Charles W. Hardin Jr. (Chuck)

Partner

Chuck Hardin has acted as the principal outside lawyer on scores of completed M&A and private equity transactions in nearly 25 years of practice. In the past several years, the main focus of Chuck's practice has involved the representation of private equity funds. He chairs Jones Day's Private Equity Practice.

The private equity funds with which Chuck has worked include Blue Point Capital Partners, Brockway Moran & Partners, Edgewater Capital Partners, Francisco Partners, Grey Mountain Partners, High Road Capital Partners, Industrial Growth Partners, Kirtland Capital Partners, Littlejohn & Co., MCM Capital Partners, Morgenthaler Partners, Questor Partners, Resilience Capital Partners, The Riverside Company, Rockwood Equity Partners, Sun Capital Partners, and WL Ross & Co.

Chuck also has served as the lead lawyer in a wide variety of high-profile strategic transactions, including: International Steel Group in its $1.5 billion acquisition of Bethlehem Steel, Cooper Tire & Rubber in the $1.1 billion disposition of its Cooper-Standard Automotive unit to an affiliate of The Cypress Group and GS Capital Partners, The Timken Company in its $840 million acquisition of the Torrington Division of Ingersoll-Rand, Oglebay Norton in its $677 million acquisition by The Carmuese Group, and Purina Mills in its $350 million acquisition by Land O'Lakes.

In community matters, Chuck is a trustee of the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, College Now Greater Cleveland, and the Achievement Centers for Children and serves on the advisory council for Curing Blindness at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. He also is a member of the Leadership Cleveland Class of 2009.