Bailey King Jr.

Litigation

Partner

Recognized as one of the “Top 25 Lawyers in Charlotte” by Super Lawyers, Bailey King is a trial attorney with over 15 years of experience representing businesses and individuals in complex commercial litigation. He has tried numerous bet-the-company and other high-profile matters to verdict on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants. With the benefit of his trial experience, Bailey is also able to counsel his clients on strategies to avoid litigation and to negotiate favorable settlements before trial. In recent years, he has focused his practice in the areas of intellectual property litigation (including trade secrets, trademarks, copyrights, and patents), securities and investment disputes, and complex contractual disputes. Over the course of his career, Bailey has handled a wide variety of matters in state and federal courts across North Carolina, including significant experience in the North Carolina Business Court, as well as the Business Courts in Georgia and Connecticut. He has also represented clients in courts throughout the country, including in California, Florida, Iowa, New York, Texas, and South Carolina. Bailey’s recent experience includes:

• Representing a supplier of safety equipment to the utility industry in a trade secret misappropriation case in the North Carolina Business Court after the company hired a competitor’s salespeople, resulting in a complete defense verdict at trial.
• Representing the City of St. Petersburg, Florida, in obtaining a jury verdict of $10.4 million arising out of investment losses suffered after Lehman Brothers collapsed during the financial crisis of 2008.
• Representing the family of Jeffrey Williams, an 11-year-old boy who died of carbon monoxide poisoning in a hotel, in a wrongful death lawsuit settled shortly before trial for $12.1 million.

Bailey currently serves as co-chair of the firm’s Business Litigation team. He currently serves as chair of the North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys Commercial Litigation Section and is past chair of the North Carolina Bar Association’s Antitrust and Complex Business Dispute Section. Bailey also serves as a co-planner of the Mecklenburg County Bar Association’s NC Business Court CLE presented each year by Chief Business Court Judge Louis A. Bledsoe. In 2019, Bailey was inducted into the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, an invitation-only organization composed of peer-reviewed, premier defense and corporate counsel. In 2022, Bailey was listed in Chambers USA as “One to Watch” for General Commercial Litigation. He also is consistently recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® in the areas of both commercial litigation and intellectual property litigation and in North Carolina Super Lawyers in the area of Business Litigation. In both 2021 and 2022, he was listed in North Carolina Super Lawyers as one of the “Top 100 Lawyers in North Carolina” and one of the “Top 25 Lawyers in Charlotte.” In 2015, he was selected as one of Business North Carolina’s “Legal Elite” for litigation. In the community, Bailey is a past elder at Selwyn Presbyterian Church, where he continues to serve on the Personnel Committee. He has also served on the Board of Directors for the Wofford College Terrier Club, which raises scholarship funds for student-athletes, and on the Executive Committee for the Charlotte Sports Foundation “Leatherheads,” where he chaired the Selection Committee and serves on the Host Committee for the “Duke’s Mayo Bowl.”

Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel Alternative Dispute Resolution Section, Chair, 2022-present Life, Health & Disability Section, Vice-Chair, 2021-present Membership Recruitment Committee, Vice-Chair, 2020-present Defense Research Institute, Commercial Litigation Section Steering Committee, 2019-present Publications Board, 2019-present North Carolina Bar Association, Antitrust and Complex Business Disputes Section Chair, 2017-2018; Vice-Chair, 2016-2017; Secretary, 2015-2016; Treasurer, 2014-2015 North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys, Commercial Litigation Section, Chair, 2022-2023; Vice-Chair, 2021-2022 Mecklenburg County Bar Association, NC Business Court CLE, Co-planner, 2019-2022 Selwyn Avenue Presbyterian Church Elder, 2019-2022; Personnel Committee Chair, 2020-2022 Wofford College Terrier Club Board of Directors, 2012-2015 Charlotte Sportsman’s Club

University of North Carolina School of Law, J.D., 2005, with high honors; Order of the Coif Wofford College, B.A., Finance, 2002, summa cum laude; Phi Beta Kappa