If you need a law firm with international expertise and a “small firm feel,” then it's solely Foley.
Foley Hoag Lateral Profile 2024
“I could never work at any other firm,” beamed one Foley junior – Quite the statement! But with an international arbitration group standing at the forefront of meaningful matters across the globe, it's no surprise that Foley was a sought after firm by our interviewees: “the work we do is what drew me here, it’s very important to me and we have a stellar team.” Simply put, at Foley, “we very much want to stand up for the little guy.” Though the work at the firm spreads far across the globe, the firm remains relatively leanly staffed. Outside of the Boston HQ, Foley has outposts in New York, DC, Denver and Paris.
View the firm’s Chambers USA rankings
Read the firm’s Inside View feature on junior associate life
Why did you join your firm? Associates say…
“Foley Hoag felt like the perfect balance of people who take their work seriously, but don't take themselves too seriously. I enjoyed that people were practical and that was their approach to work as well.”
“The firm’s attorneys were sociable and genuine in their desire to get to know one another, and did not seem cliquey or exclusive, which was important for me as a lateral.”
“Genuine kindness and a commitment to DEI. There are a lot of homegrown partners at Foley Hoag, and it's clear why.”
Strategic Recruitment Focuses 2024
Careers at Foley Hoag
The view from the firm: The firm is committed to growing our market-leading practices across departments with particular focus on the innovation industries such as life sciences, clean energy, emerging companies/venture capital, technology, and cannabis, as well as our disputes practices such as IP litigation, white collar and commercial litigation, and international litigation and arbitration representing sovereign states.
Career Development & the Path to Partnership
|
11 |
1.03 : 1 |
68% |
||
|
partners made in 2023 |
associate : partner gearing |
of associates intend to make partner |
||
|
86% |
62% |
89% |
||
| felt partnership was achievable for attorneys with children | felt partnership was achievable at the firm | agreed partners are nurturing future leaders |
||
Hours & Compensation
|
1,850 |
13.2 |
42.3 |
|
billable hours |
average number of vacation days associates took in one year |
average number of hours associates worked in one week |
|
75% |
56% |
49% |
| agreed they had a good work-life balance |
said the benefits package makes the workload worthwhile |
found the bonus allocation fair and transparent |
Salaries
1st year: $215,000
2nd year: $225,000
3rd year: $250,000
4th year: $295,000
5th year: $345,000
6th year: $390,000
7th year: $400,000
8th year: $415,000
Is Foley Hoag the right firm for you?
|
87% |
97% |
89% |
|
were happy in their current role |
agreed the work is interesting |
felt comfortable being themselves at work |
Here's what survey respondents had to say about the firm's culture...
“Welcoming, friendly, and more committed to work-life balance than many of our peers (although we still work long hours).”
“DEI is an integral part of the culture, almost a given consideration in every part of the business.”
“How open and supportive everyone is – people are easy to talk to, very smart, engaged, and welcoming.”
Diversity, Inclusion & Wellbeing
|
74% |
32% |
43% |
||
|
reported diverse staffing on teams/cases/matters |
of partners are women |
of associates identify as ethnically diverse |
||
The view from the firm: In 2023, the firm launched its DE&I Consulting Services to help its clients identify developmental opportunities and actions to reach and sustain diversity goals. Specific services provided include: executing DE&I assessments and audits; program strategy and development; forming and implementing DE&I Councils; Affinity Groups; Crisis Communications; C-Suite Counseling; DE&I metrics; developing and implementing DE&I training; as well as recruitment and retention strategies.
- The firm achieved Mansfield Certification Plus status after completing the yearlong Mansfield Rule 6.0 certification program.
- We launched Foley Hoag's 2024 Inclusive Leadership Program with the first of five workshops, Inclusive Leadership 101. The workshops bring together partners, counsels, senior associates, business services managers, and others to learn and practice the framework and principles of inclusive leadership through interactive exercises and real-world scenarios.
- Increased gender representation in the firm’s leadership ranks.
- The racial diversity of our legal personnel has increased by 11% overall since we began our journey in 2019 (19% vs. 30% in 2023.) We have built a robust, diverse talent pipeline by expanding our pool of schools, scaling our current 1L program (the Charles J. Beard II Diversity Fellowship Program), and introducing new ones (pre-law programs such as SEO Law Fellows)
- Produced virtual, in-person, and hybrid month-long educational and diverse programming during key heritage month celebrations such as Black History Month, Women's History Month, AAPI History Month, LGBTQ+ Pride Month, and Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month.
- Since 2019, we have grown and structured our affinity groups (ACCESS, Agents of Change, Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI), Black Attorneys Collective (BLAC), FirstGEN, La Asociación Latina, PRISM, Women Associates Group, Women’s Forum, and Womxn of Color) going from 3 in 2019 to 12 affinity groups in 2023. In 2023, we launched FirstGen, an affinity group for those who are the first in their families to become a lawyer and the Jewish Engagement and Wellness Society, an affinity group committed to promoting understanding, acting as a center of support for, and advocating for the interests of the firm’s Jewish community. We are excited to announce the launch of the Arab and Middle Eastern Affinity (AMEA), a new Affinity Group launching this Spring.
Pro Bono
|
74 |
94% |
|
average pro bono |
agreed the firm is committed to pro bono |
Pro bono highlights: The Center for Justice and Accountability (promoting international human rights); Catholic Charities Immigrant and Refugee Services (representing asylum seekers and immigrant victims of crime); Atlantic Council (promoting gender rights and human rights); Law Firm Antiracism Alliance (advancing racial equity, police violence, and voting rights); Lawyers for a Sustainable Economy (environment/climate/sustainability).
Sustainability & CSR
The view from the firm: We have pledged to be Net Zero by 2050 and have established and internal Sustainability Council and partnered with an industry consultant to help us benchmark our data and accomplish this goal.
Foley Hoag is proud to work across the climate vertical, from early stage startups to multinational corporations, to enable our clients to achieve their climate initiatives. Our attorneys and professionals are pioneers in a broad range of markets and technologies – distributed and large-scale solar, wind – both onshore and offshore – energy storage, clean transportation and electricity transmission, to name a few. We provide a full suite of transactional, debt, finance, strategic, regulatory, permitting, litigation and other counsel regarding matters and deals small and large, and at the state, federal and international levels. We have subject matter experts in solar, wind, green hydrogen, battery storage, electric vehicles, and other areas who we leverage on teams to achieve the clean energy initiatives and projects of our clients. Foley Hoag also has expertise working with non-energy clients on power purchase agreements (PPAs), to enable firms such as Mass General Brigham to purchase clean energy to meet their own climate goals.
Furthermore, we are proud to have donated legal services worth at least $1.5 million in 2024 through the Lawyers for a Sustainable Economy Initiative, a law firm-led effort to provide pro bono legal services to sustainability-focused entrepreneurs and nonprofits, organized by Stanford Law School and Stanford’s Precourt Institute for Energy.
Contact
Learn more about opportunities at the firm
Recruitment contact: Associates and patent professionals: Heejin Choi, Manager of Associate Recruiting
Partners and counsel: Chia Kang, Associate Director of Lateral Recruiting and Strategic Growth