Amy Foerster is special counsel in the Litigation Department and Vice Chair of the Higher Education Practice Group. She also is an active member of the Labor, Employment and Employee Benefits Practice Group.
Litigation
Ms. Foerster represents clients in a broad spectrum of commercial and employment litigation matters, including representing clients in complex contract, healthcare reimbursement, construction and other commercial litigation in state and federal courts and before arbitrating bodies. She also represents clients in employment litigation involving non-compete and wage payment claims and in administrative litigation before Pennsylvania state agencies.
Higher Education
As Vice Chair of the Higher Education Practice Group, Ms. Foerster provides legal services to colleges, universities, community colleges, and career training schools. Building on her prior employment with the Pennsylvania Department of Education and Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Ms. Foerster advises clients on many issues impacting institutions of higher education, including records retention, Title IV federal student aid, information security, and additional compliance-related matters. She is frequently asked to speak and write about electronic discovery in litigation, compliance issues, and employment law developments to the extent those topics impact on institutions of higher education.
Labor, Employment and Employee Benefits
As a member of the Labor, Employment and Employee Benefits Practice Group, Ms. Foerster represents management in labor arbitrations. She represents clients in non-compete, wage payment and contractual disputes and counsels clients regarding an array of employment issues impacting employers on a day-to-day basis.
Prior Experience
Prior to joining Saul Ewing, Ms. Foerster was a Senior Deputy Attorney General with the Civil Litigation Section of the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, where she defended the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania against lawsuits challenging the constitutionality and legality of its policies, programs, and employment practices. Her employment litigation experience in that capacity includes defending against claims brought under the First Amendment, Title VII, Title IX, the Equal Pay Act, and the Family Medical Leave Act. Her education litigation experience includes defending against actions brought under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Ms. Foerster was also the Office of Attorney General's point person for the implementation of the 2006 amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure regarding electronic discovery.
Prior to her service with the Office of Attorney General, Ms. Foerster was with the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Office of Chief Counsel, where she served as primary counsel to the Office of Postsecondary and Higher Education, addressing issues involving colleges and universities, community colleges, and private licensed career training schools. She represented other offices of the Department in a wide range of elementary and secondary education law matters.
Previously, Ms. Foerster was an associate with a Harrisburg-based medical malpractice insurance defense law firm where she represented physicians and medical institutions throughout central Pennsylvania in every phase of litigation.
Ms. Foerster is admitted to practice before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, as well as the United States District Courts for the Middle District of Pennsylvania and the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Honors and Awards
- Named one of Pennsylvania's "Lawyers on the Fast Track," American Lawyer Media, 2009
- Named a Pennsylvania “Pro Bono Award Winner,” Pennsylvania Bar Association and Pennsylvania Bar Foundation, 2009
- Named "Dauphin County Pro Bono Attorney of the Year," Dauphin County Bar Association, 2008
Memberships and Affiliations
- Pennsylvania Bar Association
- Dauphin County Bar Association
- National Association of College and University Attorneys
- University Risk Management and Insurance Association