North Carolina: “Raleigh lawyer Larkin Kirkman was paid more last year for representing poor people in court — more than $137,000 — than I. Beverly Lake earned as chief justice of the N.C. Supreme Court. … [Kirkman] represents juveniles, parents accused of abusing or neglecting their children and defendants charged with low-level felonies and misdemeanors.”
“Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Donald W. Stephens questioned whether some lawyers are being honest about the hours they spend defending those cases. ‘Many of us were shocked to find that some of the highest-paid lawyers on this list participated in no jury trials during that payment period and represented very few indigent defendants charged with serious felonies,’ Stephens said.” However, Kirkman said that some of the money paid him in 2003 was for 2002 work and that his previous years’ earnings from the county had been lower, at $87,750 for 2002 and $76,648 for 2001. (Andrea Weigl, “Lawyer fees criticized in Wake”, Raleigh News & Observer, Jul. 16).
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