J. Gabe Talton
Challenging large interests in North Carolina is the reason I became a lawyer. I was born and raised in Raleigh and I have a strong sense of home in this area. Recently I have moved from Philadelphia and Miami back to the Triangle, where I live with my wife and young son, Louis.
When I was eighteen years old, the State chose to build the Leesville Road exit for interstate 540 through the home in which I was raised. I am convinced that my family was chosen because they thought that we presented less of a challenge than the businesses and large landholders around us. The state offered a low settlement, perhaps making the assumption that one family would not fight back alone. However, we did fight back. My family took our case to trial, but the lawyer we hired mishandled our case, and the result was not good. That was when I decided that my interests in history and English could be put to concrete use. I wanted to fight powerful interests, whether it was the government or big insurance. I decided that I could be a part of the important job of protecting North Carolina’s families.
I graduated from NC State University, and went on to Rutgers Law School outside of Philadelphia, PA. After graduation, I went to work at the Miami Public Defender’s office, where I represented accused criminals who could not afford a lawyer. Many people asked me how I could conscience representing criminals. I told them that protecting the rights of the least of us was necessary to provide freedom to all of us. In America, we provide a lawyer to protect the rights of even the guilty. This founding principle of our country proves that freedom is an inalienable right that belongs to everyone, no matter how powerful they may be. In my work as a public defender, I learned that quite a few of my clients were actually innocent. The innocent cannot simply wait for the state attorney and police to admit they were wrong in accusing them. They need someone to stand up and prove it. That’s what I proudly did.
Protecting the innocent accused is similar to representing the injured victim. Our injured clients are up against huge insurance companies, and it can seem insulting and painful to have to justify to an insurance adjuster the real pain that has burdened one’s life. The injured cannot simply wait for the insurance company to admit their pain is real. The injured need someone to stand up and prove it.
Practice Area:
Law School:
Rutgers University School of Law 2004 J.D., Marshal Brennan Fellow
Camden, NJ
Colleges:
North Carolina State University 2001 B.S. History
Raleigh, NC
Memberships:
North Carolina State Bar
Florida State Bar*