This week on Outlaw Lawyer, Joe and I talk about North Carolina and sports betting. It might be about time. And we also talk about Justice Breyer retiring from the Supreme Court.
Next. And now, Outlaw Lawyer. Welcome in to the Outlaw Lawyers.
Josh Whitaker and Joe Hamer. Whitaker and Hamer law firm. They're the managing partners there. They're practicing attorneys here in the great state of North Carolina. They have 46 combined years experience. And they have offices in Raleigh, Garner, Clayton, Goldsboro, Fuquay-Varina, and Gastonia. And we talk all kinds of legal. Estate planning, administration, personal injury, criminal, traffic, family law, real estate. I mean, it's all in there.
But we also hit the hot topics. I'm Morgan Patrick, consumer advocate. There's going to be an opportunity for you if you've got your own set of legal issues and you've got some questions. You can get in touch with Whitaker and Hamer by calling 800-659-1186. That's 800-659-1186.
Leave a brief message in your contact information and an attorney with Whitaker and Hamer will be in touch. But we've got a lot to get to, including the U.S. Supreme Court, North Carolina and sports betting. So I'm excited, guys. Welcome in. Great to have you back on the radio. Morgan, it's good to talk to you. I have to apologize this morning.
My energy level is low. I'm still a little depressed from that UNC State basketball game the other day. I don't know if you caught that. Yeah, I caught it.
I caught it. That was that was a nice way to celebrate Roy Williams. I think that was and I applaud State for kind of, you know, letting that happen.
It was it was pretty ugly. And Carolina's not having a great year. State's not having a great year. It's just it's just bad basketball. You know, I've got it as well.
I caught it in the way that you would catch a disease or COVID even. Spoken like a true Duke fan. It gave me no pleasure, man. It made me very sad. It always, it frustrates me because State State always seems to play very well against against Duke, especially in basketball, at least in my mind.
I could be completely wrong. But my jaded perception is they always seem to rise to the occasion, play very well, give Duke a great challenge. And then it seems so often they just completely tank against Carolina.
And it makes me because that's the that's the game that I root the absolute hardest for State in and I'm the most invested. And God, I went really poorly really quickly. And it just kept going poorly. My energy level is low. I spent some time with you this morning, Josh.
You know, we had a meeting this morning and I'm very as an empath that picks up on feelings. I think I've caught your low energy. I haven't recovered. I just haven't recovered from that game. And I only watched the first five minutes and I turned it off because I was enough to ruin.
I think it's a ruin your day through Wednesday of the following week. Yeah, I think as a state fan, you can kind of get the feeling early on when it's going to go real bad. And it was going real bad. And I didn't see any I didn't see any chance for redemption.
But I hated it. For those kids, man, because you think they've got to be pumped up for the state Carolina game at Carolina, you know? Well, there wasn't much they could do, man. I mean, Carolina, I will make a bold prediction. Of course, everyone knows we're 100 percent on predictions we make. Carolina will never shoot like that again for as long as the school exists. I'm going to say that was going to that's their greatest shooting performance that they will ever have as a university.
I yeah. And then we're in let's see, we're in the All-Star break for hockey. So we can't even usually I lean on the hurricanes to get some kind of sports relief as a as a state basketball fan.
But I can't even do that right now. Well, they had a hell of a first half of the year, though. I mean, you got to really tip your cap and bang your sticks against the baseboards because I mean, it's it's pretty impressive what they've been able to do. And and don't forget at the end of last season, the fan base was absolutely going crazy because they weren't signing certain players.
And boy, I tell you, they went out and got got some other pieces and and they look like a team that could you know, I don't want to say it out loud, but hoist the you know what? Yeah, I think Joe Joe's just become a bigger hurricanes fan than me. But Joe, you you've been pretty excited about this the whole time. Yeah, I'm still getting there, man.
I'm still I'm still gradually getting there. Definitely a fan obviously have been a fan. I mean, you're you're going to be a fan of your hometown sports team, especially professional team where you don't have there's not a lot of variety, like with the college game where you you could have four or five teams in a close distance. So I've always been a fan based on that.
Never been a huge hockey fan. But, you know, we started going to the games this year, which I think is a big I think we got we've got to attribute a lot of the team success to that alone is our attendance. Absolutely. Absolutely.
That's one thing that's changed. But no, man, I'm getting there. I'm still not quite as invested. You know, I want the team to win. But whereas with like, you know, basketball and football sports, I've really cared about all my life and been involved in. I have more investment where like if a team that I that I like, you know, loses a game, it's still affects me more so than it does. You know, hurricanes lose.
It doesn't break my heart. You know, I remember walking out of the game out on a loss and you'll see people, you know, you can just see people that are super upset. They're mad.
They're they're yelling. And I'm not to that point, but I'm getting there, man. I'm getting to the point where I can be very angry about a loss sooner rather than later. Well, there's there's there's one way we can find out if you're really invested. And I can ask both of you this question since you guys both go to the games. Yeah.
And if you have, what number did you purchase? Here's the thing, man. That's almost a trick question. It's almost a trick question because because what I've discovered is I go to these games and, you know, this is we don't get a lot of outlets for our for our we don't get to go have a lot of fun because we're we're very busy lawyers. We spent a lot of time doing extremely, you know, complex legal work. So these games are really my my our outlet. You know, it's the it's the one fun thing we get to do a lot of time. So I do barely any drinking in my life other than when I go to these games. What tends to happen is we'll go we'll we'll, you know, start have a few beverages at the beginning of the game and then around halfway through it, I'll go and I'll buy a new piece of merchandise.
That's happened literally every game. So I have not only do I have a team sweater, I have several jerseys. I've got beanies.
And this is the thing. They don't have many that you know, you can't really get a number jersey. They only send, you know, it's it's random that they will have random players. Jerseys that are numbered. So a lot most of them are blank, and they'll customize them for you.
