Stephen Foster

Spear's Review

‘It was just me and a paralegal on day one,’ recalls Stephen Foster, the much-admired head of Stewarts’ divorce and family department. In the dozen or so years since he set it up, the department has grown into one of the strongest in London, with the depth to ‘deal with cases ranging from up-and-coming City professionals to some of the largest cases before the English Court’.

After a period in which the profession has been dominated by a handful of star individuals – the so-called ‘Queen Bees’ – Foster believes change is afoot. ‘It’s not enough to have one or two star partners. Everyone in the firm, at every level, needs to demonstrate excellence.’ 

Stewarts is in good stead, with one private client lawyer describing it as ‘the Slaughter and May of family law’.

Adviser Profile

Stephen is very adept at dealing sensitively with all aspects of children's matters, including international relocation.  His clients include figures from the City and entrepreneurs, and many of his cases have an international dimension including Europe, the US and the Middle-East.

Industry commentators have described him as 'a great lateral thinker,' 'an intelligent and superbly talented litigator' and 'the go-to for complex financial proceedings.'  Stephen is praised in The Times 'for leading Stewarts' phalanx of family lawyers to the top of the pack' and as an 'intelligent and superbly talented litigator'. The Legal 500 says he has assembled a 'scarily bright' team.