Women in Business
Stephanie Foster Gilbert The Law Offices of Stephanie A. Foster, P.C. 4214 Little Road, Suite 1000 (817) 277-2805 stephaniefosterlawyer.com STEPHANIE FOSTER GILBERT started her legal firm, The Law Offices of Stephanie A. Foster, P.C., in 1992, and for the past two and a half decades she has been devoted to the practice of family law. The firm has produced a formidable team that also features Associate Attorney Michael Munoz, Legal Assistant Ashleigh Bell, Paralegal Sandra Patino and Receptionist Melodie Tappe. Together they concentrate in family legal issues, including divorce, modifications, custody, child support, spousal support, visitation, enforcement of custody/support, paternity and step-parent adoption. Stephanie Foster Gilbert says her dream of having her own law practice was nurtured as a child. “I always wanted to be an attorney,” she says. “My father, John Foster, is an attorney. When I was a child, I would beg him to take me to work with him at his law firm every summer.” Her father always sparked a lively dinner conversation by challenging his three young daughters to solve legal dilemmas. The elder Foster and his wife Barbara instilled a love of the law, a passion for learning and a strong work ethic in their girls. As they were growing up, the Foster girls woke up at dawn to tend to horses and other animals on their Arlington farm before they went off to school where they excelled in their studies. All three became lawyers. From day one, Stephanie Foster Gilbert has focused on family law at her practice. “My professional philosophy is divorce with dignity,” she says, noting that she has taken many special measures to serve her clients in the best manner possible. “I was one of the first attorneys trained in collaborative law, in 2008. Collaborative Law is a way to divorce with dignity with no courts and no war.” She believes the collaborative law process is a powerful way to generate creative solutions in family law disputes while minimizing financial and emotional damage
Photo courtesy of Stephani Foster Gilbert
to the couple and their children, all the while promoting post-divorce psychological and financial health of the restructured family. A graduate of Arlington Martin High School, Southern Methodist University in Dallas and St. Mary’s Law School in San Antonio, Stephanie Foster Gilbert was named a “Top Attorney” by Fort Worth, Texas magazine in 2003 and 2008. She works with other attorneys to promote collaborative divorces in Arlington, Fort Worth, Mansfield, Colleyville, Southlake, Hurst, Euless and Bedford. She is a member of the Collaborative Law Institute of Texas, the International Association of Collaborative Professionals, and the Collaborative Lawyers of Arlington and Mansfield. She is active in the Arlington, Tarrant County and Texas bar associations. Married 20 years to Richard Gilbert, with two children, two stepchildren and a stepgrandaughter, Stephanie Foster Gilbert believes her parenting roles as a mother, stepmother and grandmother have given her insight and sensitivity to understand her clients. She is especially happy to be able to continue a family tradition started by her father in Arlington. “I take great care and pride in serving families in the community where I grew up,” she says, adding that her best service isn’t marked by a victory in the courtroom. “My proudest professional moment is when I am able to use my magic and reconcile a marriage instead of terminating it.”
arlingtontoday.com • October 2016 • ARLINGTON TODAY
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