Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Greg McIntyre (00:10):
I'm extremely
glad for this Elder Law report
today to bring you a newattorney, new to you, but not to
us.
Josh has been speaking to ourfirm for some time now, been
working in our firm with me forsome time now, and we're just
(00:31):
now releasing him and announcinghim to the world.
I'm extremely proud to do this.
We're adding an additionalattorney to our firm, which we
did some time ago, butofficially, Joshua Hunter, Josh,
do you mind if people call youJosh?
(00:52):
Josh is perfect.
Okay.
And, you know, our attorneyshave to learn a lot, both with
estate planning, the elder lawand long-term care components,
benefits, probate and trustadministration, as well as the
litigation components of what wedo.
(01:13):
So there's a lot on ourattorney's plates that they have
to really beef up into whatseems like a small practice area
of estate planning elder lawbecause that's all we do.
But to be steeped in theknowledge of each area takes a
lot for that attorney.
It takes a lot for the team,too, to dedicate the time for
(01:35):
that training.
Um but it's necessary.
The law is traditionally, overthe last probably hundreds of
years, a couple hundred years atleast, an apprenticeship
profession for the most part.
And I'm really a big believerin apprenticeship and watching
(01:57):
the right way to do it,learning, and then moving to the
next level.
So Josh has really been goingthrough that with us, and we're
extremely proud of him.
Josh, can you tell us a littlebit about yourself?
I'm going to ask you somequestions.
Are you ready?
I'm ready.
All right.
Josh Hunter (02:12):
Where did you go to
undergrad?
I went to undergrad at theUniversity of North Carolina at
Greensboro.
UNCG.
And how was that experience?
It was great.
I was a history major.
I loved it.
I got a lot of experience andlearned about a bunch of
different cultures, a bunch ofdifferent ideologies.
I had a really good time.
Greg McIntyre (02:32):
History is
phenomenal and a great starting
point or just place to stay asfar as learning from the past,
right?
And understanding the past asto why we're here.
And you see it all over theplace too.
I like talking to Josh aboutdifferent things because I'm not
a history major, but certainlya buff.
And and and um you know, toknow why things are done in
(02:58):
different ways in our societyand how they ended up and where
they came from is gives you adifferent context or or at least
a broader context of uh, and Idon't know, it just makes
everything brighter or moremeaningful, right?
It's fun to do that a littlebit.
So that's good.
So a history major, and andthen tell me about where did you
(03:22):
go to law school?
Josh Hunter (03:23):
I went to law
school at Elon University School
of Law in Greensboro.
Greg McIntyre (03:27):
So my law
partner, Brittany Begley, uh,
graduated from Elon.
I'm sure you and Brittonprobably had some Elon
conversations.
We did.
Um, great school.
Um, and I know a lot aboutElon.
I worked as a TA for LearyDavis, who was one of the people
who helped found that school,okay?
(03:47):
Um, and running all the numbersand getting things together and
spreadsheets early on.
And Leary Davis was one of thesmartest people you'd ever meet,
okay?
And I was lucky enough to be aTA for Leary.
I guess I was a 2-L then.
Um, but I remember when thatlaw school came about.
And uh that's cool that somehowI played a eatsy teensy small
(04:08):
part in it and and was aroundthat when it began.
And um, lucky enough to haveBrenton Begley, who's a great
law partner and attorney in ourfirm, and now you from Elon as
well.
So that's really cool.
Um, so how was law school?
Josh Hunter (04:24):
Uh law school was
challenging for sure.
I think it did a lot for myconfidence and just knowing that
I could accomplish so much andbe as organized as I am, um, and
that I have the ability to be alawyer.
Greg McIntyre (04:42):
Right.
unknown (04:43):
Yeah.
Greg McIntyre (04:43):
I probably gained
a lot of comp of confidence
from that as well.
Absolutely.
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah, just through thatexperience.
In law school, what'sinteresting, I don't know if you
found this, like we all lawstudents, worked super hard to
get into that position only tocomplain about it the entire way
(05:05):
through and hate it and talkabout how much was horrible or
is horrible.
I actually loved law school.
I don't know.
I don't know if I don't know ifyou can say you loved it, but
what did you think?
Josh Hunter (05:17):
Well, I certainly
did my fair amount of
complaining.
Sure.
But that said, I loved learningnew things.
I loved learning why thingswork the way they do.
I think that was probably myfavorite part about going to law
school, is just learning aboutall of these systems and
basically how the worldfunctions and as our society
functions.
