By: Jeremy D. Wells
Carter County TimesBrandon Hamilton and his wife Emilee are both from Olive Hill. So when he started his own practice, he knew he wanted a branch in their hometown.
“That’s where home is,” he said.
But it was a round about journey that brought him back. Hamilton started his career in interactive attractions.
“Rock climbing walls, mechanical bulls, that kind of thing,” he explained.
From there he moved into tanning beds. He would purchase used tanning beds, refurbish them as necessary and resell them. At one point, he said, his company was the largest supplier of pre-owned tanning beds in the United States. He also owned several car dealerships. But his interest in the law never left him.
“I’ve always been intrigued with policy debate,” he said. “With why things work the way they do, and how decisions are made as far as policy.”
So, after years as an entrepreneur, he decided to go back to college, finish his undergraduate work, and go to law school. He moved back to the area, settling in Morehead to be close to his family and to the university there, and a short commute to law school at UK in Lexington. Ironically though, while he moved to Morehead in part to be closer to his family in Olive Hill, he ended up landing his first job with a law firm in Huntington. He went to work for them in 2019.
But, he explained, “I’m an entrepreneur at heart. I never could get the ownership bug out of my system.”
More than that, though, he wanted a connection to the community he served. It was a good firm to work for, he said, but “it wasn’t as fulfilling as being able to know your clients.” He wanted the “ability to be able to help people,” and felt “a draw for personal connection.”
So, he explained, he set out to be a “Main Street Lawyer” opening an office first in Morehead and then, a week later, the office in Olive Hill.
“I do it all, from wills and deeds, through personal injury, tax law, and medical malpractice,” he said.
With his business background, through, he feels he “can bring a little more to the table.”
“I bring that unique diversity to balance with profitability and compliance,” he said, as well as, “being able to see both sides of the fence.”
He believes that diversity of life and business experience suits him to the task of helping his friends and neighbors, whether they need help with personal conflicts or business issues.
“I’ve done deals in board rooms and in bar rooms,” he said, explaining that it isn’t about the setting or the situation as much as it is about identifying and addressing needs.
Hamilton’s Olive Hill office will be open three days a week, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, while he will keep hours in his Morehead office on Mondays and Wednesdays. His Olive Hill office is located at 178 Scott Street, across from Sturgill’s Music Center.
Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com
