Even the most diligent of businesses are susceptible to the threat of high-stakes litigation, especially with today’s tumultuous economic and market conditions. The increasing complexity of everyday business transactions, intense competitive pressures and heightened scrutiny can land a company or its officers in the courtroom at a moment’s notice. At Foley Hoag, we understand that resolving disputes in an efficient and productive manner is essential to our clients’ ongoing success. Our goal is to resolve your pending conflicts quickly and efficiently, in ways that do not deter your company from its strategic course. When litigation is necessary, our goal is to win.

  • Chambers USA: The Client’s Guide cited 21 individual lawyers and 13 Foley Hoag practices in its 2009 “America’s Leading Lawyers for Business.” Chambers USA described the firm's Litigation Department as “ . . . one cornerstone of the firm, and it has consequently established a sizable team able to handle the full gamut of disputes . . . Alongside its thriving commercial practice, the team has made a name for itself in high-profile white-collar crime defense work. Companies in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries feature prominently on the client list.”
  • The highly regarded publisher of referral guides, Best Lawyers in America® included 27 lawyers from Foley Hoag LLP in its 2010 guide. The ranking represents just over 27% of partners at Foley Hoag included in the rankings, one of the oldest peer-review publications in the legal profession. Six of the Foley Hoag lawyers have been listed in the guide for at least 10 years.
  • Three Foley Hoag Partners —  Michael Keating, Dean Richlin and Martin Murphy — are Fellows of the American College of Trial Lawyers, one of the premier legal associations comprised of the best of the trial bar from the United States and Canada.

Complex commercial litigation is a Foley Hoag cornerstone, and our lawyers have been recognized as leaders in the field for decades. Foley Hoag lawyers across multiple practice areas form integrated and highly efficient teams to address each aspect of a client’s problem across multiple jurisdictions and forums — from large-scale, “bet-the-company” litigation to cross-border litigation to general commercial disputes. In recent years, we have successfully represented clients involved in:

  • Contract disputes
  • Claims between business competitors, including unfair competition and other business torts
  • Claims involving fraud or unfair and deceptive trade practices
  • Corporate governance
  • Director and Officer fiduciary duties liability
  • Shareholder rights and freeze-out matters
  • Disputes arising in partnerships and closed corporations
  • Executive compensation and other employment claims
  • Disputes arising from noncompetition agreements
  • Franchise and distribution relationships
  • Antitrust disputes
  • Intellectual property disputes involving copyright, patent, trademark and trade secret misappropriation
  • Professional liability, including legal malpractice
  • International business disputes

Foley Hoag’s Business Disputes and Commercial Litigation lawyers draw on the resources and experience of the firm’s complementary service areas in matters involving Accountants Professional Liability, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Antitrust, Bankruptcy and Restructuring, Business Crimes and Government Investigations, Environmental Litigation, Insurance Recovery, Intellectual Property Litigation, International Litigation and Arbitration, Product Liability and Complex Tort Litigation, Property Valuation Litigation and Securities Litigation.

Complete Representation

Foley Hoag’s Business Disputes and Commercial Litigation lawyers regularly represent clients in a variety of procedural postures in state and federal courts throughout the United States and international forums.  Foley Hoag puts a wealth of experience and know-how at the disposal of each client, including its commercial litigation skill in:

  • High-stakes and “bet the company” litigation
  • Jury and bench trials
  • Emergency and injunctive relief proceedings
  • Appellate representation
  • Preventive and pre-litigation counseling
  • Internal investigations
  • State and federal government investigations
  • State and federal administrative proceedings
  • Litigation before all major international tribunals
  • Alternative Dispute Resolution and mediation
  • Commercial Arbitration
  • International Arbitration
  • Complex commercial, multi-jurisdictional and class action claims
  • Claims requiring national lead and coordinating counsel
  • Collection of judgments and asset location

Immersion in Our Clients' Businesses and Industries

We stay actively engaged with our clients. As a result, our lawyers are better able to adapt to the changing legal and business priorities of clients involved in complex commercial litigation. More important, our immersion in our clients’ businesses and industries enables our lawyers to provide sound, strategic counsel to protect and advance our clients’ interests in the long term. In recent years, we have worked with litigation clients across a broad range of industries, including:

Seamless Collaboration with Additional Resources

Our lawyers are keenly aware that the increasing complexity and expense of traditional litigation requires continual exploration and development of more efficient, economical and effective methods of delivering dispute resolution services. Our commitment to successful representation of our litigation clients includes continuing to assess new developments in litigation support services, and we take advantage of the best of these resources. These include sophisticated programs for organizing pretrial discovery and trial materials, the use of jury consultants and demonstrative aids to assist in the presentation of cases at trial, and the use of experts in various disciplines to serve both as witnesses and as consultants.