Charles A. Compton is an Assistant Managing Member of the Firm and is Chair of the Firm's Business Department, which consists of and integrates our corporate, transactional, real estate, bankruptcy, tax, environmental, regulatory, finance, and public affairs practices. His practice concentrates on mergers & acquisitions, finance, real estate, and corporate matters across a range of industries. He practices out of the Firm's office in Evansville, Indiana.
When working with a client, Charles doesn’t just consider himself their lawyer, but fundamentally part of their team. Charles understands that in every transaction clients have objectives from both a legal and a business perspective. He strives to understand each of those objectives, as well as the client’s business generally, and then complement sound legal advice with practical business acumen, years of experience and creativity to achieve those objectives.
Charles combines over a quarter century in private practice with four years as a general counsel and member of the executive leadership team of a coal company. This combination of experiences not only allows Charles to think holistically for the client in executing engagements, but to do so with an understanding of the unique needs and respective priorities of the client’s executive leadership team, and particularly in-house counsel.
Charles has advised acquirers, target companies, and their owners in numerous acquisitions and dispositions across a range of industries, including coal and natural resources, construction, dredging, transportation, manufacturing, wholesale supply, and retail sales. He has advised clients in connection with transactions ranging in enterprise dollar values from the low millions to in excess of one-half billion. His experience includes acquiring both healthy and distressed businesses and operations, as well as successfully implementing restructurings and reorganizations.
His business law experience also includes advising clients on a range of corporate governance issues and representing borrowers and lenders in traditional financing transactions, as well as representing clients in mezzanine debt and preferred capital transactions.
Away from the office, Charles is an avid golfer and all-around sports fan. The child of two alums of Indiana University, he is a lifelong Indiana Hoosiers fan and season ticket holder. Thanks to his mother’s persistence (more like insistence), he stuck with piano lessons throughout his childhood and now enjoys playing the piano on his own time and at the occasional cocktail party. He also enjoys going to theatre performances with his family.
