Barnes & Thornburg has announced the addition of Ken Isley as a partner in the firm’s Corporate Department. Isley, having served as an executive of a Fortune 100 multinational chemical and agribusiness company and leader of a U.S. federal government agency, will be based in Indianapolis and also spend significant time working from the firm’s office in Washington, D.C.
Isley advises agribusiness and other companies on strategic and corporate matters related to governance, mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and financial transactions. He also assists clients with corporate and regulatory compliance, communications, crisis management, and international trade.
A former administrator at the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), Isley led the federal agency responsible for agricultural trade policy, trade promotion, and global data gathering and analysis. FAS is also responsible for the global implementation of agricultural capacity building and development programs. Isley led a team of approximately 1,400 personnel across 97 U.S. embassies and consulates covering 170 countries to support U.S. agricultural exports. During his tenure, FAS successfully navigated global agricultural trade disruptions, a lengthy government shutdown and the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are thrilled to welcome Ken to the corporate team. His experience negotiating and enforcing trade agreements and leading such a sizeable team, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic, has given him an unrivaled understanding of complex international matters,” said David Gotlieb, chair of the firm’s Corporate Department. “His past work and impressive background positions him well to represent our agribusiness, agtech and other clients around the world.”
Isley most recently served as executive vice president, chief legal officer and corporate secretary for IntelinAir, Inc. For almost 30 years, he worked as in-house counsel for Dow Chemical, where he took on a multitude of foreign and domestic legal matters and directly led numerous M&A and joint venture projects for the company, in addition to overseeing legal matters with the Latin America legal group.
“Ken brings a tremendous skill set to our Indianapolis and Washington, D.C., offices,” said Brian Burdick, Indianapolis office managing partner. “He understands from first-hand experience how businesses function and decisions are reached at virtually every level and his impressive management skills will dovetail nicely with our existing bench of experienced attorneys.”
Isley earned his B.S. from Iowa State University and his J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law.