NCSB Journal Summer 2026

because of the pandemic, but also because of her mother’s genuine encouragement and valued nod of approval. Karen remembered saying, “If you are going to go, just go now because you’re not going to get a job in jour nalism or theater right now.” Rounding out her 3L year at the UNC School of Law, Kayley could have taken a job anywhere she wanted. She had innumerable options and plenty of offers. Sure, she could take work in a large firm and earn a six-figure salary. Kayley was courted by offices from various parts of the United States after she finished law school—Colorado, California, and Virginia. But without hesitation, Kayley seized an opportunity to do the kind of work she had been determined to do ever since she spent some drive time listening to a podcast about Darlie Routier. On the long commutes between school and home, she listened to the story of a woman on death row in Texas for the murder of her five-year-old son. Kayley thought, “She might have committed the crime; she may not have; she also might have some mental health concerns that greatly complicated her case.” But it wasn’t until she heard the second part of the podcast that she truly believed there was no way the woman was guilty. Kayley said she became certain the woman had been wrongfully convicted. “There she was,” she said, “innocent and yet rotting away for decades on death row.” “I realized then that the same way the podcaster’s storytelling shaped my opinion of that woman’s case, her lawyer’s telling of her story, or lack thereof, in a courtroom set ting changed the outcome of her case. And that’s what sparked my interest in litigation.” This idea of combining storytelling and the ater, using her talents in the courtroom to help clients, was too good not to pursue. “I still really believe in the power of a the ater space to tell stories that matter and to make people care about things they might not otherwise…the power of theater is that you build these characters that people can empathize with, they can see themselves reflected in, and that builds the empathy bridge with someone who may come from a very different background or look very dif ferent from you.” And the courtroom is quite similar. “You can more quickly see the impact of your storytelling in a week-long trial than when building a production that takes years to write and perform.” It wasn’t until she took that first job with

Kentucky’s Department of Public Advocacy and moved to Lexington that she discovered the place where she could do the most good and the place where she really belonged was closer to home. Lexington just wasn’t the right fit for Kayley. Factor in a touch of homesickness, a younger brother whom she adored and missed dearly, and grandparents who were experiencing some medical issues, and that was quite enough to bring Kayley back home to Union County. And upon her return, it just so happened that a brand-new public defender’s office had opened in Monroe. After the professional stepping stone that was Kentucky’s “equivalent of Indigent Defense Services (IDS),” Kayley took one of the open APD positions in the new Union County Public Defender’s Office in October 2024. Now in a workplace where she can grow, be challenged, and gain invaluable experience, she is inching closer, with the support of the chief public defender and deputy chief, to being able to do capital work—her latest ambition. What Started as a Joke… Karen was so inspired by Kayley’s experi ences in Union County that she left a ten year stretch of her own career in residential real estate law to join Kayley there. Out of this one PD office, this pair of criminal defense attorneys are proving that it is never too late to learn something new and that it is always a good time to follow your heart and help others whenever you can. Working and saving money to buy her own home, Kayley was living with her parents when she moved back to the Charlotte area. Karen said Kayley would come home from work in the evenings and share how great it was to work in the Union County PD Office. Kayley said, “I told her I love it here. I am challenged. I can really grow and do excellent legal work here. I have cases I can really dive into and file really interesting motions, and I get to know my clients long term.” “I have a mentor, a boss, who wants to help me [progress to capital work] and who pairs younger attorneys with older and more seasoned ones so they have that men torship and experience.” For these reasons and more, Karen told Kayley early on after she took the APD position (and at first, as an offhanded joke), that if the chief public defender ever had any openings to let him know she wanted

to talk to him.

“Bright Star” Opens the Door for Karen Chief Public Defender Randolph Lee, Deputy Chief Doug Underwood, and sever al other staff attended a community produc tion of the musical Bright Star , in which Kayley was a featured cast member. It was a chance meeting there that Chief Lee first met Karen. They were all introduced, and Karen told Chief Lee that she and her daughter had a running joke about how she was just wait ing for Chief Lee’s phone call alerting her to the latest opening. The zeal and excitement with which Kayley would come home and describe her workdays piqued Karen’s inter est. And in the summer after that chance meeting there came an opening for an APD position geared toward juvenile and Department of Social Services (DSS) courts, which appealed to Karen. After Chief Lee and his support staff had serious conversa tions with Kayley to make sure that she would “be okay” working with her mother, Karen interviewed for an open APD position in July 2025 and her first day on the job was August 18. “I am the mom following in her daugh ter’s footsteps, which is sort of a flip, I guess, on the narrative,” said Karen. “It was a big change…but I felt like in this sort of last sea son of my career, I really wanted to try something different. And while I enjoyed transactional work, I really wanted to work with people and do something I felt was more impactful. If I was ever going to do it, this was a chance to make a difference in family’s lives.” Karen said, “I enjoyed the…people and the puzzle of title work and resolving title issues, but there was a lot of stress with it, and I did have to take my work home with me.” As an attorney with a small firm, Karen was responsible for handling all facets of her transactions from start to fin ish. “So, if a west coast lender sent me a Closing Disclosure (CD) to balance at what was 6 PM their time, it was nine o’clock my time, and I knew I had to get it back out to them…It didn’t matter how far ahead and efficient you tried to be because you were depending on other people to do their thing.” Karen worked that way for many years and did not have a healthy work-life balance. And Kayley had no problem pointing that out. “I worried for her well-being and

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THE NORTH CAROLINA STATE BAR JOURNAL