Time your exit out of the lift onto Level 2 of The Riverbank Lane and you’ll find yourself in the midst of the Foley Douglas staff meeting. Chocolate chip cookies are being passed around, and good banter is flowing.
Change is in the air, it’s a room full of people embracing a new era, there are no egos here.
The firm’s namesakes, Aasha Foley, managing director, and a founding partner since the age of 29, has coffee in hand; while fellow director, Sam Douglas, who himself hails from legal stock, stands with the team, relaxed; both proud of their team’s leadership as they oversee a lively, Monday morning meeting.
An alignment of leadership
The past 12 months have been far from relaxed for Sam, Aasha, and the wider team. Changes to the firm’s partnership has created a more aligned leadership team; a law firm that recognises the tradition of its industry but operates with a forward-thinking, modern ethos.
“People come first,” says Douglas. “Our rebrand is reflective of the direction we’re going. We’re proud of the strength in the culture we have built, and the ethos behind our model. Our team are ‘generalists first’, which means they are well-rounded, resilient, and adaptable. Our approach enables our people, to handle a wide range of issues confidently before specialising, making them more agile and responsive to our clients’ needs.”
Grounding in general legal practice
Quietly philosophical, Douglas quotes: ‘Jack of all trades, master of none, is oftentimes better than a master of one.” It aptly summarises the Foley Douglas ethos.
“If you’re a master of one, you can’t give wide advice,” explains Douglas. “Take property, for example. If you’re really good at conveyancing, but you can’t tell someone how relationship property works, you’re giving bad advice to that young couple who are putting in different amounts of money into that property.”
“We’ve always said we don’t want to pigeonhole our staff. We want to give them the grounding of experiences, necessary to be a competent general advisor, before honing their craft as a specialist.”
Foley is on board. “We’re not out to be everything to everyone or anyone, we do not need to be. The strength lies in our relationships and broad experience, which we leverage to advocate effectively and achieve the best outcomes.”
People, resilience, and integrity
There’s mutual respect between this duo. Both are empathetic but analytical, although only one of them is a Taylor Swift fan.
“We initially feared rebranding as ‘Foley Douglas’ might not fully reflect the modern law firm we are, but we involved the entire team in the decision, with some seriously intense whiteboard sessions,” says Foley. “That crystalised our decision. There’s real power in a name, especially one that people believe in, rather than settling for a brand that lacked meaning to us all.”
Foley’s career has been driven by a desire for stability and a passion for helping others. As a naturally creative person, she’s never fit the traditional mould of law. Doing things differently has always defined her path, fuelling her commitment to making a social impact.
“Everyone says ‘we’re different,’ but for me, being different is about staying true to our core values. It’s not just words – it’s about building a business centred on people, resilience, and integrity. It’s a way of working that reflects what truly matters and guides how we serve our clients and support our team.”
“It’s as simple as that.”
