CHICAGO, Oct. 7, 2022 — David Lefton will receive a 2022 Difference Makers Award at a luncheon today during the 2022 GPSolo Fall Leadership Meeting in Columbus, Ohio. The Making a Difference Through Service to the Profession Award, presented by the American Bar Association Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division, honors an attorney, living or deceased, who has made a significant lifetime contribution to the legal profession through service to the profession.
Lefton, a partner with Barron Peck Bennie & Schlemmer (BPBS) in Cincinnati, Ohio, chaired the ABA Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division (GPSolo) from 2016-17 and served as president of the Ohio State Bar Association (OSBA) from 2021-22.
During his term as GPSolo chair, Lefton focused on modernizing GPSolo’s brand and enhancing the value proposition of GPSolo membership. Under his leadership, GPSolo adopted a new slogan, “Your Success, Our Mission®,” started a task force, which became the Member Benefits Board, held its inaugural Diversity Reception at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, and established the Buddy Program and Young Lawyer Forms Bank.
Lefton is a trusted adviser to his clients, developing sound estate plans that take into consideration financial matters, powers of attorney and business succession. He has been named an Ohio Super Lawyer in estate planning.
Lefton has a long record of service to GPSolo and the ABA. He has chaired numerous GPSolo committees, frequently served as a division director, and rose through the ranks to chair GPSolo. For his work, he previously earned the GPSolo Service to Others Award and a Service Award for Contributions to GPSolo Member Benefits. Today, he serves as GPSolo’s revenue director and is a member of GPSolo’s Council and Executive Committee. In the ABA, Lefton serves in the ABA House of Delegates as one of Ohio’s state bar delegates and has served on the ABA Commission for Continuing Education and the ABA Group and Prepaid Legal Service Committee.
Lefton served as president of the OSBA from 2021-22. Before serving as president, he was elected to the OSBA Board of Governors for a three-year term in 2017. He served on the OSBA’s Council of Delegates since 2007, chaired the OSBA’s Solo and Small Firm Section for two terms, and has been an active member of the OSBA Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Section. Lefton also chaired the OSBA’s economic study, which under his direction won the ABA GPSolo Solo and Small Firm Project of the Year in 2004. He is a contributing author to the OSBA’s book “The Law and You.”
Lefton is active in the Cincinnati Arts Association, Ronald McDonald House and the Cincinnati Freestore Food Bank. Click here for a photo of David Lefton.
With more than 20,000 members, the ABA Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division (GPSolo) is committed to providing unique resources exclusively for solo, small-firm and general practitioners, who represent half of the nation’s lawyers.
The ABA is the largest voluntary association of lawyers in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.