Ben Whitley From Whitley Law Firm

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Episode Transcript

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iHeart Media Raleigh presents CEOs to Knowwhere we shine a spotlight on decision makers
from all corners of the Triangle,showcasing the leaders and companies that drive our
local economy. Eric could belong forCEOs to Know talking to leaders and CEOs
and partners like Ben Whitley all throughoutthe triangle making a difference in our community.

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And today I'm honored to sit downwith Whitley Law Firms very own Ben
Whitley. Can you tell us themotto of Whitley Law Firm. So it's
we answer the call, you know, and in almost every every Monday,
and when in a big group wehave a Monday huddle, we kind of
go through different updates and at theend we ask everybody what do we do?
We answer the call? And that'sour motto and our mission statement,

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you know, our mission statement reallyis we serve the community, We protect
our clients, and we serve ourstaff. So it's we really kind of
think of it as kind of athree pillars of we answering the call.
It's authentic being out in the community. That's really important to Whitley really is,
you know, I think that communitywhen we're telling the stories of people
coming to us that get hurt rightout of our community and we have to

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tell their stories and how it's affectedthem. And being local and having roots
here, you know, I thinkthat matters because what if we have a
disagreement with the insurance company and haveto go to court. You know,
you want lawyers that have been inthis community that can talk to juries,
talk to the judges that are localif there's a dispute, And of course
we don't want our class go tocourt. And because of that reputation Erica
sometimes they don't even have to becausethey hire us all through North Carolina,

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Greenville, Durham, Charlotte, Raleigh. Headquarters is in Raleigh, and you
know we do have branch offices.But but you know, nowadays Erica,
everything can be handled electronically. Wehave clients that which is amazing, Yes
it is, and so we clevclients will reach out to us in Ashville,
for example, and we can handlethings all via electronically. But we
do serve clients with offices all throughoutEast North Carolina, Central North Carolina and

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out to Winston, Salem and Charlotte. And you've been in business for over
forty years now, and so thiswas your father, Bob Whitley started it,
and then you kind of you're raisedright there, and so you started
as a baby as well. Buthow did that all unfold? And how
did you know like this is whatI wanted to pursue. Sure, so
dad grew up as a small townlawyer. We grew up in Kinston,
which is about hour and a half. It's the cut, but it's on

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the way to the beach. Onthe way the beach, you know,
it's you know, one of thefunny things that they have a motto on
the way and I joke sometimes theyshould be on the way to the beach.
But Kinston was a great place togrow up. It was a small
town. But my dad, youknow, when you have a small town
practice, you do a little bitof everything from criminal to divorce or personal
injury. And he just started gettinghe had got really good results with personal

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injury cases and kind of developed hispractice that way and grew out in parts
of different parts of the state.I came in around twenty years ago and
have been growing it with him eversince. And he's taught me all of
these core values that I think thatit's so important in a company culture because
it goes out to the way thatthe clients are treated at the very end,
and it could always be an amazingthing. Sometimes tough when you're working

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with family. So it would havebeen some time, like you know,
for all those entrepreneurs out there,are those are running businesses. What are
some of the obstacles that you faceas you do work with family or the
benefits of working with family. Well, you know, one of the main
benefits of family is trust. Right, You've got an immediate amount of trust
and someone that can be a partner. But you know there's also conflicts where
you have to remember to change yourhats, right, So if you're at

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work, you've got to where thelawyer hat or the partner hat. But
and sometimes you put on the sunand the dad hat. You know,
those can be challenges, right.But Dad and I have really learned to
work together because we've both see whateach other's values we bring to the table
and how it can be enhanced.And I've just really taken what he has
taught me and pushed it out toour other lawyers and through our staff so

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that we're all kind of working likehim the same beliefs and values and moving
these cases forward. And how manyemployees now is it over forty five?
Is at least sixty? Now sixty? Okay, Yeah, so there's been
a lot of growth, and Ithink really because the message that you and
I've talked a little bit about aboutauthenticity is registering, and we really try
to tell people we're accessible. Thiswhat you're listening to or what you may

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see or when you meet us,that's what you're going to get. That's
your advocate, who's going to beyour lawyer. And that's so important because
you've got staff that's been there.So when I go to call my I'm
going to call this person, I'mgoing to call Ben because I know Ben
took care of me the last timewhen I had to reach out right,
And I talk a lot about evenon our TV commercials, you'll see me
say you don't get the Whitley advantage. Well, that's an almost an internal

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issue when when someone has done anamazing job and gone out and beyond maybe
send something in a case that isway out and beyond normal, they provided
the Whitley advantage and I will talkto them on the We have slack channels
as show the Whitley advantage, soit's internalized as part of our culture,
and part of the culture is whatis the Whitley advantage? It's everything.
It Maybe it means spending a littlebit longer on a phone call because you're

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listening and you're hearing because they knowthat that's what it's about, giving kind
of that big hug and that wholeheartedcare. And if you can, if
if your staff, if your stafffeels that and feels that they're working in
a place that embraces that, itcomes out on the way that they taught
to clients, and clients will fillthat. So I think for all those

