Joel Grant Hancock Jr.

Joel Hancock is a native of Carteret County, born and raised on Harkers Island. Joel is a 2002 graduate of East Carteret High School in Beaufort, NC, where he excelled academically and athletically. While at East Carteret, Joel was a member of the National Art Honors Society and the BETA club. Joel was quarterback for the Mariners' football team and was an All-Conference catcher on the baseball team. 

From 2003 to 2005 Joel served as a full-time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Brasilia, Brazil. Upon his return, Joel continued his studies at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC. Joel graduated Magna Cum Laude, first in his major in Economics, and with University Honors, earning the Student Government Association's "Top Graduate in Economics" award. 

After a year of graduate school in Economics, Joel enrolled at The Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law, where he excelled as a gifted writer and orator, earning the position of Senior Advocate on the school's Moot Court Board, and competing on the John J. Gibbons National Criminal Procedure Moot Court team. While at Penn State Joel clerked with the Honorable Michael F. Salisbury, District Attorney of Clinton County, PA. He also worked as the research assistant of Professor Marco Ventoruzzo. 

After law school Joel passed Bar Exams in Pennsylvania and in North Carolina. In 2013, Joel opened his solo practice in Beaufort, NC to pursue his dream of defending the criminally accused. In September of 2013, Joel accepted a position as a criminal defense attorney with the Beaufort firm of Cummings & Kennedy. Joel's experience in criminal practice ranges from traffic infractions to homicide. 

Joel is fluent in Portuguese and proficient in Spanish. 

Joel resides on Harkers Island with his high school sweetheart, Lauren, of Beaufort, NC, and their two boys, Calvin and Oliver. When he's not in court, Joel enjoys coaching his nephews' baseball team, hunting, fishing, and taking his boys to Shell Point on Harkers Island to feed the seagulls.