Steven Dorr Eckhardt

Steve Eckhardt was born in Central Illinois but moved with his family to Chandler, Arizona at the age of 8. After attending High School at Corona Del Sol in Tempe, Steve traveled a few miles north where he studied at Arizona State University. While attending Arizona State, Steve worked nearly full-time at the non-profit United Blood Services. There, he recruited donors for various blood donation procedures to help meet Arizona patients’ blood needs. During this time Steve also played for the Arizona State Rugby team, traveling extensively across the West Coast as well as over-seas for matches. He would later go on to be an Assistant Coach for the team following his playing days.

In spite of his undergraduate time commitments, Steve managed to graduate Cum Laude with a degree in Accounting from the prestigious W.P. Carey School of Business. While completing his studies, Steve was named to the Dean’s List numerous times and participated in the Accounting Honors Society. Upon graduation, Steve decided to stay in Tempe and attend the Sandra Day O’Connor School of Law at Arizona State.

While in Law School, Steve took a wide range of courses but specialized in Corporate Law and Intellectual Property matters. While there, he participated in the Tech Ventures Service Group, a clinical program designed to help high-tech start-up companies with various legal issues including licensing, incorporation, business plan creation, and patents.  He also interned at the Mesa City Attorney’s office in the Civil Litigation department. While at the City of Mesa, Steve worked extensively on personal injury claims, §1983 claims, and real property disputes. 

Upon graduation from law school, Steve earned a certificate from the Center for Law, Science, and Technology at Arizona State with a specialization in Intellectual Property. After passing the Arizona State Bar exam on his first attempt, Steve went to work as a Legal Fellow at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGEN). While there he continued to work on transactional corporate law and intellectual property matters, however, Steve longed for a chance in a courtroom and left TGEN after a year to pursue other litigation opportunities.

Steve found his time in the courtroom at Rideout Law in Northwest Arizona. After moving up to Mohave County and familiarizing himself with Criminal work, Steve worked extensively on every type of misdemeanor from DUI’s and OUI’s, to assault and disorderly conduct. Steve would later move on to Felonies where he worked on numerous cases including Aggravated DUI’s, Drug Possession and Sales, Trafficking in Stolen Property, Theft, and Homicide. Since starting at Rideout Law, Steve has conducted numerous Bench Trials, Suppressions hearings, and Jury Trials. In addition to the criminal work, Steve also has used his Corporate Law and Accounting experience to assist clients in Bankruptcy matters.