Tushar V. Chikhliker

Tushar Chikhliker is a member of the firm’s banking and finance group, concentrating on economic development and public finance.  He also has prior experience in complex civil litigation, with an emphasis on matters involving antitrust issues and unfair business practices.

Mr. Chikhliker has represented both private companies and government entities regarding a myriad of state and local incentive arrangements including fee-in-lieu of tax agreements, special source revenue bonds and credits, multi-county business/industrial parks, jobs tax credits, job development credits, corporate headquarters and infrastructure tax credits, state and local grant programs, and sales and use tax exemptions. 

He is also active in the South Carolina Economic Developers’ Association as well as the Committee of 100, a volunteer marketing group that promotes economic development in central South Carolina.  

Community Involvement

Mr. Chikhliker's involvement in the Midlands community has been both significant and varied.  He has served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Workshop Theatre of South Carolina and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Columbia Opportunity Resource.

In 2008, Mr. Chikhliker was selected for and graduated from the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Columbia program and is currently a member of the Leadership Columbia Alumni Association.  He also serves on the Shandon Neighborhood Council and serves as one of the Shandon Turkey Trot race directors. 

Firm Leadership

Mr. Chikhliker is Chair of the Firm’s Diversity Committee.  The committee works to recruit minority candidates, reduce minority attrition, and support minority organizations.   Each year, the committee administers the Nexsen Pruet Diversity Scholarship Program.  It awards $3000 to up to ten exceptional first year minority law students planning a career in North or South Carolina. 

Mr. Chikhliker is also a member of the firm’s Recruiting and Retention Committee, which is aimed at both recruiting prospective associates and retaining current associates.

Additionally, Mr. Chikhliker has served as chair of Nexsen Pruet’s Legal Explorers program, which provided local high school students with a window into the practice of law.  In that role he developed curriculum and student activities and served as course instructor.

Education

Mr. Chikhliker received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Political Science from the University of South Carolina in 1999, graduating magna cum laude, with Honors from the South Carolina Honors College. While at USC, Mr. Chikhliker received the prestigious Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award, the highest honor awarded to a USC student.

Mr. Chikhliker received his Juris Doctor in 2002 from the Wake Forest University School of Law, where he served as Student Solicitor of the Honor Council and received the Outstanding Trial Advocacy Award presented by the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers.

• John Belton O'Neall Inn of Court
• Leadership Columbia
• Midlands Diversity Leaders Initiative

• "The Riley Institute at Furman announces Midlands Diversity Leaders Initiative Class III Graduates"
  Nexsen Pruet congratulates member (partner) Tushar Chikhliker on his completion of the Midlands Diversity Leaders Initiative.
• Nexsen Pruet Awards Diversity Scholarships
  Nexsen Pruet is pleased to announce that the firm has awarded law school scholarships to three minority students from North and South Carolina. The awards are made possible through the Nexsen Pruet Diversity Scholarship Program.
• Tushar Chikhliker Participates in Riley Institute Diversity Leaders Initiative
  The class is made up of forty Midlands-area leaders who are selected from four sectors of the community: corporate, governmental, non-profit and faith-based.
• Nexsen Pruet Elects Three New Members
  Nexsen Pruet announced today that Tushar Chikhliker, Suzi Grigg and Ernie Pearson have been elected Members (partners) of the firm.
• Nexsen Pruet Earns Designation as 'Midlands Green Business'
  Nexsen Pruet has earned designation as a Midlands Green Business, joining other Columbia-area organizations that are committed to environmentally responsible practices in the workplace.
• Nexsen Pruet: Only Law Firm Listed for North and South Carolina in "Trade Allies" Directory
  The new edition of Southern Business & Development magazine features the "1st Annual Trade Allies Directory." Nexsen Pruet is the only law firm listed in both North and South Carolina.
• Nexsen Pruet Named Among Top Economic Development Law Firms in the Southeast
  Southern Business & Development magazine has named Nexsen Pruet one of the top law firms for economic development in the South – and the only one recognized in South Carolina.
• Video Produced for Innoventure 2008
  Learn more about Nexsen Pruet from our video for InnoVenture - a conference bringing together entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.
• Tushar Chikhliker Accepted To Leadership Columbia
  Tushar Chikhliker, an associate in Nexsen Pruet’s Columbia office, has been accepted to the 2007 – 2008 class of Leadership Columbia, a program sponsored by the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce.
• Tushar Chikhliker To Serve on the Board of Trustees of the Workshop Theatre of South Carolina
  Tushar Chikhliker, an associate in Nexsen Pruet’s Columbia office, has been selected to serve on the board of trustees of the Workshop Theatre of South Carolina.

• Top 10 Law Firms that Understand Economic Development
  Nexsen Pruet is named among the top law firms in the Southeast for economic development - and is the only law firm listed in South Carolina.

• Economic Development Seminar
• Project Finance Seminar
• 2010 Southeast/Southwest People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference