Sinks’ departure and workload
At the board’s agenda review meeting on January 3, Jonathan Vogel defended his firm’s ability to continue to serve the district without the Sinks. Vogel went as far as to say that the Sinks had done “very little work for the firm” and that “very little has changed” now that they are gone.
However, an analysis of four months of the firm’s legal bills, from July until October, shows that the Sinks were doing 22% of the work, more than Terry Wallace (9%), one of Vogel’s partners who is remaining on. Another lawyer with the initials AP is doing 1% of legal work (they aren't identified beyond that in invoices delivered to the school district); Vogel has done the rest of the work.
The Sinks’ resignation email, obtained through a public records request, was sent on Tuesday, December 12. In it, they wrote, “it is with heavy but clear hearts that Leigha and I [Jonathan] have decided to end our affiliation with the Vogel Law Firm effective January 1, 2024.” They went on to say that enjoyed working with this “gem of a school district.”
That same day, Board Member Hugh McManus sent an email to Chair Pete Wildeboer, “Pete, sure you saw this, you should not be surprised. The board needs to discuss in public?” Board members Stephanie Walker and Stephanie Kraybill joined McManus in urging Wildeboer to have this as a discussion item at the next board meeting.
Board members Pat Bradford, Josie Barnhart, and Melissa Mason didn’t respond to the Sinks’ email.
Ahead of Tuesday's discussion, WHQR analyzed legal bills across four months between the Vogel Law Firm (July-October 2023) and the district’s former law firm, Tharrington Smith (June-September 2022). Extensive data analysis was provided by Cynthia Chroman, CPA, who holds a bachelor's in Finance, a Master's in the Science of Accountancy, and Master's in Business Analytics from UNCW.
Overall cost comparison: Vogel versus Tharrington Smith
Over four months, records show that the Vogel Firm is costing the district slightly more, $108,444, than Tharrington Smith, $104,832. This includes Vogel giving the district a 20% discount, worth $8,047, on services provided in August (according to a NHCS spokesperson, district staff don't know what this was for).
The two firms worked about the same number of hours. Vogel billed for about 516 hours versus Tharrington, which billed for 515. The difference comes with who is billing. Since Tharrington Smith had a deep bench of education lawyers and other resources, more associates and paralegals took on the work. However, for Vogel, most all the work is being done at the partner level ($235 an hour, the same as Tharrington Smith’s).
Back in April, Vogel presented his firm as a “boutique” service, meaning he would give them specialized attention, as the New Hanover County School Board would be one of his only school board clients.
Before he was selected as NHCS’ attorney, Vogel misrepresented to the NHCS board about being in the running to return as part of legal counsel to the Cabarrus County School Board. How he handled his exit from that board was contentious. In early May, he told the Cabarrus board that their process for selecting their top 2 firms was “not proper.”
Public records show the Cabarrus board using rubrics to score their future representation. Vogel came in behind the firms Poyner Spruill, Johnston Allison Hord Attorneys and Middlebrooks Law PLLC, and Hartsell and Williams.
Vogel continuously asked, along with Cabarrus’s main legal representative, Jay White, to present in front of the Cabarrus school board, even though they didn’t score high enough. Vogel even at one point accused the Cabarrus board of selecting these firms in secret.
Board members contacting the firms
For Tharrington Smith, board member-related legal fees were $11,253 over four months. For Vogel, it was $14,241, a 27% increase in costs.
Costs associated with former Board Chair Stephanie Kraybill's consultation with Tharrington Smith amounted to $9,796. Former Vice Chair Stephanie Walker cost $1,410. Board Member Hugh McManus, on a call with Walker, cost $47.
However, when looking at the new board that took over in December 2022, more board members are contacting legal — top invoicing included Board Chair Pete Wildeboer costing $8,883, former Vice Chair Pat Bradford costing $7,520, and Board Member Josie Barnhart had $3,783 in legal fees. These costs include times when legal consulted with more than one board member at the same time.