Greg McIntyre (05:37):
I don't think I
really understood how how the
con just basics when I was inlaw school that were revealed to
me my how little I understoodabout the different
constitutional amendments, um,the different um uh way
(05:57):
interplay between them, likelike it was very revealing to me
how little I knew and how muchI kind of came online and
learned and said, oh, that's howthose things fit together,
those work, that's where thatcomes from, where that you know
is is grounded, right?
Yeah.
Um, so that that was huge.
And then um law school is a lotof work and a lot of long
(06:19):
hours, day after day after day,and way too much information,
drinking from a fire hose onpurpose, if it's engineered that
way.
Um, you know, that's that's whyyou hear the complaining, and
and it's it's it's adjusting tothat.
And then figuring out, oh, youknow, gaining confidence from
(06:41):
success in that system, right?
Yeah, which is cool, reallycool.
And uh so but you didn't stopthere.
You went on above and beyondand and and received another
degree, which is I think amaster's of laws, right?
Josh Hunter (06:56):
Uh it's a master's
of environmental law and policy.
Greg McIntyre (06:58):
Master's in
environmental law and policy for
Matt Law in graduate school.
Okay.
So tell me about the master'sin environmental law and policy
that you received.
Tell me, tell me about that.
And why did you go receive, youknow, toward that direction?
(07:19):
Yeah.
Josh Hunter (07:20):
Well, first and
foremost, uh part of the reason
I went to Elon was because theyhad a joint degree program with
Vermont.
And I was interested in thetime of learning more about
environmental law and saw thatas a path that I wanted to
pursue.
And so I did the joint degreeprogram.
I made the grades to get intoit, and I decided I was gonna go
(07:43):
up there in the summers andtake classes.
And uh I loved it.
Greg McIntyre (07:48):
It was great, but
that's really close to to your
personal interest as well,right?
I mean, you know, you grew upand live close to a lot of
nature.
Yeah, you spend a lot of timein nature, and you have a real,
really deep love of theenvironment and a desire to
(08:11):
preserve it.
And and, you know, so that'swhat I gather from my time I've
spent with you and talking toyou.
Tell me a little bit about howabout those personal interests
and then how that really, reallyjives with that education as
well.
Josh Hunter (08:26):
Yeah.
So I grew up right next to theURIs and kind of close to Baden
Lake, a small town calledAlbemarle, North Carolina.
And I grew up visiting MooreMountain State Park and hiking a
lot as a little kid.
Uh, once I got older, I startedgoing off and hiking on my own.
And I also started doing uhwildlife photography, and I
(08:48):
would upload those to databasesso that scientists could uh help
monitor their populations.
Right.
And so I started learning aboutspecies identification and
really got to enjoy my time innature and learn more about the
world around me.
Greg McIntyre (09:04):
So much, I mean,
you you like to go take walks
through the woods and spend timein nature daily, don't you?
Yeah, every day.
Did you know, and I'm sure youdo, there's a real correlation
between stress and creativity.
Um both studies that are done,if you spend a certain amount of
(09:28):
time, like say each day, with awalk through the woods or
around nature, right?
And out in the world, in thereal world, anyway, which is
nature.
Yeah.
Um, I mean, brings down stress.
There's been studies aboutincreased creativity, like
extreme increases in creativitywith people who will make sure
(09:48):
that they go out and spend theirtime outside in the woods
through with in nature on aregular basis, as opposed to
just in the concrete jungle orin their in our rooms or in the
house, right?
Josh Hunter (10:00):
Yeah.
unknown (10:01):
Yeah.
Josh Hunter (10:01):
I try to go outside
at least an hour a day and
spend time walking around.
It makes me feel a lot better.
I always find I have a muchclearer head, and especially
after a long day of doing abunch of legal reading, it can
you can be really tiresome.
And so when you go outside, itjust rests you.
Greg McIntyre (10:16):
Sure.
Josh Hunter (10:18):
So, any other
interest and hobbies?
Yeah, so I play DD.
I also play Magic theGathering, and I'm a big fan of
Pokemon.
So I'll play Pokemon cards andthe Pokemon video games.
Sure.
A new one just came out, andI'm really excited about that.
Greg McIntyre (10:34):
But I'm really
excited about it.
That that's awesome.
You know, I again, you know,you heard me on the phone with
my son Tucker yesterday, wholoves those things and other
things too, right?
He's extremely creative.
But um, you know, one of thegreat things about strategy
games and adventure games,role-playing games, is they're
(10:55):
rule-based.
They're all rule-based, whichthere are tons of studies out
there as well that those thatgamers like that with
role-playing games, realstrategy games, they they they
are great problem solvers.
They are creative problemsolvers, right?
The creativity part and andproblem solving part, which is
(11:17):
not just logical.
It's it is, it's like creativeproblem solving within rule
sets, right?
