Attorney Profiles

Service to his country and his community have been interwoven throughout the highly successful law career of founding partner Richard Ward.

A Cincinnati native, Mr. Ward served three years during World War II as an Army Air Corps pilot, two years during the Korean War as an Air Force pilot and legal officer and two months in 1962 during the Cuban Missle Crisis as a JAG officer. He attained the rank or lieutenant colonel in 1965. He was an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for Hamilton County from 1953 to 1956 and then founded Drew & Ward with Ray Drew in 1958.

"Being involved in the community has always been a priority for me," he explains.


Among those responsibilities, he was a village councilman in Mariemont, Ohio from 1954 to 1958. He served as a member of the Mariemont City School Board from 1965 to 1973 and as its President from 1968 to 1970.

Mr. Ward now practices in the areas of probate, tax planning and some litigation. Admitted to the bar in Ohio in 1949, he attended Denison University and is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati (LL.B., 1948).

He is a member of the Cincinnati Bar Association and served as its President from 1976 to 1977, and the Ohio State Bar Association. As a member of the American Bar Association, he served in its House of Delegates from 1978 to 1984 and its Board of Elections from 1985 to 1989. Mr. Ward also is a fellow of the Ohio State Bar Foundation and American Bar Foundation. In 2004, Mr. Ward was named to the "Super Lawyers" list published by Cincinnati Magazine, based on a survey of more than 33,000 Ohio lawyers who voted for the best of the profession they had observed in action.

"My goal has always been friendly and prompt service," he says. "I hope to put my clients at ease relative to their legal problems and projects."