Posted November 13, 20152:08 pm
November 2015 -- Former Legal Aid Board President Frederick J. Ball was honored on November 13 at the Ohio State Bar Foundation's (OSBA) Annual Meeting with the presentation of The Ritter Award. The award is the highest honor awarded by the Foundation. This award is given for a lifetime of service. The award recognizes the accomplishments of the honoree in attaining and promoting the highest level of professionalism, integrity and ethics in the practice of law while assisting other attorneys, the courts and the public to envision and cause changes which improve the justice system in Ohio.
Along with Fred, and 20 members of his family and close friends, Legal Aid's Executive Director, Colleen M. Cotter, Esq. attended the event to accept the award on-stage.
From the Ohio State Bar Foundation's 2015 Annual Report:
In 1960, for the record, Kennedy defeats Nixon; Russia shoots down Gary Powers' U-2 spy plane; Hitchcock's Psycho debuts; Ohio State wins the NCAA basketball championship and The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, employing its own lawyers for the first time, opens two offices--a civil division and a criminal division. As a Legal Aid Society board member and then president during the 50s and 60s, Fred Ball spearheaded this historic change 55 years ago. After law school at Columbia University, Fred practiced for 17 years at Johnson Savings & Loan, now FirstMerit Bank. As a young attorney elected treasurer of Cleveland's Legal Aid Society, he realized it had become "a private club of prestigious lawyers contracting the work to private attorneys who had lost the aggressive advocacy of its mission." Fred worked to transition to offices with paid staff including lawyers driven by a mission to serve. Fred has committed his time, energy and money to ensure high-quality legal aid for Cleveland's less fortunate. At age 96, Fred is still The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland's most ardent supporter and has watched his legacy grow.