Wood R. Foster, Jr.

Retired Shareholder

“During my 45 years of active practice, I became interested in the legal profession itself, and was an active participant in the organized bar and other law-related organizations. Since retiring, I have spent significant time studying, analyzing and writing about the profession I love. I discovered, somewhat to my surprise, that the profession is changing much faster than I had ever realized when I was in mainstream practice. I have concluded that it is not an exaggeration to suggest that the legal profession has changed more in the fifteen years since 2000 than it did in the 150 years before 2000. Writing and speaking on my observations about these rapid changes have come to occupy much of my time.”

Wood Foster built a reputation of quality and professionalism in the course of his long career as a litigator. Following ten years of practice (1968-1978) in a variety of criminal and civil litigation settings, Wood joined Siegel Brill in 1978 as a general litigator. In 1988 his practice began to focus on complex litigation, much of it representing plaintiffs in class and collective actions in the fields of antitrust, ERISA claims and employment discrimination. From 1990 to 2014 Wood prosecuted these types of cases, usually as lead or co-lead counsel, in more than 25 states.

Wood’s commitment to the legal profession led him to take a path of bar leadership. He served as President of the Hennepin County (1992-93) and Minnesota State (1999-2000) Bar Associations. He served as a member of the Minnesota Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board (2002-2009). He is also a co-founder, past president and a 30-year board member (1983-2013) of the Advocates for Human Rights, a nationally recognized Minnesota-based international human rights organization.

Wood commenced “of counsel” status with Siegel Brill in 2014, and maintains an office at the firm. He currently devotes his time to writing and speaking about the remarkably rapid and consequential changes that are presently occurring in the legal profession.

EDUCATION

University of Michigan Law School, Ann Arbor, J.D., 1968
Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts, B.A., 1965

ACHIEVEMENTS / INVOLVEMENT

  • Co-founder, Board Member and former President, The Advocates for Human Rights
  • Twice honored as an "Attorney of the Year" by Minnesota Lawyer
  • Minnesota Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board, 2001-2009
  • President, Minnesota State Bar Association, 1999-2000
  • Primary editor, For the Record, 460-page history of law and lawyers in Minnesota, marking the sesquicentennial of the profession in Minnesota, 1998-1999
  • President, Hennepin County Bar Association, 1992-1993
  • Lifetime Fellow, American Bar Foundation

INTERESTS

Human rights
The legal profession
Consumer rights

MEMBERSHIPS / LICENSES

American Bar Association
American Bar Foundation
Minnesota State Bar Association
Hennepin County Bar Association

ARTICLES

“A Profession on Edge,” Bench & Bar, June 2016