Foye Legal chief executive and chief-at-law Diana Foye said the move to merge by strategically acquiring Swan & Co Legal meant the practice at 63 Market Street was able to offer an expanded range of services including commercial and business law, conveyancing and more complex succession (estate) planning.

Swan & Co Legal was founded in 2012 by David Swan who Mrs Foye described as a leader in his field.

She said he had a similar background to herself. Both had successful careers in Sydney prior to practicing law in Wollongong. Before becoming a partner at some leading Illawarra law firms Mr Swan worked at Allens, an international commercial law firm with offices throughout Australia and Asia.

He said everything had worked really well with technology when merging the two firms into one office last week.

Mr Swan said he was open to looking for an opportunity to merge with another firm and had known Mrs Foye for some time and knew they could work well together.

Mrs Foye said the two firms were a good fit as there were many synergies between the two companies.

Mr Swan was admitted as a Solicitor to the Supreme Court of NSW in 1985.

He is actively involved in Rotary and they have both served together as Legacy Committee members in recent years.

Mrs Foye was present on March 6 when Mr Swan was appointed chairman of that committee.

Mr Swan recalled meeting with Mrs Foye when she was first starting her new business and the result of that discussion two years ago made last week’s merger even easier.

“We had a cup of coffee and talked about how we go about certain things and it ended up that we had the same software, the same telephones and pretty much every other thing,” he said.

“It has worked out well. Obviously from Diana’s point of view it has worked out well because she wants to broaden her base.” 

The legal team at Foye Legal incorporating Swan & Co Legal includes Mrs Foye who heads the compensation division with associate Emma Thomson and is supported by law clerk Georgia Lewis.

Mr Swan heads the business law, property and estate planning division and is supported by law clerk Grace Crivellaro and the merged firms almost fully qualified Licensed Conveyancer Tenae Skorupan.

Foye Legal has also appointed Lyndal Kennedy to a permanent position as chief financial officer/chief operations officer.

Ms Kennedy had been consulting with the firm since September and Mrs Foye then encouraged her to join Foye Legal full time to help it with the strategic plan of cementing a national presence.

“The role of CFO/COO is a newly created position overseeing the corporate management of the business in the areas of finance, technology, HR and administration,” she said.

“Lyndal will take the reins on the internal operations of the business, driving further business growth through collaborative leadership with a focus on developing culture, strategy and people. Lyndal is a passionate and energetic leader unpinned by open communication strong interpersonal skills and a measured approach. She brings over 10 years national and international experience to Foye Legal.”

Ms Kennedy has vast experience working with executive teams and part of her career involved spending considerable time working in San Francisco to help establish an IT company in new markets. 

Mrs Foye is also keen to nurture more local talent.

She has been mentoring women in law and junior lawyers in high-impact mentoring programs for much of her career including the last two years as she has taken her new law firm from a team of three to 10.

That growth was part of the reason Foye Legal won Best New Business and was Highly Commended in the Illawarra Businesswoman of the Year at the 2017 Illawarra Women In Business Awards and was named Most Outstanding New Business at the 2017 Illawarra Business Awards.

Much of the expansion has been recent and she said it was only fitting when Foye Legal expanded, she was able to bring the mentoring in-house to grow and nurture our local talent on a more permanent basis.

“As a result, Foye Legal has developed its own graduate program that is committed towards investing in our local economy and talent pools,” she said..

Mrs Foye said after traveling to Sydney for 17 years and working in niche areas under some of Australia’s top business leaders and legal minds in Australia she was keen to give some of Illawarra’s emerging legal talent the opportunity to access such knowledge without the commute to Sydney.

“As the Illawarra region continues to innovate and grow, Foye Legal recognises the importance of top tier professional development and retention of local talent,” she said.

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