The national law firm Baker Donelson has added Davis Butler, an attorney with extensive transactional experience as well as a background in the health care and sports and entertainment industries, including a decade with the International Olympic Committee.
Joining as a shareholder in the Atlanta office and a member of the Firm's Corporate Group, Mr. Butler concentrates primarily on mergers and acquisitions and private securities offerings. He also advises boards of both for-profit and not-for-profit companies and serves as outside general counsel for small to medium-sized corporate entities. His practice includes a focus on health care, professional services, industrial, and sports entities.
Sebastian Meis, chair of Baker Donelson's Corporate Group and a shareholder in the Atlanta office, said, "We are thrilled to welcome Davis to our firm. Beyond his background as highly regarded transactional attorney and savvy dealmaker, Davis is a prolific entrepreneur who has started multiple businesses. That valuable perspective and many years of global experience means that Davis is able to provide his clients and their boards with comprehensive legal and business advice, particularly when it comes to effective corporate governance and the strategic formation of joint ventures. His addition will be a tremendous asset to our growing corporate practice. We look forward to the continued growth and success of our clients with Davis's support and skill."
During his ten-year tenure with the IOC, Mr. Butler managed and negotiated international partnership agreements as part of the IOC's Top Programme, representing numerous Olympic stakeholders. During this time, he played a dual role in business and legal capacities, negotiating transactions worth many billions of dollars. He also represented the IOC before the European Commission on European Union antitrust matters.
After leaving the IOC in 2010, Mr. Butler became a founding partner in Encompass International Network, LLC, an international sports marketing and legal network comprised of Olympic experts from North America, Europe, and Asia. At that time, he also re-entered the private practice of law and joined former colleagues from a large, national Atlanta-based law firm, where he began his practice focusing on health care and medical product liability litigation, health care and non-health care mergers and acquisitions and securities offerings.
Mr. Butler joins Baker Donelson from the boutique corporate firm Butler Mersereau, where he served as a managing partner for the last 10 years. During that time, he represented the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, the Athletes' Commission, and a commission of National Governing Bodies before the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Senate. As part of this effort, Mr. Butler rewrote portions of the Ted Stevens Act reorganizing governance of amateur sport in the United States.
"I am honored to join Baker Donelson, which shares my goals of providing outstanding legal services and serving as a close, trusted advisor to clients," said Mr. Butler. "The lawyers at Baker Donelson are excellent, and the collegial culture is exactly what I had hoped it would be. It is exciting to be a part of an expanding corporate practice group."
A graduate of the University of Alabama School of Law and Vanderbilt University, Mr. Butler has taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Georgia.