Hoag also specializes in international litigation & arbitration, business counseling, privacy & data security,

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

, labor & employment, real estate & development, federal and state government strategies services, and maintains the first practice to provide advice on the role of corporations in respecting human rights.

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 The desegregation of Boston public schools (1974–1988) was a period in which the Boston Public Schools were under court control to desegregate through a system of busing students. The call for desegregation and the first years of its implemen ...

when it represented the plaintiffs in a 1970s lawsuit that brought

desegregation Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...

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 t ...

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

entrepreneurial Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

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 refers to all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend t ...

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

South Boston South Boston is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay. South Boston, colloquially known as Southie, has undergone several demographic transformati ...

. 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) is a form of international private business self-regulation which aims to contribute to societal goals of a philanthropic, activist, or charitable nature by engaging in or supporting volunteering or ethicall ...

, 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 and lawyer who served as Attorney General of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015. Prior to serving as Attorney General, she was District Attorney of Middlesex County from 1999 to 200 ...

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

lobbyist In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

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

DraftKings DraftKings is an American daily fantasy sports contest and sports betting company. The company allows users to enter daily and weekly fantasy sports–related contests and win money based on individual player performances in five major Americ ...

and student-loan firm

Navient Navient is an American corporation based in Wilmington, Delaware that services and collects student loans. Managing nearly $300 billion in student loans for more than 12 million debtors, the company was formed in 2014 by the split of Sallie Ma ...

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 , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

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 usually refers to priv ...

of a

telecom Telecom may refer to: * Telecommunications ** A telephone company (or ''telecommunications service provider'') ** The telecommunications industry * Telecom Animation Film, a Japanese studio See also * Telcom (disambiguation) * Telekom (disambigu ...

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 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 human ri ...

Notable alumni

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

, former Attorney General of Massachusetts. * Vickie L. Henry, associate justice, Massachusetts Appeals Court. *

Joseph P. Liu Joseph P. Liu is an American legal scholar working as a professor at the Boston College Law School. He has published a number of papers and articles on the subjects of intellectual property law, law and the internet, and internet regulation. Earl ...

, professor of intellectual property at

Boston College Law School Boston College Law School (BC Law) is the law school of Boston College. It is situated on a wooded campus in Newton, Massachusetts, about 1.5 miles from the university's main campus in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. With approximately 800 studen ...

. *

Hans F. Loeser Hans F. Loeser (September 28, 1920 – May 15, 2010) was an American lawyer whose activism during the Vietnam War earned him the enmity of Richard Nixon. Born in Germany, Loeser served in the United States Army, 1942–1947. He then went to H ...

, retired senior partner, civil rights lawyer and

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

opponent. *

Sandra Lea Lynch Sandra Lea Lynch (born July 31, 1946) is an American lawyer who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. She is the first woman to serve on that court. Lynch served as chief judge of the ...

, 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, professor of law at

Suffolk University Law School Suffolk University Law School (also known as Suffolk Law School) is the private, non-sectarian law school of Suffolk University located in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, across the street from the Boston Common and the Freedom Trail, two block ...

. *

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 197 ...

, former United States Senator from Massachusetts. *

Barry B. White Barry B. White (born 1943) is an American lawyer and former ambassador. He served as United States Ambassador to Norway from 2009 to 2013. Education White holds an A.B. from Harvard College, ''magna cum laude'' and Phi Beta Kappa, and a J.D. ...

, 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 and the Government of the United States of America to the King and Government of No ...

. *

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 ana ...

, professor at

University of Michigan Law School The University of Michigan Law School (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 Comparative Law (MC ...

. *

Gloria Cordes Larson Gloria Cordes Larson is a prominent lawyer, public policy expert, and business leader. Larson was named president of Bentley University in 2007 and served in that role until June 2018. She was the seventh president of Bentley and the first woman ...

, former president of

Bentley University Bentley University is a private university focused on business, accountancy, and finance and located in Waltham, Massachusetts. Founded in 1917 as a school of accounting and finance in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood, Bentley moved to Waltham ...

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 Martindale-Hubbell is an information services company to the legal profession that was founded in 1868. The company publishes the ''Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory'', which provides background information on lawyers and law firms in the United S ...

{{Authority control Law firms based in Boston Law firms established in 1943 Intellectual property law firms