That's what I have found out for it for the low cost of $80. They will customize and put whoever's number on it you want. So I've got a jersey. It's not numbered.
And I have not I have not decided what number I'm going with when I when I do get it numbered, but I've got a short list. What about you? The two hundreds and they came out and they shot the T-shirts out of the cannon and I got one of those, but it was a medium. I don't quite make it into the mediums. And that's you got to squeeze into that. That's all that's all I've got. I've got to get on the I've got to get on the train.
I'm a little bit. You squeeze into that medium for the game. You squeeze in that medium, a pair of really short shorts and you're getting on the the jumbotron.
You can be a fixture like at the Panthers games used to be. And it was like it was meant to be. I wasn't even standing up like somehow the shirt got over everybody's hands and just like hit me in the gut. And I was like, oh, this is pretty sweet. And then it was a medium.
I was like, who wears I'm sure there's people out there who wear mediums, but I don't know those people. There's a lot of poetic, poetic irony to the medium hitting you in the gut. Well, Joe, you know, we always start out, you know, we're we're big we're big sports fans, so it's hard not to talk about sports when we when we get together. So we can always start out there. But we're always heading towards the law, the legal topics. And so this week we had a couple of things. Justice Associate Justice Stephen Breyer has announced his retirement.
He's 83. So we'll talk about what happens when a justice retires, how they're replaced. We've seen that play out a lot here over the past couple of years and just kind of talk about that process. I want to spend a lot of time, though, talking about the prospect. There's there's news here that a sports bill that would allow sports betting in North Carolina and sports books in North Carolina.
It's kind of weaving its way through the legislative process and could become law this year. So there's been a lot of talk about North Carolina in sports betting. So I really want to spend a lot of time kind of looking at that and talking about that.
I know me and Joe are big fans of legal sports betting, so we've got a lot of commentary there. But but Morgan, I think that's what we're going to do. We're going to jump into those two topics and and take it from there today. All right. Sounds sounds good, guys.
And certainly looking forward to it again. U.S. Supreme Court and North Carolina and sports betting going to be the two big ones this week. We will talk about those topics coming up. Want to remind our listeners that you can get in touch with Whitaker and Hamer if you have a legal question of your own and need some answers. You can call eight hundred six five nine eleven eighty six.
That's eight hundred six five nine eleven eighty six. You can also email questions to the program. We'll use them on a future show. Questions at the outlaw lawyer dot com. But when you call the number eight hundred six five nine eleven eighty six, just leave your contact information.
A little bit about what the call's about. An attorney with Whitaker and Hamer will be in touch. And visit the Web site, the outlaw lawyer dot com.
We're back right after this. Welcome back into the outlaw lawyers. Josh Whitaker and Joe Hamer are your hosts. They are the managing partners at Whitaker and Hamer law firm practicing attorneys right here in North Carolina. And they have forty six combined years experience between the two of them and offices. Well, they're everywhere.
Raleigh, Garner, Clayton, Goldsboro, Fuquay, Verina and Gastonia. Folks, if you've got a legal situation, you've got some questions and you need some answers. Got a phone number for you. Eight hundred six five nine eleven eighty six.
That's eight hundred six five nine eleven eighty six. Leave your contact information. A little bit about what the call's about. And an attorney with Whitaker and Hamer will be in touch. You can also email your questions to the program. Questions at the outlaw lawyer dot com.
We'll use those questions, answer those questions on future programs and always visit the Web site. The outlaw lawyer dot com. Gentlemen, it is the floor. You have it. Which case are we? I guess which story are we going to go first?
Well, before we get there, Morgan, I got a very important legal question for my friend Joseph. Jerry, there you're ready. I'm here, man.
There's nowhere there's nowhere else for me here waiting for this. So we've been we've been working on a Google SEO when we do the Web site. You know, we we have ads that we run, things like that.
The law firm of Whitaker, Hamer. And so we have to SEO. It's always annoying to me. You have to SEO different search terms, but you have to you have to SEO attorney, law firm and lawyer.
Because you never know what people are going to use to search. And so that got me thinking, what do I prefer? Do I prefer being called an attorney or do I prefer being called a lawyer? And I spent too much time thinking about that. I spent a lot of time pondering that question because I guess you get to choose. Right. I mean, they're both OK.
The bar doesn't have a problem with either one of those, as far as I'm aware. So it's up to you what you put on your business card. Joseph, what do you prefer? Well, I'm going to do a real attorney thing to you, Josh, and I'm going to answer your question with a question. And I know what my answer is going to be. But before I answer, I'm interested in what because you've obviously put a lot of thought into this. I'm coming off the cuff with it.
I'm interested to hear what you chose. I think we I think we we started out being attorneys and counselors at law. And we talked we talk on the show from time to time what that what that counselor term means and kind of where it comes from. So I think I'm always instinctively gone with attorney, although I got to tell you, I like the sound of lawyer more, you know, but that's not what I've used. And I don't even have a business card. I was about to pull out my business card and see what's on there, but I don't have one around.
I don't know, man. I think I think I'm going attorney on this one. It just attorneys what I've used for some. And I don't know why, man, because because you could make the argument that attorney is also pretentious. But a lawyer just seemed more like pretentious to me. And I guess you've heard you hear, you know, a lot of people who have a negative perception of what attorneys are. You hear, you know, the lawyer jokes. And that's lawyer is what is always used in that context.
I don't know. It just has like a negative connotation more so than attorney does. So but then I like that counselor piece, too, man. I'm cool just being just calling us counselors, man. I think that's legal counselors, legal counselors. Now, when I hear counselors, guys, I think about summer camp.
Oh, yeah. We can run a camp. We can run a law camp for your listeners.
