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Charles E. English, Sr. Presented With 2024 William H. Natcher Award by BG-WC Bar Association
by Ashley Carter
English, Lucas, Priest & Owsley, LLP (ELPO Law) co-founding partner Charles E. English, Sr. was presented today with the 2024 William H. Natcher Award by the Bowling Green-Warren County Bar Association during its annual Law Day Ceremony. The award is presented in recognition of Charles E. English’s esteemed career as a member of the Bar, during which he continuously demonstrated a commitment to high ethical standards and a strong devotion to professional and civic responsibility.
The William H. Natcher Award was established during the 1994 Law Day Ceremony for the purpose of annually memorializing the life and ideals of William H. Natcher and has been awarded each subsequent year since. The award is presented annually to a senior member of the Bowling Green-Warren County Bar Association who exemplifies Representative Natcher’s characteristics of humility and high ethical standards, and whose life represents serving public interests over personal interests.
Since it was established thirty years ago, the award recipient has been selected by the William H. Natcher Award Committee and has been presented to distinguished individuals who have served our community– including Judge John Barrett Rodes, Judge Margaret Ryan Huddleston, attorney Ray Buckberry, and fellow co-founder of ELPO Law, Whayne C. Priest, Jr.
Charles E. English, Sr. is a co-founding partner of English, Lucas, Priest & Owsley, LLP. He is a graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Law and has been practicing law since being admitted to the Kentucky Bar in 1960. Upon returning to Bowling Green after earning his law degree, he served as the assistant coach for Western Kentucky University’s debate team and taught accounting, business law, and communication while building his law practice. He remained on Western’s faculty until 1999.
Charles’ primary areas of focus throughout his impressive sixty-four-year career include business law, banking, business and estate litigation, business formation and condemnation. He has handled cases concerning universities and foundations, and regularly managed probate, trusts, and estate cases. Among one of his most notable cases was acting as corporate counsel in the formation, organization, financing, construction, and joint venture of a large ethanol manufacturing facility with a Fortune 500 company. He served as local counsel for Fruit of the Loom Inc. in federal court in various shareholder derivative actions against the company’s board of directors and officers, successfully defending Fruit of the Loom. Charles also served as Chair of the Bowling Green-Warren County Hospital Commission and was instrumental in the conversion of the city/county hospital operation into a not-for-profit entity resulting in the creation of The Medical Center.
Charles’ leadership roles far extend into his profession. He has served on many boards through the years including the American Bar Association (ABA) Board of Governors and served as chair of the finance committee. He is a former member of the ABA’s House of Delegates and the ABA’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary. He has served on the Kentucky Supreme Court and Court of Appeals Judicial Nominating Committee and served as a member of Kentucky’s Judicial Campaign Conduct Committee. He is a life-time member of the Judicial Conference for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Mr. English is also past President of the Kentucky Bar Association.
To learn more about Charles E. English and his esteemed career, visit: elpolaw.com/attorneys/charles-e-english/
