Serving our community for more than 30 years.
The founders of Foley Hoag Hoag had a deep commitment to public and community service, which they instilled solidly into the firm’s culture. More than thirty years ago, the partners established one of this country’s first formal pro bonoprograms. It became an integral part of the firm’s practice and that commitment continues today.
Foley Hoag Hoag’s lawyers provide representation on a pro bono basis in virtually every area of legal practice. Our program is unique in both its long history and in the wide range of matters on which our lawyers deliver much needed legal services to individuals and groups who would otherwise be unrepresented.
In terms of both quality and effort expended, our lawyers treat pro bono representation exactly the same as they treat the firm’s billable work.
As a firm, we are committed to devoting to pro bono work the equivalent of at least 5% of the time spent by our lawyers on regular billable work. In recent years, we have exceeded 5%. We are also proud signatories to the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge.
Foley Hoag LLP has an outstanding pro bono program that has been a hallmark of the firm since our representation of the plaintiffs in the original lawsuit to desegregate the Boston public schools. In addition, almost two decades ago, Foley Hoag established a pioneering program in the field of domestic violence prevention that continues to have far-reaching impact in our communities. We encourage our lawyers to engage in direct pro bono work and to participate in the community through other avenues such as board involvement and charitable organizations. In a typical year we handle approximately 100 matters in and contribute approximately 20,000 hours to our pro bono program. We are consistently ranked among the top firms in The American Lawyer's "A-list" for our pro bono work.
Key areas we serve on a pro bono basis include domestic violence, gay and lesbian rights, housing, environmental protection, disability rights, health care, prisoners’ rights, voting rights, immigration and political asylum, taxation, education and charter schools, transactional and corporate advice to nonprofit organizations and small for-profit businesses providing services to inner-city communities, advice to artists (including First Amendment protection), and intellectual property protection (domestic and international).
Fair Housing
At the request of several non-profit advocacy groups, Foley Hoag has served as lead trial counsel on behalf of thousands of low-income tenants and applicants in a fair housing class-action case against a municipality and its local public housing authority. The case began when a group of low-income families who were eligible for public housing challenged a planned demolition of a large housing complex, alleging that the defendants discriminated on the basis of race and perpetuated segregation by forcing displaced tenants to relocate to high-minority, high-poverty, high-crime neighborhoods. The plaintiffs also alleged that clustering replacement units within those neighborhoods constituted a violation of the federal Fair Housing Act. The goal in bringing the lawsuit was to decrease segregative housing patterns and to enable the class members to move to neighborhoods throughout the city. The firm continues its work on behalf of the class members.
Public Policy Issues
Foley Hoag prevailed in a highly-charged, visible litigation partnering with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law to challenge the 2001 Massachusetts Redistricting Act on the basis that it diluted minority voting strength in the Boston area by removing African-American and Hispanic voters from racially competitive districts of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
Domestic Violence Prevention
For over 15 years, the firm has represented victims of domestic violence. Today more than a dozen lawyers assist clients in obtaining protective orders and other forms of relief in Massachusetts state courts. We currently represent 44 women and children survivors.
Political Asylum
Lawyers at the firm regularly handle immigration and political asylum cases referred by the Political Asylum/Immigration Representation Project and the Battered Immigrant Women’s Project. We currently represent 15 clients seeking political asylum in the United States.
Foley Hoag’s rich tradition of giving back gave rise to the creation of The Foley Hoag Foundation in 1981, resulting in the first and only foundation in Boston focused on improving the dialogue on race relations. The Foley Hoag Foundation continues to be a source of pride for the firm at large, and from this civic involvement our lawyers have had the opportunity to assume leadership roles with grantee organizations.