It's a great memory. Yeah. Legal, legal law camp. Yeah. Well, why don't why don't you guys be attorneys and you can play lawyer on the outlaw lawyer on the weekends? How about that?
That is the name of our show, man. I didn't even think about that. Yeah. The outlaw attorney sounds stupid.
It does sound it does not work at all. I think I think we have to reverse our answers and go lawyer now that we're in this up. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
That's not what I really want to talk about. That's the kind of thing I ponder in my free time, but my brain just goes and I'm after research where attorney comes from, where lawyer comes from. If you Google outlaw attorney, our law office pops up. So that is something there.
There is no outlaw attorney out there. So we should have done more research. Anybody listening? We named our show. Yeah. Yeah. The.
All right. So the biggest you know, we try to cover legal news. A lot of times we try to cover things in a way that the normal non attorney media covers them. This was a big story. Everybody's covered it.
We didn't have to go looking different networks for coverage. But Associate Justice Stephen Breyer is 83 years old. He has been on the court since being appointed by Bill Clinton in 1994.
He has decided to to retire. And I assume he's doing that because midterm elections are coming up and the Biden administration. Justice Breyer is in the liberal wing.
I think most people would say, again, we try not to we try not to make it too political. But Justice Breyer is on the liberal wing of the court. And so he's going to be stepping down. And so Biden's President Biden's camp has made a lot of news this week by saying, you know, yeah, we're going to we're going to, you know, replace him. But we're going to replace him with an African-American female.
There's not an African-American female on the bench. And so there's plenty of qualified candidates. They've kind of already put together a short list that's being reported. So that's that's the big legal news. I don't know that we have much commentary on that besides, you know, just pointing out that it's that it's happening. And, Joe, we've seen a lot of really contentious, you know, they still have to get confirmed.
Right. So the Biden camp will nominate someone and they'll have to go through confirmation hearings. And we've seen Associate Justice Kavanaugh had very contentious confirmation hearings.
That was one recently that sticks out my mind. But these things don't always go super smooth. No, that's a good, good point, Josh. They I would say they rarely go super smooth, especially in today's political climate. And like you said, we we try to avoid labeling justices as being either conservative or liberal or defining them on their political, you know, affiliation. Because in theory, these should these individuals are, you know, they're they're on the side of the letter of the law and they have no affiliation. But but the practical reality, especially to the public eye and to people who are very invested in politics, is that, you know, they that's kind of how they classify these justices.
And that's kind of how they look at them. And you get into you get into so much of this tribalism and so much of this, you know, which which political team you're on and which side of the aisle you're on. And it's going to be contentious, man, just because of that, because you've got folks who are you get you're going to have people who are going to be adamantly opposed to this individual just solely based on, you know, who won, who's appointing them. And and I think that we will see at least an attempt to make it a very contentious process. Well, here, you know, President Biden has has a lot of options. You know, he could appoint again, they have identified again, they their their intent is to nominate an African-American female, which would be the first African-American female on the U.S. Supreme Court. They have they have made that their their goal. And they have there's been a lot of names thrown out that they're considering.
We don't have an official list or anything like that. But they've kind of looked at a lot of the a lot of the African-American females on the federal appellate courts and things like that. And so he'll have a choice between, you know, someone who's very liberal. So we're we've got a Democratic president replacing or nominating a replacement on the Supreme Court for someone in the liberal wing. So it's you know, I think the big discussion will be, does he nominate someone who's more moderate? You know, obviously will be liberal, but more moderate or more progressive.
And so I think that'll be the biggest thing. Of course, this won't change the balance of the court right away because he'll be replacing a a liberal justice with a a liberal, a Democratic justice. So we don't have that weighing in where we're going to change the the makeup of the court. So they'll still be, as you'll hear some folks say, a conservative majority on the court.
But anyway, it'll be very interesting anytime someone gets nominated for the Supreme Court and get to hear, you know, the Senate confirm it's it's always interesting. You know, they weren't that contentious until recently. Usually they they went kind of smooth, I think, historically.
And there's a couple of examples where folks didn't get confirmed and things like that. But generally, it's not too much. But, you know, Joe, I got curious. I didn't really know what a Supreme Court justice makes. And so I looked that up because I figured it's a good paycheck. Right. You know, so a Supreme Court associate justice as of 2020 made two hundred sixty five thousand six hundred dollars a year, which is a fine salary.
Nothing to complain about when you're making over 250 grand. But honestly, I thought it would be more than that. I was surprised that that was the I mean, because that's as high as you go. Right. If you're a judge, a justice, that's the pinnacle of your career. That's the tip top.
That's the tip top. So there's no there's no, you know, going up somewhere else and making a cool half million. You know, that's a lot of a lot of ancillary benefits, though, attached to that. And then the opportunities once you were you were out of that poster are probably endless, which, of course, you know, Briar is going to be he's going to be living off of his family's ice cream money, is what I assume. So that's what I assume, too.
I haven't done any research into that, but I assume that is a lucrative family business. You've got a note here, Josh. And I want to read it out because you do your preparation for this show is impeccable. I need to preface that before you read that note, Joseph.
Yes. OK. OK. All right. So I was searching.
I was I'm gonna let you read it, but I'm going to preface it. I was searching for I was searching for that salary. And I was like, well, who's the highest paid judge, you know, assuming it'd be the chief justice of the Supreme Court, which he does make more money, not substantially more. I was like, who is the highest paid judge in the U.S.?
Who is it? All right. And that's where this note comes from. I say this. I'm going to read this note verbatim.
And again, I commend your preparation second to none up at all hours of the night, plugging away to get us ready for the show. And it says simply Judge Judy makes forty seven million dollars. And then there's a dash.
And then it says this makes Josh very sad. Forty seven million dollars a year. Judge Judy, I don't know about this year.
