Born in Sioux City, Iowa, Foley graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 1910 and was in private practice in Goldfield, Nevada from 1911 to 1925, and in Los Angeles, California from 1925 to 1928.
He was a justice of the peace and municipal judge in Las Vegas, Nevada from 1929 to 1931.
[1] Foley was nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on March 30, 1945, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Nevada vacated by Judge Frank Herbert Norcross.
He was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 10, 1945, and received his commission from President Harry S. Truman on May 2, 1945.
[2] The Foley Federal Building and United States Courthouse in Las Vegas is named for the family, as a whole.