International firm Foley Hoag has planted roots in Denver and hopes to expand the firm’s footprint outside the northeast corridor.
Founded in Boston in 1943, the firm currently employs over 300 attorneys in its five offices in Boston, Washington D.C., Paris, New York City and now Denver. The American Lawyer’s 2022 Am Law 200 reported the firm had a gross revenue of $1,024,834,000 in 2021 which placed it in the top five firms for 2021 revenue growth.
And that growth has landed a new office in Denver anchored by insurance recovery partners Chris Mosley and Brooke Yates. Foley Hoag officially opened doors in the Denver Tech Center in February. The office currently includes Mosley, Yates and associate Stephen Robin, but is looking to grow.
“Foley is a dynamic firm that’s really been growing as of late,” said Mosley. “Denver is now sort of the Foley presence in the western part of the United States. It’s kind of the gateway to the west.”
Mosley and Yates, former attorneys with Sherman & Howard’s Denver office, joined Foley Hoag last year to build on the firm’s existing national insurance recovery practice. When they were hired, Mosley said the firm had no plans on opening an office in Colorado, but management soon became interested in growing the firm’s mark beyond the northeast where it traditionally has operated.
While Foley Hoag, like most large firms, has a national practice, Mosley said the Denver office hopes to establish a strong local footprint and become a trusted firm in the region.
“Denver is a dynamic city with business strengths that align well with our platform, including in clean energy, healthcare, life sciences, cannabis and technology,” said Foley Hoag Managing Partner Jim Bucking in a press release announcing the new office.
In the last decade, Foley Hoag’s footprint, headcount and revenue have boomed. The firm opened its first office outside Massachusetts in 1985 in Washington, D.C. In 2011, it opened its Paris office and a New York City office in 2015. The firm has climbed the ranks in recent years on the Am Law 200, Global 200 and NLJ 500 and was named on Law360’s 2022 Pulse Leaderboard.
The firm currently lists corporate, intellectual property, litigation and investigations and government and regulations as main practice areas with a number of sub-practices and industry focuses. Mosley said he believes the firm’s experience in insurance recovery, energy, health care, technology and cannabis align well with the Colorado, Rocky Mountain and western U.S. markets.
Mosley estimates that in 2022, the firm added about 70 attorneys, mainly in its New York and D.C. offices, and expects that growth to continue in Denver.
“What makes us strong is that we get it, that the client service is the number one thing,” said Mosley who said that a large collection of attorneys means the firm can bring talent to clients with specialized knowledge and industry experience. “You get the top-notch service, you get some smart people and you get people who can talk to clients in, I wouldn’t even use the phrase plain English, but I would use plain English in their industry.”
Mosley offers the energy sector as an example. “Somebody in that business really needs to have their outside partners be experts in this and specialists in this. Well, that’s one of our areas of expertise.”
Foley Hoag doesn’t have a magic number or specific timeline in mind for the ideal size of its Denver office (“40, 60, maybe 80 attorneys,” Mosley mused), but Mosley said he’s primarily focused on hiring attorneys that strengthen the firm’s existing practices and fit well with its culture. “Growth is at the top of the list here, for sure, but growth in the right way.”
Mosley describes Foley Hoag’s culture as offering flexibility for attorneys to develop their careers sustainably and in a way that works for them. “The firm gives you a great deal of leeway to practice in the way that you feel is best for you,” he said.
He added the firm has a strong career development program for associates and other attorneys as well as a dedicated diversity, equity and inclusion mission.
Mosley, who is Black, said he’s often cautiously optimistic of DEI programs but believes Foley Hoag is committed to elevating diverse attorneys and creating long-term opportunities.
“I am someone who has very strong feelings of what works and what doesn’t work,” explained Mosley. “One of the things that I want to do is pay [the opportunities I’ve had] forward with the younger diverse lawyers that are coming up… The phrase that I use is ‘Foley does it right.’”
Looking into the future, Mosley hopes Foley Hoag will become a well-respected name and institution in Denver’s legal community and the west.
“When people think of the key firms in Denver, you’ve got the traditional firms that have been here, you’ve got some of the Am Law 200 firms that really established their name and are great firms that have been terrific to the Denver, Colorado, Rocky Mountain communities … That’s what we’re looking to be,” said Mosley.
Denver is the firm’s first location west of the Mississippi. But in the coming years, Mosley said he expects the firm to keep growing its impact and scope westward.
“It’s the direction that the firm is headed and it was very exciting to be a part of it and really kind of a neat venture for us out here,” he added.
Attorneys interested in joining Foley Hoag’s Denver office can reach out to Mosley directly, he said.