Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Foster.
Michael, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I grew up in a family of attorneys, where my dad was as an attorney and six of my aunts and uncles are attorneys or judges who practiced in the Kansas City area. I was born and raised in the Kansas City area and I am a former Division 1 college athlete, playing golf at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. After college, I came back to Kansas City where I went to law school at UMKC. I graduated near the top of my class and took a job at Shughart Thomson Kilroy which quickly merged with Polsinelli. I spent ten years practicing law at Polsinelli where I became a partner. After ten years, another partner (Brian Wallace) at Polsinelli and I decided to start our own law firm where we would focus on helping out injured victims. We then started Foster Wallace Personal Injury Lawyers (www.fosterwallace.com) seven years ago in 2018.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Working at a big law firm right out of law school was a grind. It’s a grind for most new lawyers as you learn every day. Starting a new law firm from scratch was very difficult. We didn’t take any clients with us once we left Polsinelli and started working in a new area of the law. It was very tough going from a very good salary to making a lot less. On a personal level it became very tough too as during the transition, I learned my daughter was diagnosed with a very rare disease that only 1500 people in the world were diagnosed with called Syngap1. She’s a handful and starting a new business and having to help my wife with her is awfully tough as she’s a very tough child with everything we have to do with her. We don’t lead a normal life because of her issues.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Foster Wallace Personal Injury Lawyers (www.fosterwallace.com) was created to offer expertise in personal injury and wrongful death cases. My partner and I Brian Wallace, who both grew up in the Kansas City area, spent years working with the best attorneys in the country before striking out on our own. We are both former Division One College Athletes. Our collaborative approach to cases has allowed their practice to grow into what it is today: a place where clients can receive experienced legal counsel in a candid, one-on-one environment. We have a partnership that goes back all the way to our law school days. We both grew up in the Kansas City area, learning the value of hard work and investing in the well-being of your neighbors and community. To this day, we approach each and every case they have with teamwork, constantly brainstorming and strategizing on each case to find ways to get the best results for our clients. We have obtained multiple multi-million dollar settlements for clients when their cases were rejected from multiple other law firms. We also have won multiple awards from the Missouri Bar and Missouri lawyers Weekly for Pro Bono Services. Before starting Foster Wallace, Michael tried a case for a two time convicted murderer (pro bono) for complaints of other prisoners smoking in their cells and affecting his asthma. Michael obtained a six-figure jury verdict which led to Missouri prisons going smoke free. We handle only personal injury claims such as car wrecks, trucking wrecks, dog bites, etc.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
We were lucky enough to know a lot of Judges who were able to give us some work when we started our firm. One case was referred by a Judge where the injured victim couldn’t find a lawyer as no one would take his case. The client filed the lawsuit by himself but the Judge called us to see if we could help him out. We investigated the case and took it one. We found evidence that no one else could find and settled the case for over $1.4 million dollars.
Pricing:
- We are a contingent fee law firm which means we don’t get paid unless you get paid.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.fosterwallace.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fosterwallacellc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fosterwallacellc
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/foster-wallace-llc/
- Twitter: https://x.com/FosterWallace6
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@fosterwallacellc
