Jen Patton is chief operating officer (COO) for Foley & Lardner LLP, responsible for the leadership and strategic oversight of the firm’s administrative and operational functions. In this role, Jen focuses on advancing key initiatives, innovation, and driving operational excellence across the organization, all while continuing to champion the firm’s unique culture.

Prior to her role as COO, Jen served as chief talent officer, overseeing and leading the firm’s talent strategy for attorneys and business professionals, including recruitment, professional development, employee relations, benefits and compensation, coaching, and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Jen came to Foley from Vinson & Elkins, where she most recently served as director of professional development. In that capacity, she directed all attorney development initiatives, including professional skills training, continuing legal education programming, on-demand learning, individual coaching, and all attorney onboarding, orientation and integration efforts.

She previously spent four years as that firm’s director of lateral recruitment, where she oversaw global lateral recruiting efforts, and prior to that, two years as V&E’s director of alumni relations.

Jen is a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law and practiced with Baker Botts and the Supreme Court of Texas following graduation. She did her undergraduate work at Rice University, where she also played on the Division I varsity basketball team and served three years as captain. Before going to law school, she spent two years as an investment banking analyst at Goldman Sachs.