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CEOs out there, I think it'sthe key word is culture, culture,
culture within your team because they cantake your same values and you can multiply
that. And that's how we've beenable. That's how Dad and now I
have been able to provide the Whitlyadvantage to more and more North Carolinians.
And y'all can't see this, butI'm sitting across from Benny uses his hands,
which I love because that's speaking withpassion, Like they say, when

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you when you're using your ear,speaking from your heart and with passion which
I love that, and that's betterfor radio than it is for TV because
sometimes they tell me the TV I'mmaking, I'm moving my hands way too
much. Do the same though.I think that means you're an authentic person
speaking from your heart. So that'sreally cool. Thanks Erica. Now,
as somebody that's been in the businessbasically your whole life, when you go

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home and I do you have friendsthat you're like, I'm taking my law
your hat off right now so youcan just be at peace. Like,
what do you do in your freetime? Well, yeah, it is.
It's tough to kind of because peoplehave come to us right with a
really horrible thing that's happening in life, and we are trying to use our
minds to change the arc, changethe direction of that. So you think

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about it and it does weigh onyou and you think about your cases.
So sometimes it is difficult to leavethat at home. But I have found
anything that I can do to breakthat train of thought, such as exercise
or even mindless TV sometimes to getto stop thinking that. Now, my
ultimate for completely cleansing my mind ofthat is flying airplanes, which I do

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your pilots, Yeah, I thinkin that since I was seventeen, you
know, and that's that is afull escape of the whole legal world.
And I think for me to geta full reset, you know, just
a twenty minute flight and I'm good, that's wonderful. Are you flying yourself
to all your trips when you travelor do you guys, like, how
does that work? Well? Usuallyjust the shorter trips. I mean sometimes
you can't. I mean, thisis this isn't some elaborate jet. Okay,

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it's got propellers and yeah, sobut it and so it's it's fun
for kind of the East coast.But if you want to go far,
you you definitely want to take theairlines. But but I mean I try
to fly every thirty days, andif I don't, I go up with
instructor. I think a lot oftimes, and you hear about these accidents
and people because they're not, youknow, keeping up their skills. And
so that's something that I'm always kindof thinking about. But it is it

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is good to have something completely separatebecause you do get compassion fatigue. Yeah,
but I want but I think aboutmy clients and I and I want
to think of their kind of theirpath of getting out of this mess,
and I do feel a lot ofpeace when I get them there. Who
would you say has been your influence, which likely your dad, but maybe
your dad? And who else hasbeen an influence for you? Well?

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Yeah, I mean my my had, my grandfather or my mom's dad.
His name is Jack Hogarth. Justa real hard working, authentic, soft
spoken guy, and that's someone thathas kind of inspired me for the way
that I've kind of handled myself inbusiness and law, certainly as a legal
mentor my dad. You know,what I've been trying to do is is

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really to continue his legacy of theway that he's treated people. For example,
just the golden rule treat people asyou want to be treated. You
know, these are simple concepts thatI've just hoped to continue his legacy with
with the way that we've been growingand serving more and more North Carolinians with
that, you know, and Ithink that you know, we're hungry for

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that. North Karelians are hungry forauthentic, you know, the truth tellers
and people that can really you know, work for them in a good way,
in a com passionate way. Andthat's how they voted the best year
after year. So I mean there'sa reason for that because people know that
you're the real deal. So,okay, yesterday we had on forty a
thirty two car pile up an accidentbecause the storms were crazy. Do you
start immediately getting calls? How doesthat process work? Or if you see

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something in the news you're like,I know, I can help this person
or that family. That's the thingthat's kind of it's well, first of
all, let me just say this, Erica. It is illegal and it
is against the North Carolina bar rulesfor any attorney to solicit clients. Mean,
okay, and I didn't know that, yea, But what the reason.
It's a good it's a good questionand a good topic because there is
honestly a lot of actors out therethat are a third party, that are

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lean generators, that do violate that. So we do hear stories of people
that get in car accidents and getphone calls and stuff. But that if
you're getting a phone call from alawyer or somebody's saying that they're a lawyer,
that is that's that's really it's ascam. And I just you know,
just be mindful about a consumer protectionway of who you're dealing with or
a lot of times Erica, wewill get referrals from other lawyers because we

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can't call ourselves specialist. It's anotherweird bar rule. But you know,
usually there are firms that earn lawyersthat concentrate in different practice areas. So
if it's a divorce attorney, they'llsay, hey, go to Whitley,
yeah exactly. Or they get oneof their one of their clients has this
bad situation and they don't and theydon't trust, you know, picking a
lawyer from TV, or don't knowhow to get a lawyer, so they'll
call the only lawyer they know,and a lot of times those folks will

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give us referrals to That's that's anreally important part of our business. Okay.
And where do you see Whitley atin the next five years As far
as growth here in North Carolina.I think we're gonna we are intending to
grow in North Carolina and to continueto expand our message. You know,
we've been down east for a longtime and for almost fifty years and then
here in Raleigh for twenty years,so I definitely think we will expand more,