I don't even know if that show is still in the air, but it's syndicated now, though. So she's got to be cleaning up. You know, she's been doing that since 1996. She's an Emmy Award winning individual. She's killing it, man. She's she's been around forever. She's ageless, too.
I don't know. She looks the same now as she did in 96. At least maybe it's just the last time I actually saw her was like 98. And so that's why I think that. But, Joe, it sounds like you have a thing for Judge Judy.
Is that true? I have I think that's I think that's a stretch. It's a little unfair to say she's not even my favorite TV judge, but I'm a judge. I'm a Judge Mathis guy or or a Judge Joe Brown guy.
That's what I think. I'll take either one of those over Judge Judy. But I'd like you know, you got you can't knock or hustle, right? No, no. Hey, if someone's gonna pay you forty seven million dollars to do something, you've won. You're the smart one. You figured it out.
You know, I can't. I'm looking at these top courtroom reality TV shows and there's one I totally forgot about. And that was ran from 98 to 2001. Judge Mills Lane. You remember that one? Oh, yeah. The boxing boxing boxing judge.
Yeah. That was I wonder how much he made. It was canceled after three seasons. I can't imagine he was. It wasn't forty seven million dollars cumulative. Well, I wonder what the inflation adjusted numbers are for Wapner back in the day.
You know, I wonder what Wapner was going down. Yeah, not on not on this list either. I actually know it's number two on this list. Excuse me. It's number two on this list.
So they came out with a new doesn't say it doesn't have a figure there. Well, anyway, forty seven million dollars. You know, that's a lot of money and good for her. But it still made me sad that the chief that I think the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court was around two seventy five to eighty. You know, again, great salary.
Can't hard to complain about that salary. But as the number one top judge in all of the U.S., you're dwarfed. I don't know. I don't I don't know what the percentage is. If you put that as a percentage of what Judge Judy is raking in.
But it's low. Correct. The outlaw lawyers, Josh Whitaker and Joe Hamer, Whitaker and Hamer law firms where you can find them during the week. They are the managing partners there. They are practicing attorneys here in the great state of North Carolina.
They have forty six combined years experience between the two of them. And again, offices in Raleigh, Garner, Clayton, Goldsboro, Fuquay, Varina and Gastonia. If you have a legal question of your own, you can get in touch with the firm. Call eight hundred six five nine eleven eighty six.
That's eight hundred six five nine eleven eighty six. Leave your contact information briefly what the call is about. And an attorney with Whitaker and Hamer will be in touch with you. You can also email the program questions at the outlaw lawyer dot com. We'll use those questions, answer those questions for you in future programs and always check out the website, the outlaw lawyer dot com. We've got more to get to on the show.
We'll be back right after this. The outlaw lawyer on the air, Josh Whitaker and Joe Hamer are your hosts, Whitaker and Hamer law firm is where you can find them during the week. They're the managing partners at the firm, practicing attorneys here in North Carolina.
Forty six combined years experience between these two and they have offices conveniently located in Raleigh, Garner, Clayton, Goldsboro, Fuquay, Varina and Gastonia. We talk all legal topics on the program. We have a lot of fun.
I'm usually the referee. I'm Morgan Patrick, by the way, consumer advocate. If you've got your own legal question, you can call us. Eight hundred six five nine eleven eighty six.
That's eight hundred six five nine eleven eighty six. And leave your contact information briefly what that call is about. And an attorney with Whitaker and Hamer will be in touch with you. You can also email the program questions at the outlaw lawyer dot com.
We'll answer those questions on a future program and visit the website, the outlaw lawyer dot com. Gentlemen, we're going to have a hard time getting past this forty seven million dollars that just Judy makes. If you make forty seven million dollars a year, like what's up? You know, like if you feel like a normal guy, you make a normal salary.
You got to eat dinner, you know, spending fifty bucks on dinner. You know, it's like maybe a normal amount of money. Like I wonder if you make forty seven million dollars a year, what's a normal amount of money to spend? Like what's a what's the if you make forty seven million dollars a year, what amount of money do you have to spend where it's like a big purchase?
That's what I'm trying to figure out. What can you even what can you even buy, though? That's going to cost that much money. Super, super, super, super. That's exactly where I. Yeah, but I mean, how many superyachts can you buy? Well, and not only do you buy not only do you buy a superyacht, you have to staff a superyacht. This is true.
You don't even you know, you don't have to you don't have to. And I'm going to put this into perspective. I'm going to say you don't have to buy a super. You know, there's boats that are not superyachts that are far from superyachts that require staff. You go down, guys, you go down to Wrightsville and just walk around dockside area and there are a million, two million dollar boats. And that's I mean, you can throw a rock and hit a bunch of those. I mean, boats get way up there when you get up in that one to two million dollar dollar range.
That's generally where you're you're not driving that yourself. I just I can't imagine that level of comfort where you're well, I made forty seven million this year. I'll just throw it on the other forty seven million I made last year.
And then like what? What's a big purchase for you? You know, like five million.
Is that something you know, like a normal person, you go buy a house, you put your down payment down. You're like, man, that's that's a lot of money. That's probably the most money I'll ever spend at one time, you know. And, you know, I guess you're just buying bigger versions of the same things normal people would buy. Right.
Bigger boats, bigger houses, 10 car garage, go to Barrett Jackson, you know, spend whatever you want. Yeah. Anyway, it must be nice for Judge Judy. What a life she must live. You know, what a life. One day we'll get that law lawyer.
It's on judge. Maybe that's where we need to take this. I like it. Yeah. I'll be your announcer. I'll be your announcer. Yeah. We'll pencil that in.
That'll work out just fine. This is a good this is a great segue because you ask what Judge Judy could spend an unreasonable amount of her forty seven million dollars a year on. And the answer to that is she could become a degenerate gambler and and spend the vast majority of her money. And that segues perfectly into our sports betting discussion.
