Agriculture Law

Mr. Collier West McKenzie Related Seminars and Products

Amwaste

Collier works closely with clients regarding a wide variety of environmental matters, with a focus on agriculture and solid waste.  He also works closely with  clients regarding traditional municipal finance transactions, serving as bond counsel and in other roles for Cities, Counties and School Districts of all sizes throughout Georgia.

Collier has been recognized as a Rising Star by Georgia Super Lawyers® and is a member of the Georgia State Bar, Macon Bar Association, the American Agricultural Law Association and the National Association of Bond Lawyers. He previously services a Chair of the State Bar's Agriculture Law Section.  He earned his bachelor’s in agriculture from the University of Georgia and received his Juris Doctor from Mercer University’s Walter F. George School of Law.

Mr. Joel Lee McKie Related Seminars and Products

Friend, Hudak & Harris, LLP

Joel McKie

Friend, Hudak, & Harris LLP

Three Ravania Drive 

Suite 1700

Atlanta, GA 30346

Joel grew up on a peanut, cotton, watermelon, swine and cattle farm in Abbeville, Georgia.  Instructed by those experiences on the farm, Joel now leads Friend Hudak & Harris, LLP's Agribusiness and Food group.  Joel counsels farm and agribusiness clients, both institutional and family-owned, during every stage of farmland and agriculture operations transactions, including negotiations, due diligence, closings, and post-closing integration and operations.  Joel also provides regulatory guidance and litigation services in the food, agriculture, and timber spaces, including specific expertise on the statutory trusts and regulatory framework of the Packers and Stockyards Act and the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act.

Joel is a proud Double Dawg, having earned his Jurist Doctorate and Bachelor of Science in Agricultural, majoring in Agribusiness, from the University of Georgia.  Joel also holds an Associate of Science in Agriculture from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

Joel is the 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.   He is the former treasurer and member of the Board of Directors of the Georgia Foundation for Agriculture.  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.  Joel was recognized in 2011 with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Alumni Association Young Alumni Achievement Award.  In 2022, Joel was named 40 under 40 by the University of Georgia Alumni Association.

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 Animal Law 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, and the Georgia Agritourism Association.  Joel and his wife are members of Oak Grove United Methodist Church in Decatur, Georgia.  He and his wife also own and operate Bay Branch Cattle Company, LLC, a small commercial cattle operation located in Wilcox County, Georgia.

Mr. Gregory Davis Smith Related Seminars and Products

Conger & Smith, Attorneys at Law, LLC

Greg Smith has a practice focused in the areas of business transactions and litigation, banking, corporate law, and real estate. He also has extensive experience advising both institutional agricultural operations and family farms in all areas of business and legal planning, compliance, and litigation.  A “Double Dawg,” Greg attended the University of Georgia and its School of Law, and also received a master’s degree from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He is licensed to practice in Georgia and Florida. Greg is an active member of the Tallahassee Rotary Club, the Tallahassee Board of Realtors, and the Florida Land Title Association. He has served on the Bainbridge-Decatur County YMCA board of directors, the Decatur County Board of Tax Assessors, and the USDA Decatur County Farm Service Agency County Committee.

Ms. Ann Margaret Pointer Related Seminars and Products

Fisher & Phillips LLP

Working for agricultural clients from the Atlanta office of the national labor and employment law firm of Fisher & Phillips LLP, Ann Margaret Pointer has represented clients in private and DOL litigation and investigations under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, the H-2A temporary foreign agricultural worker program, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and many other federal and state employment and discrimination laws for more than 40 years.

She and her colleagues at FisherPhillips represent management in labor, employment, benefits and immigration matters, including in connection with H-2A and H-2B audits and litigation.

Ann Margaret is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law and served as an adjunct professor at the Emory University Law School in Atlanta for more than ten years, teaching pretrial litigation.  She is a frequent lecturer in continuing legal education programs for other lawyers and business executives. She is AV Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell and has been recognized by listings in Georgia Super Lawyers, The Best Lawyers in America, and Chambers USA America’s Leading Business.  A more detailed bio is available here: https://www.fisherphillips.com/attorneys-apointer

FisherPhillips has over 500 attorneys in 38 offices in the US and 30 lawyers in 3 offices in Mexico. FisherPhillips is one of the largest U.S. law firms that concentrates its practice exclusively on representation of employers in labor and employment matters.

Erin M. Harris Related Seminars and Products

Nutter & Associates

Erin Harris is an interdisciplinary soil and water scientist with over 20 years of experience in environmental consulting. She specializes in sediment and erosion control design, permitting, and regulation associated with stormwater discharges from construction activities. She also serves as project manager for projects involving watershed assessments and protection plans, soil surveys for on-site wastewater and land treatment systems, and wetland delineations and impact analyzes.

