Kenneth D. Isley

Ken advises agribusiness and other companies of virtually all sizes on strategic and corporate matters related to governance, mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and financial transactions. He assists his clients with corporate and regulatory compliance, communications, crisis management, and international trade. Ken is also co-chair of the firm's Agriculture and Food Practice Group.

Ken spent most of his career with Dow, where his key roles included being the head of Corporate and Financial Law; head of Litigation, Regulatory and Operations; head of Latin America Legal; and vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary of the company’s agricultural subsidiary, Dow AgroSciences.     

During his time as administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) and chairman of the USDA’s Intra-Departmental Coordination on International Affairs, Ken gained extensive knowledge and skills in leading the agency in obtaining market access across the world for U.S. agricultural and food products; supporting the United States Trade Representative (USTR) in the negotiation and enforcement of billions of dollars’ worth of export trade agreements and implementing multibillion-dollar programs for trade promotion, trade tariff mitigation, agricultural development and international food assistance. He also led the FAS agency reorganization and successfully navigated it through global agricultural trade disruptions, a lengthy government shutdown, and the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Prior to joining the firm, Ken was executive vice president, chief legal officer and corporate secretary for Intelinair, Inc., where he advised on and assisted with developing and implementing the company’s strategic plans; relocating its corporate headquarters to Indianapolis; negotiating and executing an EDGE agreement with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC); and updating corporate governance, commercial and administrative documentation, structures and processes.  

In his professional endeavors and beyond, Ken is passionate about organizational performance and leadership development.