You know, this is something I've been watching. You know, there's a there's a bill, the North Carolina House, I believe, if I if I remember correctly, has already passed it. It's going to come through the Senate.
I think most people who pay attention to this kind of thing think it's got a good chance of making it through. And so the thought is here in twenty twenty two, we may finally have legal sports betting in the state. And and that's to me, I'm a big I'm not a libertarian, but I take that approach to a lot of things like things that we don't need to make things illegal unless they really need to be illegal. You know, you can't I'm not a big fan of just, you know, all these laws that make all different kinds of things illegal.
I'm all for things being legalized. We're all adults, you know, and sports betting is one that I just never figured out. I remember I grew up in the in the 80s. I'm a big product of 80 sitcoms. And every 80 sitcom has the episode where somebody in the family was addicted to sports betting and everything was going wrong for him and going downhill. And, you know, they end up coming back. But sports betting has always been a big no no. You know, back in the day and of course, now we look at it, Joe's generation, he's a little bit younger than me and Ford.
They probably look at it completely different for me. It was like big time is it was up there with murder, right? Sports betting is evil, you know, and it's just not the way it is. Oh, come on now.
Really? Sports betting up there with murder? Come on, Josh. Look, man, you're exaggerating a little. I'll point you to a couple of episodes of Night Court and Cheers that had to do with sports betting that must have planted that seed. To me, not a big deal, but I just felt like as a society.
Yeah, I get your point. And I'm I'm not too young to remember like how sports betting was really demonized. And, you know, it is it's changed a lot and it's going to continue to change just just with the prevalence of these online sports books. You know, you'll you'll see an advertisement on any professional sporting event that you watch. You're going to see a couple of advertisements for, you know, Draft Kings, for for any for some kind of a online sports book. Well, how much how much money is how much money is Caesars dropping?
I mean, their ads are everywhere. Tons, you know, bet MGM. It's getting bigger because because what's going to, you know, with the prevalence, the increased prevalence of it, you're going to have more states where you can do the online. And so so right now, just to give anyone I don't know how much exhaustive research you guys have done.
I have done some research on on our paths on sports gambling. And, you know, it's it's it's locked by geography now. So, you know, you log in to your computer device, to your phone. You try to pull up one of these sites and it's going to it's going to make you track location so they can see where you're at. And they're going to shut it down geographically. But these sites are out there and they're making a ton of money. And the thing is, you know, it's some people can say this isn't a very good argument for anything being to be legalized, but people are going to be able to to bet if they want to. There's offshore books that people can use, you know, with with the rise of cryptocurrency.
A lot of folks are using that cryptocurrency because it's more difficult to track and they're depositing into these offshore books and they're betting just like they will when it's legal. The difference is there's there's no revenue being generated for the state as a result of that. And there's there's no regulation for that as well. I mean, you can say it's illegal, but there's it just seems like the there's a lot of potential pros to that legalization. So so far as you know, you can you can regulate it, you can you can educate about it, you can generate some revenue off of it. And, you know, some people could say that's a poor argument, but I don't think it's a bad argument.
I don't know. As the state, I don't know how you you OK a state lottery and get it going and, you know, it funds education or what have you. I don't know how you you say that's OK. And then you outlaw or you continue to keep sports betting illegal. You know, I just I don't get the picket in choosing which vice is better than than another vice.
But yeah, well, how can you even say one vice is better than it? They're both gambling like it's gambling. You know, I would argue sports betting is at least a higher level of gambling because it's way more fun. It's not random. You know, it's way more fun than buying a lottery ticket, man. You know, I'm married.
There's the illusion of skill involved. We've talked about this a time or two, but I'm born and raised here in Raleigh and I'm married into New York. So my in-laws are all New Yorkers. And up there, you know, the lottery's been around forever. Everybody just gets some lottery tickets. I remember when we first got the lottery, like I couldn't figure out how to buy. It was before scratch offs and we just had like the regular pick your numbers. I couldn't figure out how to do it like the scantron. She confused me.
I felt like the dumbest guy who ever lived. I think I've only played the lottery like two or two or three times. Well, you know, and it's funny you mentioned New York and the lottery because that's that's sports betting recently legalized in New York. And, you know, they've got all these online books that have that have come in.
That was very recently. But I think it's safe to say it's becoming more prevalent. And, you know, there are.
Don't get me wrong. There's dangers. There's there's absolutely dangers to it. You know, it can be addictive.
It can be something that's that's greatly damaging to individuals. And again, you can you can make the argument that that those folks who are going to be addicted and are going to have a problem with it, they're going to find a way to do it anyways, because it's not that difficult for them to do. But then the counter argument to that, you know, we like to present both sides here. And the counter argument to that is, well, the fact that it's legalized is going to attract individuals who otherwise may have steered clear of it and potentially get some folks that otherwise would have never experienced that addicted to it.
But but I'm with you, Josh. I'm of the opinion that, you know, you give folks a choice to engage in these activities. You trust that they you know, some people will have issues with it. But but there's a lot of people who will use it responsibly.
And there are some some good there's a lot of good that can come from it. And I think you almost made the strongest argument for it is how can you justify having a state sanctioned lottery and say that this is something that shouldn't be permitted? It makes no sense to me. Well, I just I always argue, you know, why what what what is the state protecting by keeping something like that illegal by keeping it on the books? In theory, you got to prosecute it when we all we all have March Madness pools and that's betting. I mean, it ain't much. What are you, five, 20 bucks or NFL time? You do knock out pools at the office. I mean, it's all sports betting.
Fantasy football. I mean, you throw money in that. I mean, yeah, it's the same thing, man. It's almost ridiculous that it's 2022. And that's technically and again, no one gets arrested for that.
