Ken G. Hedge

Ken G. Hedge

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Representative Matters

  • Representation of private equity firm in nine figure acquisition of non-operated oil and gas leasehold interests in the Bakken formation principally involved in the area of due diligence title review and defect curative.
  • Representation of private equity firm in eight figure acquisition of non-operated oil and gas leasehold interests in the Bakken formation principally involved in the area of due diligence title review and defect curative.
  • Representation of private landowner in the leasing of real property for a crude rail trans-load facility.
  • Representation of a large national corporation in the acquisition of a liquefied petroleum gas terminal and storage facility.
  • Representation of numerous oil and gas developers and operators-primarily in rendering drilling and division order title opinions and advice on title and operations concerns.
  • Representation of small business owner in a seven figure asset acquisition of a home improvement business.
  • Advice and representation to start-up entrepreneurs in the selection and organization of appropriate business entities day-to-day operational advice and asset acquisitions and divestiture related to the growth of the business.
  • Estate - wealth - mineral and business succession planning for North Dakota’s small business and farm and ranch families.

Ken Hedge is a Partner in the Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Department in the firm’s Bismarck, North Dakota office.

For more than 18 years, Ken has been representing and advising public and private companies and their owners in a variety of sectors. He has been actively involved in many aspects of the Bakken formation development in Montana and North Dakota since its inception in 2002. Ken has centered his practice at the intersection of land and business, principally offering expertise in title examination for oil and gas exploration and development, due diligence title review, surface mineral (sand, gravel and scoria) ownership and development, and general real property advice for North Dakota’s businesses and farmers and ranchers. He also enjoys guiding clients through the process of business and asset acquisitions and divestitures for a range of clientele from large, national companies to main street entrepreneurs, and assists business owners in all stages of business development, from initial entity formation and day-to-day operation through wealth and succession planning for owners. Most recently, Ken has spent a substantial part of his practice representing private equity companies in the acquisition of non-operated oil and gas leasehold interests, mineral interests and other assets in the Bakken formation.

Ken is a Fellow in the American College of Real Estate Lawyers and serves on the North Dakota Title Standards committee. He is also the North Dakota Reporter for the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation Newsletter, providing case summaries of newly-issued opinions affecting oil, gas and mineral law, and related real estate law, for the State of North Dakota. Ken enjoys teaching at public and private seminars, both to sophisticated oil and gas audiences and practitioners looking to expand their knowledge of oil and gas and real estate law. He looks forward to, and finds special satisfaction in, advising and counseling non-profit entities in their formation and day-to-day operation.

He formerly co-chaired the firm’s Oil and Gas Practice Group and served as the contact partner for the Bismarck office.

Practice Areas

  • Business Organizations

    • Business Organizations
    • Governance
    • Litigation
    • Mergers, Acquisitions & Other Business Transactions
    • Non-Profit Entities

  • Energy & Minerals Projects & Transactions

    • Energy & Minerals Projects & Transactions
    • Mining – Hard Rock, Coal and Other Minerals
    • Oil and Gas
    • Pipelines, Transmission Lines and Other Linear Facilities

  • Renewable Energy

    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Renewable Energy

  • Oil and Gas

    • Indian Law
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Environmental
    • Lobbying, Regulatory and Administrative Affairs
    • Title Examination

  • Mergers and Acquisitions

    • Acquisitions and Dispositions
    • Due Diligence
    • Mergers

  • Mining – Hard Rock, Coal and Industrial Minerals

    • Land and Mineral Acquisition
    • Merger and Acquisitions
    • Title Review and Curative

  • Real Estate

    • Real Estate
    • Access, Title and Property Disputes
    • Commercial Real Estate Acquisition, Sales and Leasing
    • Farm and Ranch Transactions
    • Real Estate Financing and Security Devices

  • Trusts & Estates

    • Trusts & Estates
    • Business Succession Planning
    • Charitable Giving
    • Estate Planning
    • Fiduciary Obligations and Estate and Trust Litigation
    • Guardianships, Conservatorships and Disability Planning
    • Premarital Agreements
    • Probate, Estate and Trust Administration
    • Retirement Planning
    • Tax Planning

Bar Admission

North Dakota, 1999
Montana, 2001
U.S. District Court of North Dakota, 2004

Education

1999 – J.D. with Honors, University of Wyoming College of Law
1995 – B.A. with Highest Honors, English-Literature, Montana State University-Bozeman

Honors & Awards

AV Preeminent Rating by Martindale-Hubbell
Fellow, American College of Real Estate Lawyers
Chambers USA – Real Estate Law (2019-Present)
Great Plains Super Lawyers (2017-Present)
Fellow, American Bar Foundation
Order of the Coif

Professional Affiliations

Fellow, American College of Real Estate Lawyers
Fellow, American Bar Foundation
North Dakota Title Standards committee member
Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation
Reporter, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation Mineral Law Newsletter
Western Dakota Estate Planning Council
Landman’s Association of North Dakota
State Bar Association of North Dakota
Managing Editor, Land & Water Law Review (now Wyoming Law Review), 1998-99