Which is exactly what lawyersdo every single day.
And that's what it is, right?
The rules are the statutes, thecase law, right?
Precedent.
And uh, so that I mean, thatjust really jives with a
phenomenal attorney who canreally creatively problem solve
(11:41):
within the within the law andunder the law and within the set
of rules.
Any other hobbies?
Josh Hunter (11:45):
Yeah, I mean, I
noticed the other day when I was
doing legal research, I feltthe exact same way I felt when I
was building my newest deck formagic, right?
Just trying to fine-tuneeverything and that Eureka
moment of finding exactly whatyou need.
Greg McIntyre (11:59):
Yeah, yeah,
that's that's that's what it is.
That's that's what it is.
Um, and I know I'm a big fan ofhealth and fitness also.
You lift.
Yeah, I'm a power lift.
You have your time in the gymregularly, right?
Josh Hunter (12:16):
Yeah, I try to go
for at least an hour a day.
Greg McIntyre (12:19):
Yeah.
Tell me what that does for you,the hour a day in the gym.
I can't I know what it does forme.
What does it do for you?
Why do you go?
Josh Hunter (12:25):
Uh it bumps me up,
it helps relieve a lot of
stress.
Greg McIntyre (12:28):
Yeah.
Josh Hunter (12:29):
And it just makes
me feel good.
Makes me feel good aboutmyself, uh, about how I look.
And I think that allows me toperform better at work too,
because I can focus more.
I'm not worried about uh theseexternal things like how I look,
or if I feel bad that day, Itypically feel really good
because I've worked out and madesure that I did.
Greg McIntyre (12:49):
Agreed.
Yeah.
I like to say I've never feltworse coming out of the gym than
I went in.
Yeah.
Even on a bad day that I don'tfeel well.
Plus, you get this satisfactionof accomplishment that you did
it anyway, which is really goodfrom a work ethic standpoint, as
well as um health andlongevity, not just a one-off, I
(13:10):
feel good today, but this is acommitment and I want to feel
good like forever, you know, andmake this a part of who I am.
But you're doing a little bitof both.
You're getting out in nature.
I mean, that's just sounds likea really healthy recipe for
success and longevity.
Josh Hunter (13:25):
No, it definitely
is.
Greg McIntyre (13:27):
I've never felt
better than I feel now, and I'm
not getting any younger, sowell, none of us are, unless
maybe we can turn back theclock.
And I think if you get reallyhealthy, you can turn back a
clock a year, some years.
How about that?
Um, well, I look forward toworking with you even more.
I think I look forward togetting the in the gym with you
(13:48):
one of these days.
You can come work out with us.
And uh come work out with you.
Absolutely.
And um Josh, you're you'regonna be ultimately landing in
our Hendersonville office, whichis uh in just a suburb uh on
this side of the east side ofAsheville in Henderson County,
(14:09):
right outside of BuncombeCounty, where Asheville is
located, um, which is a hugeretirement community where we
have a lot of clients for stateplanning, Elder Law, and other
issues.
Um, great office there, greatteam.
And you're going to be anattorney there, seeing clients
day to day.
Yeah.
(14:29):
And serving that community.
You know, I would encourage youto uh get to know the court
system there.
The clerk of courts great upthere.
There's some great judges andclerks.
Um spend some time at thecourthouse, get to know our team
there, you know, whom you'vemet, as well as you know, take
(14:50):
some role to integrate into thecommunity and really serve that
community.
And that's that's a recipe, youknow, get in the gym up there,
make friends, you know, and uhthere's no shortage of nature up
there to explore from hikingtrails, biking, mountain
climbing, probably rafting,whatever you want to do, that's
(15:12):
a playground up there.
Josh Hunter (15:13):
So yeah, and we do
have an amazing team up there,
and I'm looking forward toworking with them.
And I know we're going up thereevery Thursday and getting to
know them, and I think that's anexcellent opportunity for me to
get in the courtroom and uhreally explore the court system
there.
Greg McIntyre (15:27):
Absolutely.
So I I I I'm I'm really, reallyglad that you're on with our
firm.
And uh um, you know, I I lookforward to you guys out there.
Please welcome Josh to ourfirm.
And I think you guys are reallygonna love Josh.
Um, you know, certainly umJosh, even more than all the
(15:51):
attributes that he's alreadytold you, is a caring, very
friendly and kind person who Ithink cares a lot about his work
and as well as other people.
So, so um, you know, welcome toour firm, Josh.
And uh if you guys will helpwelcome him as well, thank you
for letting me introduce youtoday.
Of course.
Thank you for having me.
(16:12):
Yeah, absolutely to be here.
Stay tuned for the next ElderLaw Report.