We all you know, it's illegal, but no one you know, the cops don't come break down the door of your office and arrest everybody who put twenty dollars in the office pool. But still, why bother? And I think maybe that's where we've gotten even, you know, North Carolina, you know, kind of being in the Bible Belt. We've got a lot of blue laws that I disagree with. We got a lot of laws that I'm like, why? Why bother?
What legitimate government purpose are we? You know, I don't know. I would wonder. I've never I don't practice criminal law.
We have criminal law attorneys here at Whitaker and Hamer. Well, I've never seen anybody prosecuted for sports betting, but I'm sure people have been right back in the day before the Internet where you had like the neighborhood bookie. But this kind of thing just seems so ridiculous to me. And then we're not going to talk about it today.
We should one time we should talk about it at some point. But, you know, the states that have adopted, you know, decriminalizing possession of certain amounts of marijuana, that's kind of the same thing. You know, at what point are we OK with adults being adults and we don't, you know, make everything illegal? You know, Josh, I want to make a practical point.
And then I think we I think we're coming up against a break and then we can come back and get into the the actual nuances of of this law and what it's going to permit and what it's not going to permit. But, you know, you mentioned these you mentioned, you know, a lot of people do a March Madness bracket and people greatly enjoy that. Right. You know, that's something that people greatly enjoy. I can tell you from from experience, from, you know, traveling to to Las Vegas and some of these places where sports betting is legal during the time that March Madness is going on, you know, sports betting on March Madness on that first weekend. I'm going to say it's thirty six to thirty seven thousand times more fun than just to win a March Madness bracket like there's a sports fan. It's it's an incredibly I mean, it's there's nothing like it, man. I was in Vegas a long it's been a while, but not since I've been to Vegas, but since I did this, I was in Vegas and just set in a sports book for that that first weekend.
And yeah, I don't know. That's about the most fun I've ever had in Vegas doing, you know, doing anything was just sitting in that sports book, watching every game possible. And as a sports fan, just as a sports fan in general, you know, if you get into the sports betting, you you can have a vested interest in anything and any in any sports and women's basketball and table tennis. Like you can make watching a sport that you would never watch.
It can make it so much more fun or so much more not depending on how it goes for you. Did you say table tennis? Yeah, you can bet on table. You can bet on table tennis. You can bet on darts. You can bet on ping pong. You can bet on ping pong. There's there is a there's like a there's like Chinese ping pong leagues that are extremely serious. And not only can you bet on ping pong, you've got people who have entire websites dedicated to the analysis of ping pong players and like making picks based on this guy because he played he ate a cracker yesterday. My money, a cracker.
My money's on Forrest Gump every single time. This guy's got the most limber wrists in Southeast Asia. All right. Well, we've got more discussion coming up. You're listening to the Outlaw lawyers, Josh Whitaker and Joe Hamer of Whitaker and Hamer Law Firm. They're the managing partners. They are practicing attorneys here in North Carolina.
They have forty six combined years experience in offices in Raleigh, Garner, Clayton, Goldsboro, Fuquay, Verina and Gastonia. If you have a question from the legal side, you need an answer for. We've got a number for you. Eight hundred six five nine eleven eighty six.
That's eight hundred six five nine eleven eighty six. Leave your contact information briefly what the call is about. And an attorney with Whitaker and Hamer will be in touch. And you can always email a question to the program questions at the outlaw lawyer dot com. And we'll answer those questions for you in a future program. And check out the website, the outlaw lawyer dot com.
We're back right after this. We are back on the outlaw lawyer, Josh Whitaker and Joe Hamer are your hosts. They are attorneys at Whitaker and Hamer Law Firm. They're counselors. They're lawyers.
They're still trying to figure out exactly which name they're going to go by. But the show is the outlaw lawyer. I'm Morgan Patrick, consumer advocate. And between Josh and Joe, forty six combined years experience of the managing partners at the firm. Practicing attorneys here in North Carolina.
And again, offices conveniently located Raleigh, Garner, Clayton, Goldsboro, Fuquay, Verina and Gastonia. And if you want to get in touch, you've got a legal question of your own. Call us. Eight hundred six five nine eleven eighty six.
That's eight hundred six five nine eleven eighty six. That's an answering service. Just leave your contact information and we'll be back in touch.
The firm will and have an answer for your questions. And you can also email the show at questions at the outlaw lawyer dot com. Guys, where are we going next?
All right. So legalized sports betting in North Carolina could be a reality in twenty twenty two. Joe, I was looking at the bill, just kind of taking out pieces. The one of the things that seemed most attractive to me is that the bill as it exists now, it can always be changed or revised. But as it exists now, it would permit sports books at venues that have pro teams. So that would, in theory, PNC the hurricanes.
So there there's a champions club. I imagine they could just turn that into a sports book. How awesome would that be?
Man, I tell you, it would be it would be really super awesome. In my opinion, again, it depends on where you fall on gambling and if you enjoy it or if you think it's the devil. You know, a lot of people probably think that's a terrible thing. But but yeah, as a as a sports fan, as someone who really enjoy sports and sees no issue with sports gambling.
No, that would be fantastic, man. And the energy there's a there's an energy level with these these sports books, man. And there's like a camaraderie among the people there. It's really it's really a unique thing that you you can't experience unless you're there. And you're invested in it. But man, I think that'd be very cool.
And you mentioned PNC. It looks like in its current format, the bill. So basically what the bill does is it does a few things. And interestingly enough, you know, I think a lot of people are optimistic about it because in the past, Roy Cooper, our governor here in North Carolina, has expressed some vocal support for sports betting.
So I think, again, there's a lot of optimism around this kind of taking place at some point and passing. But what the bill is going to do is, is it's it's going to allow sports wagering operators to accept wagers in the state. There's going to be licensing. They're going to be an extremely expensive licensing.
