Evans L. King Jr.

General Counsel / Member
Evans L. King Jr.

Biography

Evans “Buddy” King has served as General Counsel for the firm for the past 20 years, handling and resolving complex conflict and other ethical and business issues. Over the course of his career at Steptoe & Johnson, Mr. King has represented numerous clients in the areas of mergers and acquisitions and commercial financings, primarily in the media and energy industries, serving as “family lawyer” for over 30 years for a large newspaper group. He also has considerable experience in representation of lenders in bankruptcy and non-bankruptcy workouts. Mr. King served on the firm’s Executive Committee for several terms and as head of its Business Department, as well as on several other firm committees. He currently dedicates the bulk of his practice to his role as General Counsel.

Representative Experience

  • Lead counsel in the purchase of over 20 daily newspapers and countless weekly/shopper publications and radio stations
  • Lead counsel in numerous financings, both for lenders and borrowers, ranging in size from a few hundred thousand dollars to mid 9 figure range
  • Handled numerous purchases and sales of producing coal properties and/or coal reserves and oil and gas properties as well as financings relating to such types of assets primarily in the Appalachian region of the United States
  • Assisted clients in all phases of the acquisition of existing destination resorts
  • Assisted with land acquisition for hotel developers
  • Regularly drafted contracts for hospitality and resort clients across a wide range of business activities
  • General counsel for a newspaper publisher advising on First Amendment and intellectual property matters
  • Represented the majority owner of a major league baseball franchise in various aspects of ownership interest and shareholder matters
  • Represented a government contracting business in the sale of the company in a multi-million dollar transaction
  • Handled purchases and sales of many small and medium-sized and family-owned businesses
  • Represented the purchaser in a multi-million dollar merger transaction in which the client acquired the number-one-rated mountain resort in the mid-Atlantic region
  • Represented a major ski resort in the purchase of the assets of a state park ski area and the negotiation of a lease agreement with the state to allow the park to reopen
  • Served as lead counsel for a major North American coal company in connection with a divestiture project involving properties in several eastern and western states and in Canada

Licensed In

  • West Virginia

Education

  • J.D. William & Mary Law School
  • B.A. University of Virginia

Memberships

  • Board of Directors, Medbrook Children’s Charity
  • Board Member, Mustard Seed, a local food pantry
  • Past Chairman, Board of Directors, Harrison County Chamber of Commerce
  • Past Chairman, Board of Directors, Clarksburg Mission, Inc.
  • Former Member, Board of Directors and Committee Chairman, Harrison County United Way
  • Past President, Clarksburg Kiwanis
  • Past Chairman, Board of Directors, Sacred Heart Children’s Center
  • Fellow, West Virginia Bar Foundation, 2013
  • Past Member, Committee on Uniform Commercial Code, West Virginia State Bar
  • Past President, Harrison County Bar Association

Achievements

  • Chambers USA America’s Leading Lawyers for Business
  • The Best Lawyers in America®
  • Founder, King-Earp-Ross Scholarship at Emory & Henry College, in memory of his father and 2 other Emory & Henry alumni who were teachers, coaches, and administrators at Christiansburg (Virginia) High School
  • Super Lawyers®, 2007, 2011

Speaking Engagements

  • Mr. King has been a featured speaker at West Virginia CLE seminars concerning bankruptcy and banking matters, as well as numerous industry seminars on oil and gas financings and commercial workouts presented to clients.

Related Services

Related News & Resources

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