Judica Country Radio which airs on 106.1 FM TALK in Raleigh on Saturday afternoons, “is meant for the average person with everyday legal needs,” said Garner attorney Joshua Whitaker, who co-hosts the show with Whitaker & Hamer law firm partner, Joe Hamer. “We end up talking to a lot of listeners who are self-employed. We talk about estate planning and business law.”
The three-year-old show was nominated for a 2022 People’s Choice Podcast award in the Politics and News category, alongside “The Problem with Jon Stewart.”
The radio show mirrors the matters handled by the firm, which is now celebrating its 20th anniversary. McCullers & Whitaker was launched in 2004 by childhood friends Josh Whitaker and Damion McCullers. “We wanted to serve people like the ones we grew up with,” said Whitaker. (Whitaker in Garner and McCullers in Raleigh) “Our goal was to be able to cover any practice area that your average family around here would need.”
In 2020, McCullers was appointed district court judge by Governor Roy Cooper. In 2011, Joe Hamer joined the firm and quickly became a partner. Whitaker met Hamer (10 years his junior) when he coached Hamer in youth basketball leagues.
No Surprises
Whitaker & Hamer’s eight attorneys provide legal services in commercial and residential real estate, estate planning, estate management and probate, business law, personal injury, traffic law, and civil litigation. The firm has eight offices from the Charlotte area to the Coast.
“We handle estate planning for people across the economic spectrum. We’ve helped folks who just needed a will and a power of attorney,” said Whitaker. “We’ve helped folks who need a trust to get things to the next generation to try to avoid estate taxes,” said Whitaker. “I don’t know that there’s anybody in North Carolina we couldn’t help with estate planning.”
The commercial real estate practice includes assisting with the purchase, sale or merger of small businesses as well as working with developers.
Whitaker has handled residential real estate closings for 22 years. “We’ve handled over 60,000 or 70,000 real estate transactions. I tell people there’s nothing in a real estate closing, a title search, a title defect, or anything you’re going to encounter in real estate that I have not seen. We don’t get surprised.”
Land Rush
The great North Carolina Land Rush has brought in a flood of developers from outside the state. “Out-of-town developers can throw a lot of money at you, but local landowners have learned a lot about properly valuing their family land,” said Whitaker. “We see it happen all over the state.”
Whitaker & Hamer often work with landowners to help them keep their land and maximize its value by developing it for commercial, retail or housing rather than selling it. “We like to connect local folks to a network of professionals who can help them through the process.”
Expansion Plans
“It would be great to add an experienced attorney familiar with bankruptcy,” said Whitaker. “We work with many self-employed folks, and a personal bankruptcy lawyer would also be a component.” Adding attorneys to the firm’s family law and business law practice groups is also at the top of the list.
COVID demonstrated that the firm could be spread out with a series of local offices rather than a home office with satellite offices. The firm’s attorneys criss cross the region as needed to provide experienced representation to clients all over the state.
Expansion plans include opening an office in western North Carolina.
Whitaker explained that by locating offices across the state, the lawyers can get involved in their local communities. “All the firm’s attorneys are home-grown North Carolinians,” he said proudly.
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