Which Industries Does Foley & Lardner Focus On?

Foley & Lardner LLP is a top 50 global law firm with more than 1,100 lawyers across 27 offices, and it concentrates its practice on four core sectors: energy, health care, technology, and manufacturing. If your question is whether the firm works in your industry, the short answer is that these four sectors anchor its published insights and industry teams, and the specific legal issues it covers within each one are described below.

Energy & Infrastructure

Foley's energy and infrastructure work addresses how contracts behave when market conditions shift. One featured insight, "Same Wells, Different Markets," frames the problem directly: oil is near $90 and gas is near $3, and contracts written for one price environment are being tested in another. That is a contract-risk issue rather than a pure commodity question — agreements drafted around a single pricing assumption can create disputes when oil and gas diverge.

If you are an operator, midstream company, or investor with long-term supply or offtake agreements, the relevant question is whether your contracts allocate price risk clearly enough to survive a split market.

Health Care & Life Sciences

In health care and life sciences, Foley's published focus includes FDA regulatory strategy. A featured piece on "FDA's 2026 NAM Framework" asks which strategic questions NAM developers need to answer — pointing to a framework that developers of new alternative methods (non-animal testing approaches) will need to plan around.

This matters most for companies developing products or testing methods that fall under FDA review, and for investors diligencing those companies. The practical takeaway is that the framework raises strategy questions early, not just at submission time.

Innovative Technology

Foley's technology coverage centers on AI and autonomy transactions. One insight, "What Buyers Want in AI Deals," identifies six diligence priorities shaping AI and autonomy transactions. Related Foley Ignite content covers how AI, automation, and robotics are reshaping value creation for private equity, and investing in AI infrastructure "beyond data centers."

For founders or sellers in AI, the useful signal is that buyers are applying structured diligence to AI assets — model provenance, data rights, and automation exposure are the kinds of areas that get examined before a deal closes.

Private Equity (Cross-Sector)

Private equity runs across all four sectors rather than sitting inside one. Foley's private equity team describes itself as serving middle market private equity fund clients, and its featured content includes ESOP-owned company acquisitions — practical considerations for a private equity buyer — alongside the AI value-creation material noted above.

ESOP-owned targets are a distinct case: an employee stock ownership plan adds fiduciary, valuation, and structure questions that a standard acquisition does not. If you are a PE buyer looking at an ESOP-owned company, that is the specific issue set to review first.

Manufacturing

Manufacturing is listed among the firm's core sectors alongside energy, health care, and technology. The published homepage evidence does not detail specific manufacturing insights, so treat it as a stated sector focus rather than a documented topic list.

How to Decide If the Firm Fits Your Matter

Foley also operates LearningLab, an on-demand continuing legal education hub offering state-approved CLE credit and streaming content, which is a way to sample the firm's subject-matter coverage before engaging on a matter.