Natalie Foster, Co-Founder of Inspire Legal Group, began her career in business management at Barclays Bank before moving into business development within the legal field. Over the years, she has launched several ventures under the Inspire umbrella, including Inspire Legal Academy, which prepares lawyers for emerging fields such as blockchain, smart contracts, and legal engineering, and Inspire Crypto, which focuses on creating blockchain-based solutions to streamline property transactions.
Her aim is to encourage lawyers to explore fresh possibilities in practice and rethink how legal services can be delivered. She explains that the group operates as a collective in which every member has a genuine stake in the firm’s success.
Inspire Legal Group
Inspire Legal Group, previously known as Foster Clay, was formed to provide a modern, virtual structure that allows lawyers to build their own practices while receiving support in areas such as operations, technology, and business development.
The firm works with paralegals, licensed conveyancers, solicitors, and entrepreneurial legal professionals who want the freedom to grow their own brands or develop legal tech products. Inspire currently supports 23 consultant lawyers and plans to double that figure. An in-house team of 11 staff members in Scarborough provides administrative and back-office support to help the consultants thrive.
Early Background
Natalie’s roots are in finance, business, and lending. She began studying law later in life while raising her children and continues to pursue her SQE and LLM. Although she values legal education, her strengths lie in leading teams and driving change. She understands the challenges of applying traditional legal processes to new technologies and believes the industry needs comprehensive reform.
Inspire Legal Group recently partnered with Vleppo, a Danish blockchain company. For Natalie, being invited to collaborate over larger firms was an honour, and she hints that the work they are undertaking will introduce developments the public has not yet seen.
Building Inspire Legal Group
Inspire Legal Group was founded during the first national lockdown. Natalie recalls sitting in her bedroom with her laptop, hearing the news that the public could no longer go anywhere. The feeling of restriction sparked an idea. She had already stepped away from a previous partnership to create a business that could survive under such circumstances and later flourish.
Her goal was to build a Web3-ready, fully digital firm that could adapt to changing expectations. The journey has involved navigating regulatory requirements, educating lawyers about new technologies, and helping clients understand the benefits of blockchain, such as increased speed and security.
The firm welcomes consultants who are entrepreneurial in their own right. Through its ABS structure, Inspire enables them to offer niche services, retain most of their earnings, and receive support when needed, including professional indemnity insurance for reserved activities. Inspire also runs personal branding workshops, lead-generation programs, and administrative support. Natalie emphasizes that the organization is more than a normal firm; it is a collaborative community.
She clarifies that the aim is not to compete with high-street practices but to offer an alternative model—one that helps operators overcome long-standing issues in areas such as property transactions and supports the wider shift toward blockchain adoption in legal services.
Responsibilities at Inspire Legal Group
As CEO, Natalie oversees the group’s strategic direction, project development, and overall progress. She ensures that each leader has the skills and resources needed to drive the firm’s initiatives forward.
Her wider role involves strengthening the group’s identity and championing unconventional thinking. She notes that disruption does not need to be chaotic. With the right guidance, knowledge, and support, change becomes manageable and even exciting. Helping others understand this is a core part of her leadership.
Learning Through Challenges
Natalie often quotes the line from Hamilton: “Talk less, smile more.” Although simple, it reflects how she has learned to adapt, recover, and grow from missteps. She believes everyone is entitled to one significant mistake, as long as they learn from the experience.
She stresses the importance of choosing partners whose values align with your own. Differences in background or geography are manageable, but misalignment in ethics can unsettle a team quickly. Change brings constant shifts in dynamics, and if one person is not contributing equally, it affects everyone. These experiences have shaped how she selects collaborators today.
Natalie credits her toughest moments with helping her understand her worth, even during darker times, and she believes everyone has something meaningful to offer.
Life Inside and Outside Work
Natalie works flexibly around her two young children, managing her time in short bursts throughout the day. A significant portion of her off-work time is spent supporting her daughter’s dance activities, often sending emails from the back of auditoriums and rehearsal halls.
Family is strongly valued within Inspire Legal Group. The firm ensures that team members never miss important personal moments. Natalie believes supporting employees both personally and professionally builds loyalty and commitment. While some view this approach as a weakness, she sees it as a foundation for a stronger organization.
Building Toward the Future
Natalie feels proud of what she has accomplished but remains open about what the next decades may hold. She sees careers as a series of chapters rather than fixed paths. What she does today may evolve tomorrow, but she knows she’ll continue supporting others and building opportunities wherever she can.
She believes hard work doesn’t need to feel punishing. With the right systems, the right people, and clear processes, extraordinary things are possible. She considers herself fortunate to have a board that keeps her aligned, noting that passion alone is not enough—strategy and reasoning matter just as much.
Natalie frequently asks herself why she is doing the work she does. Her initial dream was simple: to take a holiday without worrying about whether the business would cope in her absence. Trust made that possible. Now she wants to see the group’s projects succeed and help deliver the transformation the legal industry urgently needs. She smiles and says, “Ask me again next year.”
Defining Success
Natalie’s journey has not followed traditional routes, nor has it been particularly convenient. Her unconventional perspective has often challenged the way the market operates.
She once imagined a straightforward path into law—qualify, join a partnership, and follow the typical progression. That changed when she witnessed the pressure partners experience, which often leaves little room for innovation or long-term planning. Many legal professionals still manage daily workloads using outdated methods, which limits access to justice for clients.
Now, she defines success as using her influence to create meaningful, positive change. She draws strength from a network of partners who share her vision for a Web3-enabled legal system. Her goal is a model that focuses on clients, fairness, and accountability, giving lawyers and regulators the confidence to move forward without hesitation.
The Future of Inspire Legal Group
Looking ahead, Natalie envisions expansion, stronger senior leadership, and increased focus on areas where clients struggle most with access to justice. These priorities include litigation, business matters, corporate practices, and crypto asset tracking.
She encourages legal professionals who feel undervalued or stuck in rigid hierarchies to speak with her team. Inspire Legal Group helps lawyers build independent practices, supports their transition into tech-driven work, and ensures they remain adaptable in a rapidly evolving landscape.