Madison County’s newest judge comes from a union family

By CARL GREEN

Illinois Correspondent

Edwardsville, IL – Madison County’s newest associate judge is a strong supporter of Labor.

Ron Foster, Jr., selected to replace Donald M. Flack, who retired, is a partner in Walton Telken Foster, a liability, personal injury and workers’ compensation specialist with offices in Edwardsville and Kirkwood.

Madison and Bond counties make up the 3rd Judicial Circuit. Flack is joining Armstrong Teasdale in St. Louis. Judges in the circuit elected Foster to replace him.

Foster said he feels honored to be chosen. “I understand the burden of going to trial, the burden of carrying on a law practice,” he said. ”I understand the role that the judge plays in each and every case.”

A University of Illinois graduate, Foster earned his law degree from John Marshall Law School in Chicago in 1997 and has been admitted to the Illinois Bar, Missouri Bar and the U.S. District Court. He is a former president of the Madison County Bar Association. As a youth, he helped restore historic sites with the Eagle Scouts. His father was mayor of Glen Carbon for 20 years.

UNION FAMILY

Foster’s law firm biography states, “Mr. Foster comes from a working-class family with strong union affiliations. He has several extended family members who belong to the United Steel Workers. His maternal grandfather worked as a coal miner for the Madison Coal Corporation’s Glen Carbon Mine. His paternal grandfather supported his family working as a pipefitter for Shell Oil Co.”

Some of those union relatives suffered work-related injuries. “Through these experiences, Mr. Foster learned how much stress and pain an injury can inflict upon a worker and his family,” and “Mr. Foster has dedicated his career to helping injured persons redress the wrongs they have suffered and to obtain the justice they deserve.”