Question 1: How much is Baltimore paying its legal team?

 

The law department represents the Mayor and City Council for anything involving contracts, liability, and more.

 

Law department salaries increasing over the past two years. 

 

City Solicitor Ebony Thompson made $258,000 in 2024. Her predecessor made $188,000 - a $70,000 raise.

 

The rest of the staff has also been increasing their pay.

 

69 people made six figures last year. 15 “operations specialists” (the practice group chiefs: corporate division, workers comp division, etc). 25 “chief solicitors.” 19 “assistant solicitors,” and more. 13 people made $150,000

 

In 2022, there were only 46 making six figures.

 

 

Question 2: That’s how much the city spends to protect its own interests. But how much does it cost to represent accused criminals in court?

 

You probably already know that anyone who can’t afford a lawyer will be appointed one by the state (6th amend.) But you might not have thought about what the actual dollar cost is.

 

There’s a few different ways lawyers can be provided.

 

The state has an appointed attorneys program that spent $8.5 million paying 17,429 lawyer invoices in 2024, according to an open records request we filed. Including $1.7 million for 3,642 invoices in Baltimore.

 

And the Maryland Public Defender office hires private lawyers to be panel attorneys. Those panel attorneys can legally be paid up to $164/hour under Maryland law, and up to $12,000 in total for one case

 

We spoke to the Public Defender’s office. They told us their budget doesn’t allow for rates that high and in reality, the attorneys are only paid $60-75 an hour up to $3,000. 

 

 

Question 3: How do all those payments compare to other cities?

 

City Solicitor Ebony Thompson is making much more than the law department chiefs in some other large NorthEast cities.

 

Law department heads:

Boston: Adam Cederbaum, $186,000

Philadelphia: Renee Garcia, $175,000

Newark: Kenyatta Stewart, $160,000

 

And the $164/hour rate for panel attorneys is more than any other state in the country. New York is second w/ $158/hour.

 

Even if that amount isn’t actually being paid out, there’s still potential for an expense that exceeds any other state.