Christopher Foster
About Christopher
Christopher is head of the insurance and reinsurance global group. He is a solicitor advocate with nearly thirty years’ experience in contentious insurance and reinsurance matters, often with an international element, and commercial litigation generally.
Christopher acts for insurers, reinsurers, brokers, and major insured entities and their captive insurers. His experiences includes COVID-19, Ukraine related aircraft losses; California wildfires; Greensill; the invasion of Kuwait; WorldCom; Exxon Valdez oil spill; Madoff; hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Juliette, Ivan, Wilma, Maria and Irma; the Hatfield rail crash; the Winterthur XL baseball arbitration; hip implants; the Lloyd’s litigation; the alleged Algosaibi frauds; Australian bushfires; PPI; film finance (including tax schemes); abuse claims; the PA spiral; asbestos; pollution; the bankruptcy of Enron; pharmaceutical liabilities; 9/11; Venezuelan political risks; disruptions caused by volcanic ash; the Grenfell Tower fire; and Graff on its Bond Street robbery and on its cyber loss claim.
Christopher acts on a variety of professional indemnity matters, including the defence of significant claims against solicitors. He was seconded to the legal team of one of the world’s leading brokers and has acted on numerous brokers’ errors and omissions disputes. He has particular Bermuda Form experience, and on matters affecting the run-off market. He is also instructed by clients on more general commercial disputes. He is the author of the arbitration chapter in the Insurance Institute of London’s book, Alternative Dispute Resolution in Practice, and a member of the Insurance Committee of the City of London Law Society.
Christopher is ranked in Band 1 in Chambers UK and recommended in Legal 500. The current edition of Chambers UK 2023 describes Christopher as “a first-rate lawyer in this [Insurance Contentious Claims & Reinsurance] field” who “is very knowledgeable with a depth of experience and expertise” and “a really sharp intellect”. Legal 500 2023 states “Chris Foster is probably the best solicitor I had the pleasure of working with. He is razor-sharp and gives no quarter” and that he “is a market leading litigator, [with] huge experience in all areas of insurance and re-insurance law. He is my ‘go to’ solicitor for any tricky case!”
Historic comments in those directories record: “he is a first-rate litigator and one of the best in the City”, “he’s incredibly client-friendly and really adds value – he’s everything you could need or want from an external lawyer”, “a top notch litigator”, “Chris Foster’s laser focus on the legal issues makes him a stand out black letter lawyer”, “Chris Foster has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the law and is a first class lawyer”, “widely respected insurance and reinsurance practice”, “equally adept at insurance and reinsurance”, “client friendly, astute and highly intelligent”, an “ingenious, quick-thinking man who you want to have on your side in a scrap”, “clever, energetic and plain-speaking”, having “extreme strength in terms of legal acumen and commercial solutions”, “really clever” and “a guy who can talk knowledgeably across a whole range of areas”.
Christopher is also named as one of the UK’s leading insurance and reinsurance lawyers in the Legal Media Group Guide to the World’s Leading Lawyers and in the International Who’s Who of Insurance and Reinsurance Lawyers in Who’s Who Legal.
Christopher has been appointed as an expert on English insurance/reinsurance law in proceedings in the USA.
Christopher is qualified in England and Wales.