03 Feb Joel McKie

Joel grew up on a peanut, cotton, watermelon, hog, and cattle farm in Abbeville, Georgia. Instructed by those experiences on the farm, Joel now leads HBS’s food and agriculture industry group. Joel counsels farm and agribusiness clients, both institutional and family-owned, during every stage of farm land and agricultural operations transactions, including negotiations, due diligence, closing, and post-closing integration and operations.  Joel also handles commercial, business, and real estate transactions across several other industries.  Joel is also an experienced business litigator and regulatory advisor, with experiences across a wide range of agriculture-related legal issues.  Representative matters include pesticide drift, the Packers and Stockyards Act, the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act, Farm Service Agency programs, H2A and FLSA issues arising out of farm labor arrangements, and federal crop insurance arbitration proceedings.

Joel currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Georgia Foundation for Agriculture.  He is a past President of the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Alumni Association and is a former member of the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Dean’s Advisory Council. A former State President and National Vice President for the National FFA Organization (formerly Future Farmers of America), Joel was twice appointed by former Governor Sonny Perdue to the Agricultural Education Advisory Commission. In August 2010, Georgia Trend listed him as one of the Movers and Shakers in the Georgia Agribusiness Industry. In 2011, Commissioner Gary W. Black appointed Joel to serve on the Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness task force for the Georgia Department of Agriculture. Joel was recognized in 2011 with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Alumni Association Young Alumni Achievement Award.

Joel is active in the Georgia Agribusiness Council, a lifetime member of the National FFA Alumni Association, a member of the American Agricultural Law Association, and a member of the Agriculture Law Section and Real Estate Section of the Georgia Bar Association. Joel has been a guest speaker for the American Agricultural Law Association, the State Bar of Georgia Agriculture Law Section, the University of Georgia School of Law Annual Red Clay Conference, the Georgia Young Farmer Association, Georgia Farm Bureau, the Southeast Regional Fruit and Vegetables, the Georgia Agricultural Labor Relations Forum, and the Georgia Agritourism Association. Joel and his wife are members of Oak Grove United Methodist Church in Decatur, Georgia.

EXPERIENCE

ADMITTED

• State of Georgia
  
• Middle District of Georgia
• Northern District of Georgia
• 11th Circuit Court of Appeals
• Southern District of Georgia

(All State and Superior Courts, Court of Appeals, and Supreme Court)

EDUCATION

• J.D., cum laude, University of Georgia School of Law
• B.S. in Agriculture, Agribusiness, summa cum laude, Univeristy of Georgia
• Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Associate of Science, Highest Honors