A Banner Year for Lateral Hiring At Foley

As highlighted in our Legal Talent & Development 2021 Year in Review, last year Foley was thrilled to welcome a significant number of lateral attorney hires at all levels across several of the firm’s practices and offices, enhancing our ability to provide the very best service to our clients in key industries and markets.

“A swell in client demand, combined with the ‘Great Resignation’ and other pandemic-induced factors, shrank the legal talent pool in 2021. In spite of all the challenges, we were successful in recruiting an exceptional number of high-quality and diverse attorneys to Foley,” Director of Legal Recruiting Amy Moynihan said.

Foley’s strong reputation and people-centered culture enabled the firm to attract diverse, high-quality candidates. And our distinctive offerings helped us bring many of them onto the Foley team despite stiff competition in the legal talent market. These include the firm’s robust attorney integration program, which offers consistent onboarding across the firm while providing a platform to create a customized plan for each new attorney. The firm’s move to a national salary scale for all associates gave us additional leverage when competing for talent, especially in smaller markets.

Foley always seeks the top talent among recruits who share our passion for delivering business-focused solutions to clients and who will thrive in the firm’s service- and team-oriented culture. “With a limited pool of candidates who align with our client needs, we had to think outside of the box to find talent,” Moynihan said. “The pandemic has taught us that geography shouldn’t limit where we look for talent, so we adopted a nationwide recruiting strategy with less emphasis on hiring in particular offices,” she explained. We also did more intentional outreach to candidates, alumni, and recruiters, and regularly shared open positions within the firm to encourage referrals.

As part of Foley’s exceptional year for lateral hiring, the firm targeted expansion in two strategic markets: Northern California and Salt Lake City.

In spring 2021, we added multiple partners and associates in San Francisco and Silicon Valley and significantly expanded our corporate capabilities.
Foley opened a new office in Salt Lake City in fall 2021, a significant step in the firm’s strategic plan to expand its full-service offerings to clients in the Innovative Technology and Health Care & Life Sciences sectors.

“2022 is shaping up to be equally busy and competitive as law firms continue to aggressively hire,” Moynihan said. “We’re continuing to focus on adding additional lateral teams and individuals across the country. It’s also a priority to keep developing our own talent internally through investment in the firm’s associates.”

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