Birmingham Hopewell Alliance

Joe Whitley, Birmingham Hopewell Alliance board member since 1997, is our president.  He is a partner at the law firm of Alston & Bird.  Joe was appointed by President Bush as the first General Counsel to the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the highest ranking legal official in the department.   He held that position for two years before his departure and return to private practice.  Previously he had led Alston & Bird's white-collar and government investigations practice.  Joe is also the former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.

At DHS he oversaw approximately 1,500 lawyers and 400 support staff from numerous agencies, including the Secret Service, the Coast Guard, Border and Transportation Security, the Transportation Security Administration, Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection, and Emergency Preparedness and Response (FEMA).

As the first person to hold the position of General Counsel with DHS, Joe has dealt with virtually every aspect of the law touching on homeland security. Together with diverse Alston & Bird legal teams he now is counseling major corporations on public policy and legislative issues such as: disaster recovery and forward-looking mitigation strategies; cyber-security and critical infrastructure protection; immigration; customs and trade compliance; issues related to the USA Patriot Act as they affect banking and financial services firms, together with the insurance industry; the myriad of laws and regulations affecting all segments of the transportation industry; vulnerability assessments for members of the energy sector to include the broad spectrum of environmental regulations; and enforcement actions and criminal prosecutions, as well as civil litigation.

Joe previously had an extensive career in the Department of Justice, serving as the Acting Associate Attorney General, the third-ranking position in the Department of Justice, in the George H.W. Bush administration.  He was appointed by Presidents Reagan and Bush, respectively, to serve as U.S. Attorney in the Middle and Northern Federal Districts of Georgia.  At the time of his appointment he was one of the youngest persons ever to be appointed U.S. Attorney and the only person to ever serve as a Senate-confirmed U.S. Attorney for two separate jurisdictions.  Throughout his career Joe served under five United States Attorneys General.

Joe received his J.D. and his undergraduate degrees from the University of Georgia.

At the local level, Joe has written guest columns about community issues for a variety of Georgia newspapers, including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  Joe has been actively involved with the issues facing Northwest Fulton since 1997.  He has served on multiple committees and advisory groups including those tied to Birmingham Crossroads Master Planning efforts, the “no-sewer” issue, as well as those reviewing the proposed annexation of a portion of NW Fulton a few years ago.  Joe, his wife Kathy, and their two children have lived in northwest Fulton for nearly 10 years.  Joe is a Georgia native.