Jeffrey Ladd Foster

Having interned several summers with the DuPont Company in Wilmington Delaware, I graduated in 1989 from the University of Delaware with a Bachelor of Science in Economics, focusing on mathmatical quantitative economic analysis.  After graduation, I worked for the Mobil Oil Corporation in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

Returning to my native south, I attended the University of Georgia's Joseph Henry Lumpkin School of Law where I earned my Juris Doctor in 1993.  In a two week span, I welcomed my firtborn daughter, graduated law school, and began working as a law clerk for the Honorable John M. Ott of the Alcovy Judicial Circuit (composed of Walton and Newton County).  I was admitted to the State Bar of Georgia in 1994 and the State of Bar of Pennsylvania in 1995.  Later that same year, I took a position as an Assistant District Attorney for the Alcovy Judicial Circuit where I remained (except for an 8 month stint in private practice in Lilburn, Georgia) until August of 2003.  From 2000 until 2003 I served as the Chief Assitant District Attorney, conducting jury trials in Walton and Newton County, while being responsible for the day to day operations of the Walton County office.

In August of 2003 I and my friend, and coworker, Marcy Hanks founded Foster & Hanks, LLC. As that practice grew and thrived, the firm expanded to become Foster, Hanks, & Ballard, LLC and added an office in Madison Georgia in 2015.

I was the first traffic court solicitor for the City of Loganville and for the City of Social Circle, and have served as a Judge for the Municipal Courts of Social Circle and Monroe.  Additionally, I spent 8 years as a Judge for the Magistrate Court of Walton County. I have extensive experience in defending clients against criminal charges, estate planning, contested probate matters and general civil litigation.

From January of 2015 until April of 2017, I stepped back from the full time practice of law becoming of counsel to the firm, handling firm management and a reduced caseload.  During that time, I was appointed as the Director of Rescue Ministries for the Ministry Village, in Loganville, Georgia.  After establishing a programmatic reponse to assisting individuals in the process of breaking the chains of generational povery and homelessness through community, independence and accountability, I turned the reins of Rescue Ministries back over to some gifted folks in in the field of social work and mental health.

My family and I remain active in foster care, teaching and serving at First Baptist Church Loganville, and working with a missions organization in Western Romania (Belief in Motion).  My wife Kresta and I have 7 children, 2 sons-in-law and 1 grandchild.

My primary approach to the practice of law has been to guide clients toward a pragmatic, level-headed and cost-effective handling of their legal issues, and in the course of such, to seek to learn ways in which future legal issues can be avoided.