Spear’s Review

Sarah Foster is, as she describes, a ‘fierce advocate of alternative dispute resolution and mediation’. Joint head of Freeths’ private client team and managing partner of the Oxford office, she instructs on cases where clients are seeking to find a resolution in a timely and cost-efficient manner. Her work frequently includes contentious trust and probate disputes, as well as professional negligence claims. 

A recent case that required her expertise involved mutual wills (a type of will that is created jointly by two parties and cannot be nullified or amended after either party’s death). Foster’s client successfully resisted a £2 million case by virtue of a settlement that was reached prior to trial. 

The firm says that, with Foster leading a case, ‘trials/contested hearings are very much the exception rather than the rule’. However, there are some circumstances where cases are taken to court. In such scenarios, she has been praised by clients for her ‘no-nonsense, efficient and diligent approach’.