Public defender ready to go to work

SMITHFIELD — Traynham Dorn, Johnston County’s first-ever public defender, discovered her passion for law in high school.

It was her sophomore year and her parents were encouraging her to choose a career path — and quickly.

“I had to figure out the rest of (my) life and my career plan in two weeks,” recalled Dorn, now 46.. “I started flipping through in my head all these different career types. Finally, I thought, ‘Maybe I want to be an attorney.’ ”

Her parents reached out to Roy Neil, a family friend and attorney in private practice, who allowed Dorn to shadow him for an entire summer. “I just followed him every day to court, and he introduced me to all the parties,” she  said. “I met other defense attorneys, bailiffs, judges and just everybody that was a party to the courthouse.”

Even when Neil wasn’t in court, Dorn was. “His office was only maybe a block and a half from the courthouse,” she said. “I would walk in the public courtrooms and watch.”

Neil practiced criminal law, and despite its challenging nature, Dorn felt drawn to it. “Criminal law practice is not for everybody, but I loved every part of watching it play out in court,” she said. “I loved getting to know Neil’s clients, hearing about their situation and how he was trying to help them.”

This early experience cemented her interest in law. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Queens University in Charlotte, followed by her law degree from the New England School of Law in Boston.

Dorn opened her own practice in 2005. “I was in private practice for almost 21 years,” she said. “We were privately retained for any kind of criminal offense and traffic tickets, up to whatever I felt comfortable handling. I worked on criminal low-level felony cases and then eventually onto the high-level felony cases.”

Beyond her legal work, Dorn became known for helping clients with other challenges. “There’s so many people out there that need help,” she said. “They needed help with their legal representation, but there were lots of other collateral issues.”

“Some of them were facing the loss of their freedom, the loss of their families, the loss of their home, and the loss of their jobs,” Dorn said. “I started keeping a list of rehab facilities and mental health facilities that people could go to. I could help clients apply for the facilities or I just tried to help them get set up with interviews for a jobs.”

Her commitment to helping others led Dorn to pursue the role of public defender in Johnston County. After a competitive selection process, Dorn garnered the most votes from her peers, and Judge Tom Lock appointed her as the county’s first-ever public defender.

Dorn was thrilled to receive the news. “I was so excited,” she said. “They chose me to do this, which meant that they put a lot of faith in my ability to not only create a new office but to establish it for the first time and to run an office of new attorneys and new legal assistants.”

Being the first in the role is giving Dorn the unique opportunity to shape the new office — from the layout to the caseload.

Dorn worked closely with Lock to design the office space on the first floor of the courthouse in Smithfield. “This whole space down here was one big room,” she said. “I was able to give some input as to how I would like to see it structured.”

That big room is now home to 13 small offices, a reception desk, a lobby and a conference room.

After equipping the offices with computers and other supplies, Dorn focused on the hiring process. “We posted for the positions and started interviewing tons of people for assistant public defender positions,” she said. “We’ll have seven attorneys, plus me, when we’re fully staffed.”

Dorn hopes to begin handling cases this month. In its early stages, the office will focus on adult criminal cases only. “The reason for that is the bulk of adult criminal cases is large in Johnston County,” she said.

“My plan initially, and this is always subject to change, is to have about two attorneys handling our misdemeanors, three attorneys handling the low-level felonies and then two handling high levels.”

Dorn, who started work in July, is pleased with how quickly the office has come together. “I was told in the beginning that it would take probably about 12 to 18 months to be fully staffed and fully functioning,” she said.

But her private practice experience prepared her to work faster. “If I can be ready sooner, I want to be ready to take cases,” Dorn said.

She feels the public defender’s office can serve the community in many ways. “We can do a really good job by really communicating and representing them fully in court,” Dorn said. “We can also spread out and help with all those other collateral issues too, which is a trickle-down effect to our community.

“So if we can help one person at a time, then hopefully that just magnifies and it spreads out, and we help the community as a whole.”

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