Chad N. Eckhardt, managing associate at Frost Brown Todd in Cincinnati, will receive the Ohio State Bar Foundation’s 2015 “Community Service Award for Attorneys 40 & Under” in recognition of his outstanding service to the community.
As an attorney in Frost Brown Todd’s regulated business group, Eckhardt advises businesses and health care entities in general corporate matters. As a community advocate, however, he does pro bono work helping Cincinnati nonprofits, such as Beyond Civility, secure 501(c) (3) status. Through presentations at the Cincinnati Public Library he also teaches other individuals and groups how to set up nonprofit entities, and assists them in doing the proper compliance paperwork. “As a former teacher, I still love to make connections between people and subject matter. As a lawyer, I can now teach the content that brings people and good works together for the benefit of others,” he says.
The Ohio State Bar Foundation (OSBF) is a public charity that works to advance the law and build a better justice system. Through grants and programs, it educates and performs outreach to the public to make the law fair for all Ohioans. The OSBF Community Service Award for Attorneys 40 & Under is presented to attorneys, 40 years of age or younger, who contribute substantial time and effort in service to a local social service or a local civil, artistic or cultural organization. The service must be outside the recipients’ practice of law and given without compensation. Eckhardt’s work with local nonprofits, and also with Volunteer Lawyers for the Poor, Junior Achievement and United Way’s Emerging Leaders Program, all reflect his community involvement. He will receive the Community Service Award for Attorneys 40 & Under for OSBA District 1 on Tuesday, March 31, at the Hilton Netherland Plaza Hotel in Cincinnati.