Top 50 US firm Foley & Lardner has hired three partners from K&L Gates to expand its healthcare and life sciences sector team and open a new office in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Joining Foley as partners, along with three associates, are Joshua Skora in Dallas, Andrea Cunha in Miami and Leah D’Aurora Richardson in Raleigh. More attorneys are expected to join soon.

The team will advise on regulatory, compliance, transactional and restructuring matters for clients including academic medical centres and medical device manufacturers.

The group joins a team of more than 200 healthcare and life sciences attorneys, adding to Foley’s national transactional and regulatory capabilities in this sector.

The Raleigh office marks Foley’s 26th globally and 23rd in the United States. According to publicly available data tracked by Pirical, it becomes the 16th top 100 US law firm with an office in Raleigh, the fourth-largest of which is K&L Gates with around 30 lawyers (see table below).

Daljit Doogal, Foley’s chairman and CEO, said the team’s arrival had added “depth and breadth” to the firm’s sector practice, adding: “We are also excited to invest and grow in the Raleigh market, which has quickly evolved into one of the country’s most prominent healthcare, life sciences and technology hubs – all of which are areas of strategic focus for the firm.”

Foley said the hires underlined its commitment to “providing top-tier legal services across the United States” in the “ever-evolving healthcare and life sciences sectors”.

The legal directory Chambers and Partners ranks Foley in Band 3 for healthcare advice in its USA Guide 2024, one band below K&L Gates.

In April, Foley strengthened its innovative technology sector and electronics practice with the addition of IP partners Ngai Zhang and Drew Schulte from Perkins Coie in Washington DC and Miami respectively.

According to Pirical, Womble Bond Dickinson – also known for its healthcare capabilities - has the largest presence among the Am Law 100 in Raleigh with nearly 70 attorneys. The market has remained stable, with the number of attorneys at top 100 law firms having increased by just 1% over the past three years to 346.

Top 100 US law firms in Raleigh by size*

Source: Pirical; research based on publicly available data