James Edward Schroeder III

James E. Schroeder is the founder and owner of Ohio Legacy Law, formerly Schroeder Law Group, serving families, businesses, nonprofits, and public entities from the historic Scott House at 338 West Main Street in Hillsboro, Ohio.

Jim brings more than 18 years of legal experience spanning private practice, institutional general counsel service, and executive management. He earned his Juris Doctor from Rutgers University School of Law in 2008 after beginning his career at Long, Marmero & Associates in Woodbury, New Jersey. He opened his own firm in 2012, built it into a multi-state practice, and in 2019 launched the Ohio office that has since become his primary home base.

His practice focuses on estate planning, probate and estate administration, real estate, business law, and nonprofit law, with additional work in personal injury and municipal representation. For families, he prepares wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and healthcare directives designed to avoid probate, protect assets, and prevent conflict — and guides executors and beneficiaries through probate filings, asset distribution, and fiduciary duties. For businesses and nonprofits, he handles formation, contracts, governance, bylaws, tax-exempt compliance, and succession planning. His real estate work includes residential and commercial transactions, acquisitions and financing, closings and due diligence, title and deed issues, and quiet title actions.

Jim also served as General Counsel to the Deptford Township Municipal Utilities Authority in New Jersey, a public authority serving more than 11,000 customers, from 2014-2020 he advised the board and executive leadership on contracts, procurement, open public meetings and public records law, labor relations, and litigation oversight. In 2019 he served as the Authority's Acting Executive Director, leading a $10 million public organization and a 25-person staff, completing an operational audit and five-year strategic plan and negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement. Earlier in his career he served as General Counsel to the Atlantic City Rescue Mission, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

He is admitted in Ohio, New Jersey, New York and the District of Columbia, and admitted to practive before the U.S. District Courts for the Southern District of New Jersey and the Southern District of Ohio. He holds a Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership from Duke University and a Certificate in Public Sector Labor Relations from Rutgers, along with a Master of Divinity from United Theological Seminary, a Master of Arts from Asbury Theological Seminary, and a B.A. from Stockton University.

Originally from southern New Jersey, Jim moved to Brown County, Ohio, in 1995, married a local farmer's daughter, and returned to southern Ohio with his family in 2019. He is the author of Estate Planning Strategy for Ohio Residents, and clients describe him as patient, compassionate, and easy to talk with. He serves Highland, Brown, Adams, Clermont, Fayette, Pike, Scioto, and Clinton Counties.

Everybody can be great… because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love. – Martin Luther King, Jr.