Welcome to the final installment of “Meet the Team!” In this post, we sit down with Jennifer Foresta to chat about her nearly two decades in criminal defense. She shares the personal motivations that led her to law, how she balances an intense legal career with a love for the outdoors, and the guiding principles—honesty, empathy, and curiosity—that shape her relationship with every client.
Deep Roots, Deep Commitment
Becoming a lawyer for Attorney Jennifer Foresta wasn’t a sudden epiphany. Rather, it was the natural progression of being a student of history and politics with an innate sense of justice and a desire to contribute positively to the community. If you asked her parents, they’d say they saw it coming since childhood!
Her decision was solidified by observing a profound injustice—people without legal representation were frequently treated worse in court than those with counsel. That observation was both maddening and motivating. As a lawyer, her daily work is to actively protect people’s fundamental rights and ensure their stories are fully heard. She finds that deeply rewarding.
The Rewarding Work and Impact on Clients
The most rewarding part of her job is simply helping people.
When clients come to Jennifer, they’re often experiencing one of the most stressful periods of their lives. Her hope is to give them a sense of calm reassurance and an educated understanding of their case. This clarity allows them to make the best decisions for their lives and futures out of the options available. She wants every client to feel supported and heard, and to know that she is in this fight with them, advocating relentlessly for their rights and interests.
Her Philosophy on Client Relationships
In her relationship with clients, Jennifer’s role is multifaceted: advocate, educator, and problem-solver.
- Advocate: In court, she is a dedicated advocate for clients. It’s crucial that they have someone standing there with them, making sure their side of the story is heard and their rights are protected against the power of the state.
- Educator: In attorney/client meetings, she sees herself as a no-nonsense educator. She prioritizes direct and honest communication and embraces the difficult conversations.
- Problem-Solver: Jennifer excels at identifying and addressing each client’s unique challenges to help them present the best defense or strongest negotiating position possible.
These different roles are all crucial for a successful attorney-client relationship.
Values That Guide Her
Honesty, empathy, and curiosity are the core values that guide Jennifer through both her professional and personal worlds.
- Curiosity keeps her asking why and encourages continuous learning.
- Empathy keeps her caring deeply about people and their stories.
- Honesty allows her to communicate with integrity, always providing direct and clear counsel.
At its core, her life and this work are about relationships—with the community, clients, and friends, and family.
Evolving Perspective on Justice and the Law
With nearly 20 years in criminal defense, Jennifer still believes fundamentally in justice and the importance of the rule of law in a civilized society. However, her experience has shown how both can be jeopardized by government overreach or the work of those within the system who fail to follow the law.
Her role is to stand up for the rights of clients by pushing back against constitutional violations, misreadings of the law, and errors in the state’s evidence. She believes if society fails to protect the rights of a few, the rights of the many cease to exist, and the idea of justice becomes a farce.
Lessons from Clients
Jennifer has had clients reach out years after their cases have ended, and they often mention some little snippet of advice or a funny comment she made during their work together—a comment that had long since been forgotten by her.
This always reminds her that, as attorneys, they play a big role during an intense period in their clients’ lives, and it’s important to take care with your words, for they will live on longer than the case itself.
Work-Life Balance and Hobbies
Work-life balance is essential, particularly with work as intense and engrossing as criminal defense. Balance requires planning and boundaries. Jennifer is serious about keeping work to weekdays and reserving the weekends for personal time (unless she is in trial, of course!).
During the week, life is full of court appearances, client meetings, and legal research. On the weekends, she is often at plays or concerts in the city, hiking or paddle boarding in nature, or heading out for campervan wanders and multi-day river trips.
A Surprising Passion
One thing people would be surprised to learn about Jennifer is that she has a deep love for pugs! She works with PugPals, a pug rescue organization, to help get homeless pugs into forever homes.
Readers can check out https://pugpals.org/ to see pugs available for adoption or to find out how to get involved as a volunteer!
Advice for Aspiring Lawyers
For someone considering a career in law, Jennifer would advise them to get very clear about their goals, intentions, and, most importantly, their own strengths and weaknesses. There are many different areas of law and very different types of lawyers (litigators, appellate, transactional).
Being clear with one’s life goals, values, and interests, as well as one’s abilities, can help guide aspiring lawyers into a legal career that fits them best, rather than getting caught up in the law school push toward Big Law litigation. Lawyering is interesting and essential work, but carrying other people’s high-stakes moments comes with a great deal of stress. It’s important to understand that up front. But helping people solve problems and being a voice for them is also very rewarding, so it’s all about finding that right balance.