Vernon was born in Madison, Wisconsin and raised in Iowa City, Iowa. Immediately following high school, he was hired by the University of Iowa Department of Physics and Astronomy to work on the ISEE-3, NASA JPL project under the late Dr. James Van Allen and Dr. Roger R. Anderson.
Following a near fatal motorcycle accident at the age of 19, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and served as duly elected, Academic Student-Body President of the Collegiate Associations Council, presiding over the student professional colleges, including, law, engineering, education, and medical.
He graduated with a Juris Doctorate from the University of Iowa College of Law with an emphasis on Intellectual Property Rights. Mr. Mckinley was a Teaching Assistant for first year Criminal Procedure entrants, and Research Assistant (RA) to “Lady” Patricia Acton, drafter of the International Treaty on Intellectual Property Rights.
Vernon founded the law firms of McKinley, Stannard and Carter, LLP, and McKinley & Associates. He has more than two (2) decades of experience practicing personal injury, real estate, criminal, and family law, prior to joining Morgan & Morgan. In addition to Georgia, he is also admitted to practice law in the state of Iowa, including their Northern and Southern Federal District Courts. Mr. McKinley is a licensed Real Estate Broker in the states of Georgia and California, focused upon development and land entitlement of Master-Planned Communities.
In his free time, Vernon enjoys cooking, the great outdoors, traveling, volunteering at the Atlanta Humane Society, mentoring young lawyers, and spending time with his rescued pets, “Jack” his Redbone Coonhound, and “Ella” a Rhodesian Ridgeback mix.
