Attorney Profile

James Becker is Of Counsel with Lewis Gianola in the Charleston office. He assists clients with business, corporate, and transactional matters, including business formation and dissolution, debt and equity financing, and mergers and acquisitions.

James is a founding Partner in Whitewater Capital Partners, a lower middle market private equity firm based in Charleston. Before Whitewater, James was a Principal with Station Partners, a private equity firm based in Morristown, N.J. At Station, James was part of the investment team active in all aspects of investment origination, structuring, underwriting, diligence, and portfolio monitoring. During his time there, James served on the board of directors and as corporate secretary of two Station portfolio companies, River Riders and Ark Technology Companies.

Before joining Station, James practiced with Lewis Gianola, representing clients in business formation and dissolution, financing, and mergers and acquisitions. James served as Counsel to the Judiciary Committee of the West Virginia House of Delegates during the 2021 Regular Legislative Session.

James began his career as a Senior Analyst in investment banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York. While there, he gained experience in mergers and acquisitions, debt financing, and equity issuances for public and private companies across multiple sectors in both the Global Industrials Group and Financial Institutions Group.

After law school, James was a Commercial Portfolio Manager with Huntington National Bank, where he underwrote and managed a portfolio of middle market credits.

In the community, James is active on the board of directors, and as Chair of the Investment Committee, of the CAMC Foundation, which has more than $350 million in investments supporting CAMC Health System. He is also a director of Craik-Patton, Inc., a historic house museum in Charleston.

Education

James earned a B.A. from Vanderbilt University and a J.D. from West Virginia University. While attending West Virginia University, College of Law, James received a CALI Excellence for the Future Award® in Business Organizations.

James is a member of the West Virginia State Bar. He is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia and the U.S. District Court, Southern District of West Virginia.

Honors & Awards

• West Virginia Super Lawyers Rising Stars – 2022
  Reported Cases
  
  
• Scherich v. Wheeling Creek Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Program, 855 S.E. 2d 912 (W. Va. 2021)

Presentations

• University of Charleston, Downtown Innovation Hub - Two Views Tuesdays, Small & Medium Business Financing: Traditional vs. Creative (with Aaron Sporck from Huntington National Bank and Sen. Eric Nelson), November 12, 2024
  
  
• West Virginia Chamber of Commerce Winter Meeting, Update on Opportunity Zones, December 2019
  
  
• Charleston Urban Renewal Authority, Basics of Opportunity Zones, December 12, 2018
  West Virginia Chamber of Commerce Winter Meeting, Basics of Opportunity Zones (with Aaron Sporck from Senator Capito’s office), December 6, 2018