Erin has provided clients from a variety of backgrounds with the knowledge and expertise necessary to design and implement erosion and sedimentation best management practices (BMPs), soil stabilization measures, and hydrologic and stormwater management for construction sites. She possesses a vast understanding of the regulatory requirements, policies, and permitting procedures for land disturbing activities in 14 different states. Erin is familiar with the conditions of the Construction General Permit(s), which authorizes stormwater discharges for construction activity under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program. She understands the provisions of the Federal Clean Water Act, and state rules and regulations concerning the design, installation, and maintenance of erosion and sediment controls and pollution prevention measures for construction sites.

Erin holds several professional certifications that exhibit her knowledge of the principles and practices of erosion and sediment control. She is currently a Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control (CPESC), Georgia Level II Certified Design Professional of erosion and sediment control, Certified Erosion, Sediment, and Stormwater Inspector (CESSWI), and Georgia Level IB Certified Inspector of erosion and sediment control. Erin has been recognized by the Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission as a Certified Level I and Level II erosion and sediment control Trainer and by Envirocert International as a Trainer for the Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control program. Ms. Harris is also a Certified Professional Soil Scientist (CPSS), Professional Wetland Scientist (PWS), Georgia Certified Soil Classifier, Texas Professional Geoscientist in the field of soil science, and a License Professional Soil Scientist in South Carolina.

Erin has designed numerous plans for erosion and sedimentation control in Georgia and Alabama. She regularly reviews plans designed by others to verify they meet the minimum design requirements and that the specified BMPs are utilized in accordance with the appropriate design specifications and standards. Mrs. Harris has completed numerous compliance inspections and associated compliance sampling. She also regularly conducts trainings and project audits, provides project oversight, and recommendations to effectively minimize or prevent the discharge of pollutants during and after construction.

Erin is adept at navigating regulatory complexities and regularly conducts scientific investigations, data analysis, and scientific reports for litigation matters involving E & S control and stormwater issues for construction sites. The results of field investigations and data analysis conducted by her are routinely used to develop planning documents and expert opinions for legal matters involving local and state regulators, municipal and industrial clients, federal entities, and private landowners.

Harrison M. Pittman Related Seminars and Products

National Agricultural Law Center

Mr. Robert Felton Mikell Related Seminars and Products

AgSouth Farm Credit, ACA

Bob Mikell
Executive Vice President and General Counsel
AgSouth Farm Credit, ACA

Bob Mikell is an Executive Vice President and General Counsel for AgSouth Farm Credit, ACA in Statesboro, Georgia.  Previously he worked in private practice with the law firm Brown Rountree PC in Statesboro. Bob’s practice focused on commercial litigation and real estate transactions. Prior to private practice, Bob served as a law clerk for the Superior Courts of the Conasauga Judicial Circuit. 

Bob is a summa cum laude graduate of Georgia Southern University, where he completed the Bell Honors Program majoring in history with a minor in Spanish. He then graduated cum laude from the University of Georgia School of Law. Bob later obtained his Master of Business Administration degree with Distinction from the Citadel.

Bob is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Georgia Southern University Housing Foundation and the Statesboro Family YMCA where he was previously the president. Bob has previously served as Chairman of the Statesboro-Bulloch Chamber of Commerce, Chairman of the Downtown Statesboro Development Authority, President of the Bulloch County Bar Association, and President of Habitat for Humanity of Bulloch County. 

Bob was named the Georgia Southern University College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Alumnus of the Year in 2017. Bob was also named one of the top 40 Under 40 Best and Brightest in the State by Georgia Trend Magazine in 2017 and awarded a Justice Robert Benham Award for Community Service in 2019. 

Bob is married to his wife Kelley of Chattanooga, Tennessee, a fifth grade public school teacher, and they have two girls Claire, 10, and Abby, 9. 
 

Prof. Patrick E. Longan Related Seminars and Products

Mercer University School of Law

Professor Patrick E. Longan holds the William Augustus Bootle Chair in Ethics and Professionalism at the Mercer University School of Law, where he has taught since 2000. Professor Longan also serves as the Director of the Mercer Center for Legal Ethics and Professionalism, as a Special Master for disciplinary cases, and as a member of the State Bar of Georgia’s Disciplinary Rules and Procedures Committee and Formal Advisory Opinion Board. He has been a member of the Georgia Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism since 2000.

Professor Longan is the author, coauthor, or editor of more than 60 publications and has given more than 150 lectures, speeches, or panel presentations regarding legal ethics and professionalism. He was the second recipient of the National Award for Innovation and Excellence in Teaching Professionalism from the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Professionalism, the Conference of Chief Justices, and the Burge Endowment for Legal Ethics. In 2014, Mercer Law School received the E. Smythe Gambrell Professionalism Award from the ABA Standing Committee on Professionalism for one of Professor Longan’s programs. Professor Longan has received the Mercer University Law School Board of Visitors Awards for Excellence in Teaching (2022) and Excellence in Scholarship (2021).

Professor Longan was on the faculty of Stetson University College of Law from 1991 to 2000. Before entering law teaching, Professor Longan served as a law clerk to Senior United States District Judge Bernard M. Decker in Chicago and practiced law with the firm of Andrews & Kurth in Dallas, Texas. Professor Longan is a 1983 graduate of the University of Chicago Law School.