Everys Solicitors has welcomed animal welfare, countryside sports and meat industry law specialist Jamie Foster to the firm.
Solicitor-advocate Mr Foster is the UK’s leading legal expert in animal welfare and countryside sports defence cases while he also specialises in trading standards, health and safety and environmental investigations, and regulation of the meat trade, including the halal meat industry.
He joins Everys from Clarke Willmott to team up with the firm’s managing partner James Griffin (pictured, right) to form a specialist agricultural, rural and countryside sports department that will be known as Foster & Griffin.
Hunting Act and firearms law expert Mr Griffin said: ‘Jamie and I often used to face each other in court over cases involving the rural community. He was a tough opponent and one I respect enormously.’
Father-of-two Mr Foster (pictured, left) trained in London and worked on a number of high-profile crime cases, including the second Damilola Taylor trial, before moving into regulatory law and relocating to the south-west.
Seven years ago, Mr Foster became the Countryside Alliance’s solicitor and since then has attended 80% of Hunting Act cases across the UK.
He co-wrote Law of Field Sports in 2010, the first book on the Game Act 1831 for the best part of a century. Mr Foster has also worked with 65% of the UK’s abattoirs to guide them through what is a highly regulated area of the meat industry. ‘James and I have always been good friends,’ said Mr Foster.
‘I have always wanted to work with him if I could. This opportunity arose and will enable us to give farmers, landowners, people that work with animals or participate in countryside sports a place where they know they can come and people will understand their legal needs in a welcoming environment.’
Mr Foster will be based at Everys’ Honiton branch but will serve the needs of clients across the UK and overseas.
