An Update on Federal Farm Issues from the National Agricultural Law Center

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.

Harrison M. Pittman Related Seminars and Products

National Agricultural Law Center