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but also take care of where westarted here in East North Carolina.
You know, I got very involvedin the Camp Lejune water litigation and we
represent a lot of those folks,and I think a lot of what we're
going to see in the future isus helping in cases like that more and
different types of cases beyond just thecar wrecks and the and the people that
get hurt at work and all ofthe other kind of normal personal injury type

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cases. And at the tip ofyour website is like veterans, reach out
to us here if you need usnow. And you're really big on not
only helping with veterans but in thecommunity, And so what are some of
the projects that you've worked on inthe community. So we've done some support
with Hope for the Warriors and MADand we've identified several other communities organizations that
we've really supported and gotten behind andI've been really pleased with that. One

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of them was the Bleeding Disorders ofNorth Carolina. You know, we got
on TV we what are the bleedingdisorders. So we've picked we like to
pick several charities that are not knownand some that are well known, and
we've we've done a partnership with WRLand Community Cares, and we do it
a check. And so when wepicked one of the ones that was lesser
known, the bleeding disorders in NorthCarolina, which got a letter that because

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we put them on TV and theyidentified many other people that had the disorder
that reached out to them, andso it was really a good feeling and
feeling a response back from the community. So and again, Matt, of
course with mothers a gett trunk drivingjust because of the wreckage that we see
because of our nature of our businessof a lot of these crashes are caused

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by a drunk driver and that's acriminal act, you know, that's not
even negligence. So supporting those typesof organizations that aligned that same mission have
been something that you know, mydad taught me to do very early on
as being part in the community andserving our community is the second part of
our mission statement. So it's abig deal for us to stay involved like
that. And you just gave acheck for cats the other day, or

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for animals because you're a cat loveras well, you and your wife.
Yes, my wife is a hugecat lover and a Vetinaran here and Riley
so yeah, wait, can wetalk about their page? Yeah, of
course, all right give out theirpage. He is famous cat, y'all.
Well, they are famous cats.There is Pecan Pie and Lady Blueberry
Biscuit and if you were to typethat into Instagram, they will come up.
So I love the content that's goingon the cat adventures out there.

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You know in cats, we seedogs on adventures a lot. You know,
cats don't get enough adventure time,so that you can although you have
to work a little bit with them. I love that, all right,
So, Whitley Law Firm, whatis the best way to get a hold
of you and anything that you wantto say to the community that's listening right
now? Sure, so Whitley LawFirm dot Com, our website, and
we have a lot of times yougo on websites now and they have those

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little chat robots. We have those, but there are real people. So
some people if they want to talkto one of our trained staff members,
don't want to talk on the phone. You can do it all by your
phone, all via text, orthey just want to call and talk to
me about their case. Erica.We do free consultation. So a lot
of times people think when they calla lawyer or they worried, it's like,
well, how much is this gonnacall talk? I mean, and

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some lawyers charge that way, youknow, some divorce lawyers charge it,
you know, a couple thousand dollarsbefore you can even have that consultation with
them. But we don't charge anything, so it's free. So if you
think, if you've got a situationand you want to talk to me or
any of the lawyers or dad,you can call our eight hundred number two
and which is twenty four seven ifwe're seven. You know, we got
folks answering the call. They answerthe phone. You can do the tax

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right through your phone. But Ilove talking to people. I love,
you know, even if it's nota situation I can help you with.
We've got this amazing network that Ihave identified of the best lawyers and kind
of like each of those categories.So if you've got a situation, they
call me our team and it's notsomething we can handle, even if it's
in a different state, we'll hookthe client up and make sure they've got

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the right people around them, youknow. And that's free. And you
just said something to people. Worryabout the expense because a lot of times
things happen in your life. Youweren't budgeting for obviously, and so it's
a sophie until the case is done. If you win that money and then
they pay out. That's a greatpoint. I'm glad you brought it up,
because yeah, so let's say wethen made that call, right,
and then it's a case that wecan add value to. Now, sometimes
I'll tell folks you don't need alawyer, and this is what you need

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to do, because remember, itshould be a value that that lawyer brings
to you, and sometimes that valueis just peace of mind. Just deal
with it. Like people just don'teven want to deal with it. So
once that has occurred, you don'tpay anything. Once we've told you,
Erica, you've got a case,we can help you. This is what
I think we can do. Youwould just sign a contingency fee contract.

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So that just means that we canget to work immediately and we will work
and advance any costs. So ifit was a really complex case that needed
experts and all sorts of expensive things, we would pay for all that,
and it just it only we areonly paid to the end and only if
we win or if we're successful.Now, could you imagine any other professionals
that said that, like the backdoctorsays, we only get paid if we

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fix your back. I bet therewould be a lot better results if that
was the case, honestly, right, I mean, so it's to me
the contingency feed contract is a greatinvention allows access to justice for people because
that's usually the block right for justiceis money, and this allows people to
get the best lawyers to provide allthe way to the end of their case

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and they're not coming out of pocket. Whitley Law Firm dot com. Y'all
all right, any last words forfolks listening, give me a call.
I'd love to talk about your caseor your situation, and like I said
before, if it's not something Ican to help you with, I'd be
glad to send you on the whiteCEOs to Know is a production of iHeartMedia
Ruling. To hear interviews with otherlocal business leaders, visit CEOs Tono dot com.