And there's going to be re-up renewable fees that are going to be due as well. And like you said, it's going to permit sportsbooks within one half mile of certain facilities. And so the facilities that would qualify that they stated thus far, it's PNC, it's the Spectrum Center in Charlotte. You got Bank of America Stadium as well in Charlotte, the Charlotte Motor Speedway and then Quill Hollow Club.
Those are those are the ones that have been stated as the places where these would take place. What's what's Quill Hollow? Is that golf? What is that? Oh, sounds golf. Good grief. Really? Yeah. Is that what? Yes.
It's golf. Yes. Yes. It's host of majors. Yes. Quill Hollow. That's a good thing that we have then. Is it a hunting club? Can I go shoot stuff there?
What is it? So the other big thing, more so than the sportsbooks is cool, right? Like that's that's we agree.
That would be a cool thing. Josh and I personally, at least. But but opening up the online betting, is really, you know, that that is seen to me as the bigger thing, because the prevalence of online betting, the providers that have come out, the amount of just the sheer volume of revenue that could potentially be generated from from those things alone. I mean, it's got to be substantial, man.
It's got to be absolutely substantial. And people are doing it. People are doing it now. You know, the folks who want to do it are doing it without issue with these offshore books that are potentially unreliable. They could be scams. They you know, there's there's a lot of lack of regulation that goes into that.
That that that makes that it makes it a little more dangerous, a little less safe than what it potentially would be with this legislation passing. I get a sports book parts the. Yeah.
I mean, all lines, too. I mean, like you said, everybody's it could be like the North Carolina was at the North Carolina Education Lottery, North Carolina Education Sportsbook. Yes. Why you why you gamble on your sports? I'll tell you what, I'd feel so much better when I'm gambling and losing my money. If I knew that that money was going to a bright eyed fourth grader to support their the books that they're reading in their classroom, it would make me it would warm my heart. I got a I got this is this is a dumb question, but it goes back to our 47 million dollar discussion.
You're still hanging on that. I love it. Judge Judy walks into the new sports book at PNC Arena. What do you think her bet is? How do you think her more than you know, like you make a five dollar bet on a game just for the heck of it, you know, or twenty dollars? Judy's dropping. Judge Judy's dropping one hundred grand. One hundred grand. She's dropping one hundred grand.
No sweat on on something irrelevant. I'm like the on like the first team to score 10 points. Yeah, no, like a prop bet, a prop bet at the Super Bowl. Who wins the coin flip?
What is it? Yeah, that's Judge Judy right there, because I don't judge Judy doesn't strike me as the type that that's done her research on on the teams. And she's probably picking like which animal she likes the best. That's the mascot. And that's how she's. Yeah. Yeah. And she's like she's like, I like the Cougars. Cool name. I'm kind of a Cougar myself.
A hundred grand on the Cougars to score an odd number of points in the third quarter. That's that's what I'm guessing. Judge Judy does. Joe, you're scaring me. You called her a Cougar.
Is that what you did? I'm just saying you don't get it twisted. She that's her own perception of herself.
That's where that's where I'm going with. OK, she keeps she keeps. You don't ever hear about you got the show, right? But you never know how she how she lives. You know, you never see that. She's never on. The kids still watch MTV Cribs.
Is that a thing that happens or is that? I don't think that I think that's not been a thing for a long time now, Josh. I never saw I never saw her on MTV Cribs or anything. I don't know how she's living with all this money. There's not a lot of cross. There's not a lot of Judge Judy crossover appeal between the folks who are watching MTV Cribs.
We are we don't pimp my ride. No, we're pretty sure she's not in a van down by the river. I'm looking her up right now.
She has you know, we all age and it looks like she has understandably aged a little since since 96. When I last remember seeing her, I still think just as a general rule, the legalization, making things not illegal. They don't have to be I mean, certain things have to be it should be illegal for someone to stab me for no reason. That should be illegal. As a society, we should frown. Just you.
Me specifically. But no, I guess generally, you know, that kind of thing should be illegal. When we get down to these little like what difference does it make to me if Joe's a degenerate sports gambler? I mean, I don't I don't think that should be illegal. Not that he is concerned as a friend. But yeah, sure.
Yeah. But if he didn't know me, then he could, you know, but and I tend to agree with you, man. And I know that there's a public interest. And, you know, we have we have an interest in the in the in the general welfare of the public and health and not allowing certain things to happen. And, you know, there is a line somewhere.
There's definitely a line somewhere. But this is it's it's difficult when you're talking about, you know, things like like sports gambling, for instance, where the technology that's available now, the prevalence of it. You know, it's one of those things that is going to be very difficult to regulate otherwise.
And the people are going to do it. And, you know, that's not the best argument because you don't want to say that same thing. You know, there's some people who would go so far as to make that argument for for heroin, for methamphetamine, for very damaging drugs. You know, folks, there's to a degree you could try to make that same argument. But with with sports betting in particular, it's just so easy to do. You know, it's just so very, very easy to do and so very difficult to track and to regulate. So getting some benefit and and gaining some control over it, I think does more good than it does harm. I think the word you said there that is probably the one that everybody's thinking about is control and how you bring it in and how you control it. So that's that's going to be an interesting discussion, guys.
We need to take a break and come back and we'll wrap up the program. The outlaw lawyers, Josh Whitaker and Joe Hamer, managing partners at Whitaker and Hamer law firm. They are practicing attorneys here in North Carolina.
And again, offices in Raleigh, Garner, Clayton, Goldsboro, Fuquay, Verina and Gastonia. If you've got your own legal question and you need an answer, I've got a number for you. Eight hundred six five nine eleven eighty six.
That's eight hundred six five nine eleven eighty six. Leave your contact information briefly what the call's about. And an attorney with Whitaker and Hamer will be in touch. You can also email your question to the program and we'll try and answer it for you on a future program. Questions at the outlaw lawyer dot com and always visit the Web site, the outlaw lawyer dot com. The outlaw lawyers, Josh Whitaker and Joe Hamer are your hosts. Whitaker and Hamer law firm is where you can find them during the week. Forty six combined years experience in offices in Raleigh, Garner, Clayton, Goldsboro, Fuquay, Verina and Gastonia.
