Both Leon Foley and Lynford Lardner are credited with launching the law firm's large national expansion.

Foley, who acted as a strategist in the development of Aurora Health Care System, which would become Wisconsin’s largest healthcare provider, died at 83 in 1978.

Lardner, who also served as the president of the United States Golf Association, died after drowning in the Milwaukee River.

[16] Foley & Lardner's primary practice areas include intellectual property, business law, litigation, and regulatory.

Notable clients of the firm include the Nicholas Maduro regime in Venezuela,[17] Johnson Controls, CVS,[14] Harley Davidson, Major League Baseball,[4] and Acciona.