R. Reed King

Client Work

• Assisted with purchases of over 1,000 cell tower sites (lease, easement, fee) in 50 states.
• Prepared legal form documents for oil and gas leases, ratifications and amendments, payment orders, title opinions and curative, purchasing and leasing of gas compressor sites and related easements for gas pipelines.
• Conducted hundreds of mineral title examinations; also, due diligence for multiple acquisitions of mineral titles and leases (over $1 billion total in acquisitions).
• Negotiated LLC operating agreements and LP limited partnership agreements for equity investments by bank affiliates in residential and commercial projects, and sales of such equity investments to third parties.
• Documented and closed mezzanine loans by the bank in residential apartment complexes; subsequently transferred certain such mezzanine loans to a bank affiliate and converted to equity ownership.
• Advised on City of Cleveland tax increment financing (TIF) agreements, and Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority bond documents, relating to the ground lease and construction by a bank affiliate of a parking garage in Cleveland.
• Managed and provided legal services for a Fortune Global 10 oil company, including multi-site and single-site acquisition, development and divestment of properties across country; handled environmental claims related to such properties; aided with corporate restructurings.
• Organized and led team to prepare and record over 600 deeds and lease terminations between one company subsidiary and another, in 10 states, as part of international project to save over $100 million in taxes.
• Negotiated and documented resolution of condemnation dispute for company refinery, saving potentially $20 million in above-ground storage tank relocation costs.
• Resolved complex utility law questions, with help of outside counsel and partial transfer of 42 miles of pipeline, to enable company’s sale of a longstanding oil refinery (dating from 1870s) to close.
• Corrected decades of problems with record title held by old/defunct subsidiaries (51 pages of legal descriptions for 37 parcels for refinery alone), allowing sale of another company refinery and terminals and pipelines in 5 states to close.
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Publications, Presentations & Recognitions

Presentations

• Presenter, “Ohio Title Issues,” Land Super School IV, CONSOL Energy Inc., 2014
• Presenter, “Ohio Title Issues,” Land Super School III, CONSOL Energy Inc., 2013
• Presenter, “Ohio Title Issues,” 4th Annual Shale Play Seminar, Houston Association of Professional Landmen, 2013
• Presenter, “Mineral Rights Issues - Title Issues/Title Work,” Utica Shale: Issues in Law, Practice and Policy Seminar, CMBA, Levin College of Urban Affairs, and Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, 2012
• Presenter, “Ohio Due Diligence,” BP America Production Company, 2012
• Presenter, “Ohio Oil & Gas Leases,” Appalachian Land Institute, American Association of Professional Landmen, 2012
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Recognitions

• Cornell Law School: First Prize, Nathan Burkan Memorial Competition (ASCAP), “Contributory Infringement in Copyright: A History of Metaphysics in the Betamax Case”