They are the practicing attorneys managing partners at the firm and practicing attorneys here in North Carolina. I've got a short segment for you to wrap this program up. Guys, take it away. Well, Morgan, you do a good job reminding folks, but I always like to really illustrate this point. Me and Joe, we do this show. We have a lot of fun on this show. We like to talk about legal news in general, but me and Joe, we are practicing attorneys. So we're the managing partners of the law firm of Whitaker and Hamer and our attorneys practice a lot of different practice areas. And so we always like to remind folks that we're attorneys that you can hire, that you can retain, that you can consult with with your personal legal issues. And so you hear us here on the radio and you know, we're trying to give you some of our personality. So you know that we're not I think some people have misconceptions about attorneys and attorneys and or lawyers and how they are to interact with.
And I know a lot of attorneys, a lot of law, you know, normal folks. And, you know, we can we can help you if you have an issue. And I hope you know, I hope you just listen to us because you you believe we're entertaining. We try to be entertaining.
We enjoy this time. But if you do have a legal issue, if you have something going on, you've got a real estate purchase coming up. Yeah. You know, you've got an employment contract you need to review. You've got some child custody type issues that have come up. You've been sued.
You got a creditor bothering you. You know, we are lawyers and our law firm is active in North Carolina. Like Morgan says, we maintain offices in Raleigh, Garner, Clayton, Gastonia, Fuquay, Verina, Goldsboro. And Joe, where's our newest office?
So our very newest newest office, we are we are in the process of getting it up and running. And that is going to be our 4042 office. So, again, we refer to this area as the 4042 area. It's where, you know, NC42 and NC40, they they intersect just outside of Clayton. I think it's I think there's it's technically Garner is what it's referred to if you're looking for the city name. But I don't really think of it like Garner personally. But that's our newest spot.
And we're very excited. You know, it gives us a gives us another another location to to service folks in and around the Clayton Garner area. You know, it's a little bit of a trek out there for some folks or a trek to our Clayton or Garner office from that area. So it just opens up another spot, add some convenience.
And, you know, it accomplishes further accomplishes our goal of having an office literally everywhere you look. Yeah, some some folks call it the Cleveland area, some, you know, 4042. I like 4042, but it's a I've always thought it's a little bit of Garner. It's a little bit of Clayton.
It's like they got mixed up in a blender and bam, 4042. But we have a lot of clients out in that area. We've had a lot of folks asking us to put an office there. And so we're really excited about that.
But but we do again. And Morgan has our information and he'll give you the number here when we are we're in another show. But I always do want to remind you we're practicing North Carolina attorneys. You have a legal matter in South Carolina. We can't help you if you have a legal matter in Virginia, Tennessee. We're not the attorneys for you. We are only licensed to practice in North Carolina.
We are North Carolina attorneys really focused on the North Carolina market, but lots of experience in a lot of different areas. Like I've heard Joe say before, if we can't help you, then you've got a specialized legal problem. And we can usually refer you out to someone who has that that knowledge.
But for most of for most folks, the legal problems you encounter in your normal life, the law firm of Whitaker and Hamer car accidents, things like that. We can we can help you get through that. We can we can help you with that.
We'd be glad to do it. And the firm is doing pretty good. We're doing forty seven million a year.
Good. But the firm is a is a good established firm. We take a lot of pride in the communities that we're in participating in chambers. And and again, that's where our attorneys live.
Right. So we practice and live in the communities that we're that we're in. Joe, I have one favor to ask of you. And, you know, I know you guys work very, very hard and you guys are spread out between the different offices. How often do the two of you see each other and get to sit down and, you know, maybe you break bread or you just have conversations about the firm? I mean, do you guys see each other on a weekly basis?
What would you say? We should we should do that. And I'd say we're currently at a biweekly rate.
That would be that would be my guess. And sometimes more than others. You know, we've got the we've got the PNC thing that helps us a lot. And then we've got scheduled meetings, of course. But, you know, it's it's tough, man. We're very fortunate to be very busy.
Yes. So this is honestly this is the most we talk normally when we do this show. Well, I just have a favor. And this is something that's it's personal for me. I think a lot of our listeners would like to know. Obviously, Josh has a huge hang up with Judge Judy.
So if there's any way that you could find the shrine that obviously exists somewhere that's got the drapes and it's got the candles and it's got her picture. And because the 47 million a year has really got you wrapped. It's a lot, man. I agree. I'm getting more and more angry about it by the second. I love it.
I love it. Guys, we we are fresh out of time. The outlaw liars, we do have fun.
We do have serious conversations, but we try to inform to educate. And also the last one, very important, entertain. And if you need to get in touch with the firm, if you've got a legal question, here's the number. Eight hundred six five nine eleven eighty six.
That's eight hundred six five nine eleven eighty six. And just leave your contact information briefly. What the call's about. And an attorney with Whitaker and Hamer will be in touch. You can always email your questions to questions at the outlaw lawyer dot com and we'll use those questions and answer them on future programs.
Shows out of time, guys. Have a great week and we'll see you next week on the radio. Lawyer is hosted by an attorney licensed to practice law in North Carolina. Some of the guests appearing on the show may be licensed North Carolina attorneys. Discussion of the show is meant to be general in nature and in no way should the discussion be interpreted as legal advice. Legal advice can only be rendered once an attorney licensed in the state in which you live had the opportunity to discuss the facts of your case with you. The attorneys appearing on the show are speaking in generalities about the law in North Carolina and how these laws affect the average North Carolinian. If you have any questions about the content of the show, contact us directly.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-05-31 06:13:32 / 2023-05-31 06:38:09 / 25