Ronald J. Foster, Jr., is a native of the Village of Glen Carbon, Illinois. He was educated in School District #7 and graduated from Edwardsville Senior High School in 1989. In 1994, he received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Illinois Champaign/Urbana. Thereafter, he enrolled at The John Marshall School of Law and received his Juris Doctor Degree in 1997. Mr. Foster is licensed to practice law in the states of Illinois and Missouri. He presently lives in the Village of Glen Carbon with his wife, Jamie, a native of Granite City, Illinois, and their three children.

Mr. Foster has been engaged in the practice of law since 1997. Throughout that time, he has focused his practice to representing individuals and estates having claim(s) for personal injury, wrongful death, workers' compensation benefits, and social security disability benefits. During his career, he has litigated civil cases in various Circuit Courts in Southern Illinois, as well as the Federal Southern District Court of Illinois. Mr. Foster has also litigated cases for injured workers before the Illinois Industrial Commission and the Missouri Division of Workers' Compensation. In addition, he has represented clients at appeal hearings before the Office of Hearings and Appeals of the Social Security Administration and has argued appeals before the Appellate Court for the Fifth District of Illinois.

Mr. Foster comes from a working class family with strong union affiliations. His maternal grandfather worked as a coal miner for the Madison Coal Corporation's Glen Carbon Mine. After years of working in the mine, he eventually died of lung disease. His paternal grandfather supported his family working as a pipe fitter for Shell Oil Company and suffered life-altering injuries from an industrial explosion at the Wood River site. These experiences have taught Mr. Foster how much stress and pain an injury can inflict upon a worker and his or her family. He has learned how certain working conditions can be a causative factor in the injury or death of a worker. Mr. Foster firmly believes in a quote stated by famed attorney, Clarence Darrow, "As long as the world shall last there will be wrongs, and if no man rebelled, those wrongs would last forever." Consequently, Mr. Foster has dedicated his career to helping injured persons redress the wrongs they have suffered and to obtain the justice he or she deserves.

Mr. Foster's professional memberships include the Illinois State Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the American Association for Justice, the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, the Missouri Bar Association, the Madison County Bar Association, and the St. Clair County Bar Association. Mr. Foster has previously served as Secretary and Treasurer to the Madison County Bar Association and presently serves as its Second Vice President.

Mr. Foster has always had a strong sense of community and public service stemming from his youth and the traditions set forth by his father. Mr. Foster's father, Ronald J. Foster, Sr., served as Mayor of the Village of Glen Carbon for twenty years and Trustee for sixteen years prior to that time. Many positive changes occurred during his leadership in the Village of Glen Carbon. In recognition of his accomplishments, the Village of Glen Carbon named the Heritage Bike Trail after him to honor his legacy and dedication to its citizens.

Mr. Foster continues the tradition of community and public service that was established by his father. As a youth, he achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, and as part of his Eagle Scout project he uncovered and cleaned up the cemetery of Colonel Samuel Judy, the first settler of Madison County, Illinois. He also assisted in the restoration of the Yanda Log Cabin, which is now an established historical site in the Village of Glen Carbon. Mr. Foster presently serves as an Edwardsville Township Democratic Precinct Committeeman and is President of the Edwardsville Township Democratic Club. Presently, Mr. Foster also serves on the Executive Board of the Madison County Democratic Party. Mr. Foster previously held a position on the Bishop's Committee for St. Thomas Episcopal Church and is currently an active member of the New Bethel Methodist Church in Glen Carbon where he is serving as the Chairman of the Debt Reduction Committee and has served on the New Building Study Committee. He is also actively involved in coaching in the Edwardsville Little Tiger Football program, the Edwardsville Little League, and YMCA Youth Basketball League.