Floyd Bixler McKissick Jr. (born November 21, 1952) is an American attorney who served as a Democratic member of the

North Carolina Senate The North Carolina Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the state legislature of North Carolina. The Senate ...

. He was appointed to the Senate by Governor

Mike Easley Michael Francis Easley (born March 23, 1950) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the List of Governors of North Carolina, 72nd governor of North Carolina from 2001 to 2009. He is the first governor of North Carolina to have been ...

on April 18, 2007 to replace the late Jeanne Hopkins Lucas and was later elected and re-elected in his own right. In 2011, he became Deputy Minority Leader in the Senate and chairman of the North Carolina Legislative Black Caucus. He resigned in 2020 after having been appointed by Gov.

Roy Cooper Roy Asberry Cooper III ( ; born June 13, 1957) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 75th List of governors of North Carolina, governor of North Carolina from 2017 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), De ...

to the state Utilities Commission. McKissick is the son of the late civil rights activist

Floyd McKissick Floyd Bixler McKissick (March 9, 1922 – April 28, 1991) was an American lawyer and civil rights activist. He became the first African-American student at the University of North Carolina School of Law. In 1966 he became leader of CORE, the Con ...

Education and career

McKissick works in

civil litigation Civil law is a major "branch of the law", in common law legal systems such as those in England and Wales and in the United States, where it stands in contrast to criminal law. Glanville Williams. ''Learning the Law''. Eleventh Edition. Stevens. 1 ...

. He practices

business law Commercial law (or business law), which is also known by other names such as mercantile law or trade law depending on jurisdiction; is the body of law that applies to the rights, relations, and conduct of persons and organizations engaged in ...

criminal defense In the field of criminal law, there are a variety of conditions that will tend to negate elements of a crime (particularly the ''intent'' element), known as defenses. The label may be apt in jurisdictions where the ''accused'' may be assigned some ...

family law Family law (also called matrimonial law or the law of domestic relations) is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations. Overview Subjects that commonly fall under a nation's body of family law include: * Marriag ...

, and

administrative law Administrative law is a division of law governing the activities of government agency, executive branch agencies of government. Administrative law includes executive branch rulemaking (executive branch rules are generally referred to as "regul ...

. McKissick received an A.B. Degree in Geography, from

Clark University Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research uni ...

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...

. He received a master's degree in Regional Planning from

UNC-Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolling students in 1795 ...

, and a master's degree in Public Administration, from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. McKissick received a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

Degree from the

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

School of Law in Durham, North Carolina. McKissick has practiced law since 1983 with a number of law firms, including

Dickstein Shapiro Dickstein Shapiro LLP (formerly Dickstein, Shapiro, Morin & Oshinsky) was a large U.S. law firm and lobbying group based in Washington, D.C., with five offices across the United States. According to the National Law Journal's 2012 rankings, it wa ...

in Washington, D.C., and Faison, Brown & Brough in Durham, N.C. McKissick has practiced with McKissick & McKissick since 1990. For a time McKissick owned a convenience store in

Warren County, North Carolina Warren County is a County (United States), county located in the northeastern Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region of the U.S. state of North Carolina, on the northern border with Virginia, made famous for a Warren County PCB Landfill, lan ...

. On December 27, 1985 two armed men robbed the store. After taking cash from the register, they shot McKissick in the left arm with a shotgun, nearly detaching it from his body. The two men were later arrested and incarcerated. McKissick's arm healed, though it lost some of its mobility. He co-authored a guide book for the

International Trade Administration The International Trade Administration (ITA) is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that promotes United States exports of nonagricultural U.S. goods and services. Duties The ITA's stated goals are to # Provide practical info ...

in the

U.S. Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce (DOC) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for gathering data for business and governmental decision making, establishing industrial standards, catalyzing econo ...

on Attracting Foreign Direct Investment to the United States (1981). He authored an article for the Construction Law Advisor on ''When An Owner Can Terminate a Construction Contract Due to Delay'' (1984). McKissick was disciplined by the N.C. State Bar for professional misconduct involving a

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates t ...

. The bar found that McKissick improperly represented both sides in a 2000 dispute involving the estate decisions of an elderly Durham man. In 1995, McKissick's former wife said he physically abused her, and in 2001 a former employee of his law firm said he hit her with a telephone. He was acquitted in both cases.

In 1999 ''In 1999'' is a 1912 one-act comedic short play by William C. deMille, originally produced by Jesse L. Lasky, that was popular upon its release. Its gags are based on a future where gender roles are reversed. Production The piece debuted at t ...

, McKissick unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Durham.

Appointment to Senate

At the time of his selection by the Durham Democratic Party to fill the vacancy (due to the death of Jeanne Lucas from

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

) in District 20 in the state senate, McKissick was the chairman of the Durham County Democratic Party, which raised questions of a conflict of interest in the selection process.

References

External links

NC Senate websiteProject Vote Smart - Senator Floyd McKissick, Jr. (NC)
profile *''Follow the Money'' - Floyd McKissick Jr.
2008
campaign contributions
Mckissick & Mckissick
law practice website * {{DEFAULTSORT:McKissick, Floyd Jr. Democratic Party North Carolina state senators Living people North Carolina lawyers Clark University alumni University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Harvard Kennedy School alumni Duke University School of Law alumni 1952 births African-American state legislators in North Carolina 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American lawyers 21st-century members of the North Carolina General Assembly