About Us
Comprehensive, Personal Legal Representation Team
Who We Are
From a young age Keith worked in his family's business, Hackney Industries, Inc. This early exposure to the business world influenced Keith's choice of areas of law practice
and provided a broad array of experiences expanded to include real estate, estate and probate, and environmental law.
Katie, Keith and Karen (1974 -2014)
Leigh
Zoe and Keith
A Highly Qualified Attorney with Many Years of Experience, He Is a Member Of:
Beaufort County Bar Association
Former Associate Member, American Institute of Industrial Engineers
Former Member, American Bar Association
North Carolina Bar Association
North Carolina State Bar
Second Judicial District Bar of North Carolina
Virginia State Bar
Admissions to Practice Law:
North Carolina, 1973
Virginia, 1975
United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, 1975
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, 1975
United States Supreme Court, 1978
Community Activities
- Salvation Army:
-Member and former Chairman, Salvation Army Advisory Board, 1976 – present
- Boy Scouts of America:
-Former member and former Chairman, Blackbeard District (Beaufort and Hyde Counties) Committee (1976-1986)
-Eagle Scout Advancement Chairman, Blackbeard District (1980-2000+)
-Scouting Coordinator, Boy Scout Troop 99 (1975-2005)
-Member, East Carolina Council, BSA, Property/Risk Management Committees (1984-2004)
- Sound Rivers Foundation: (formerly known as the Pamlico-Tar River Foundation)
-Member, 1981 - present; Director, 1981-1989; Treasurer, 1981-1986
-Annual Oyster Roast Cook, 1986-present
- North Carolina Bar Association:
-Member, 1975 - present
-Continuing Legal Education Committee, 1976 – 1997
- Beaufort County Airspace Committee
-Chairman, appointed by the Beaufort County Commissioners to oppose the USMC Cherry MOA (Military Operating Area) over Beaufort County, 1987 – 2007
- Washington Noon Rotary Club
-Charter and former member
- Beaufort County Tricentennial (1712 – 2012) Committee Member (2012)
Education:
- Washington (NC) High School, 1966 (#1 Class Rank)
- North Carolina State University, 1970 (B.S. Industrial Engineering with High Honors)
-Alpha Pi Mu, Tau Beta Pi, Phi Kappa Phi Honor Societies
-School of Engineering Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of the Humanities, 1970 - University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Law School, 1973 (Juris Doctor)
-Brandis Law Scholarship, 1970-1973
Honors and Awards:
- Eagle Scout, Boy Scout Troop 99, East Carolina Council, 1963
- North Carolina Governor's School, 1964
- Award of Merit, Blackbeard District, Boy Scouts of America, 1979
- Silver Beaver Award, East Carolina Council, Boy Scouts of America, 1986
- Great Blue Heron Award, Pamlico Tar River Foundation, 1986
Current and Former Hobbies, Activities and Interests:
- Saltwater Fishing, primarily out of Hatteras, NC:
-North Carolina Record Mako Shark, 1972
-Co-winner, Hatteras Blue Marlin Tournament, 1976 - Windsurfing:
-Windsurfed Hurricane Charley, August, 1986 - Swimming, boating and water sports
- Hunting, particularly quail and doves
- Virginia Opera Association subscriber, 1984-2011
- East Carolina University Summer Theater subscriber, about 1969 – about 2000
- UNC-CH Tar Heels basketball season ticket subscriber, 2002 – present
- Cultivating and enjoying fresh herbs, peppers and figs with friends
- Enjoying local history
Get to know Keith D. Hackney
Keith was born and raised and attended public school in Washington, North Carolina. He follows a family tradition of community involvement reaching into the nineteenth century.
Keith grew up in the Hackney family truck body manufacturing business, working as an assembly welder, an engineer, and in management. After working with the law firm of Biggs, Meadows, Batts and Winberry in Rocky Mount in 1974, Keith returned to solo practice in Washington in 1975. He has since served the community in the general practice of law, and the Hackney family business as general counsel until the family sold its interest in Hackney Industries in 1990.
His experience as corporate counsel included working with insurance and risk management issues, OSHA, environmental and other governmental compliance issues, product design and warning issues, commercial, municipal and industrial revenue bond contract matters, and medical insurance, workers compensation, worker safety and a wide range of personnel matters. Keith's corporate experience involved production and personnel matters for plants in North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Kansas and Virginia. Since 1990, Keith has been engaged exclusively in the general practice of law, with a special emphasis as counselor at law for his individual and business clients. Keith's philosophy embraces innovative methods in resolving clients' problems, and good-natured counseling to avoid them.
Keith is assisted on occasion in the office by his wife Claudia. They have been married since 1970, and have enjoyed the local presence of their two daughters, Karen (1974-2014) and Katherine (Katie). Leigh Waters and Rebecca Peffer provide the very capable daily law office assistance. The office and clients enjoyed the regal presence of Keith's Vizsla Zoe (1993-2009) for a number of years.
Keith is actively involved in his community. He has served the Boy Scouts in many capacities since 1975, and has been a member of the local Salvation Army Advisory Board since 1976. He helped found the Pamlico-Tar River Foundation (Sound Rivers Foundation), a river advocacy group, and is a very active cook at the annual oyster roast each November. Keith enjoys working and socializing with his legal colleagues in the local and Second Judicial District bar. He was a 2012 committee member of the Beaufort County Tricentennial (1712-2012), during which he actively engaged in the celebration of a very colorful and entertaining history of the county. He is currently involved in promoting the growth of the Historic Port of Washington Project, preserving Washington's history as a federal port from 1790 to 1960.