Expensive policy committee advice
The current board is billing Vogel considerably more at $6,600 versus $913 for Tharrington Smith for policy-related matters.
The board already pays $40,502 to the North Carolina School Boards Association for things like membership dues ($29,952), online web hosting ($3,650, the board’s subscription to Simbli), and policy updates $6,900).
For these policy updates, staff at the NCSBA follow legislative updates and then write policies based on those changes for school boards across the state. For years, NHCS was out of step with best practices — particularly around Title IX compliance — and for some years debated the merits of NCSBA's policy consulting services.
These costs show Vogel’s considerable policy work in addition to the policy services that the NCSBA already provides.
The costs of the culture war
Public record request costs have increased 89% during Vogel’s and the new board’s tenure. Over four months, Tharrington and Smith reviewed records for $3,354, billing for about 24 hours; for Vogel, it was $6,336, billing for about 36 hours, although, the costs do correspond with the volume of these requests. Many of these requests have been filed from both sides of the political spectrum over heated, politicized issues.
A new category of legal support emerged during Vogel’s tenure, which coincides with the four newly-elected Republican members: “Objection to Instructional Materials,” which cost the district $5,475 over four months.
Some of those costs were associated with the book removal hearing for Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You. According to Vogel’s itemized bills, parent Katie Gates, who got the book banned in the high school curriculum, cost about $846. Vogel at one point reviewed an email specifically from her asking questions about deadlines and whether there would be “adequate security at the hearing.”
Even after the hearing where Gates won her appeal to take the book out of the district’s classrooms, Vogel’s partner Terry Wallace was advising Assistant Superintendent Dr. Christopher Barnes about Kelli Kidwell, the teacher who used Stamped in the classroom. The advice specific about Kidwell cost $118. Wallace was also investigating other Stamped materials throughout the district for $306.
In the course of reporting on the book ban, WHQR requested records of the conversations between Gates and the four more conservative Republican members via email and text messages. The request produced only two emails, each with responses, none of which contained any material that would require significant redaction or review; both addressed simple logistical scheduling issues. According to online records maintained by the district, no other public records appear to be responsive to this cost.
The legal cost to review these two email conversations for release was $379. The costs include both Barnhart and Bradford calling Vogel to discuss it.
Also in these legal bills — board members are asking Vogel to investigate things like “teacher flags” and “classroom displays” — these associated costs were $493.50. While the legal records don’t provide any details on what these flags and displays are, at least five teachers working in the district have told WHQR on background that they were concerned about displaying LGBTQ flags, pins, or other materials in their classroom because of these investigations; these teachers spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal by the district.
In theory, law firms hired by a school district work at the direction of the board and administration, and don’t bring their agenda. However, Vogel was a good political fit for the board, whose majority, the four-member slate elected in 2022, have pursued a platform of attacking liberal indoctrination and ‘woke’ education policies.
The New Hanover County GOP has sent out messaging that has celebrated the selection of the Vogel Firm for the district’s legal representation, putting out messaging touting the firm’s partisan bent, saying, “Vogel is the only conservative law firm in the state and has been under attack by the Democrats on the school board.”
Former New Hanover County Commissioner Woody White, who now serves on the North Carolina University System Board of Governors and the New Hanover Community Endowment Board, said he was looking forward to Vogel supporting the board “with firm legal guidance as you re-calibrate the liberal orthodoxies that have made their way into our local system.”
Bradford was the only member who responded to a request for comment on Vogel's services. She defended the partner-level fees and said she thought the board was getting good representation from Vogel.
“I prefer representation at the partner level. When I need legal advice, I don’t want it from a paralegal, a newly hired or an associate lawyer,” Bradford said. “I am pleased with the firm’s representation. Even when I don’t like the answer to my questions, I have appreciated Vogel and Wallace's wisdom and professionalism these past [seven] months. The New Hanover County school district is blessed to have them represent us.”
She also added that the “elephant in the room” is that Vogel “offered NHCS a fixed, monthly retainer fee structure of $22,500, (excluding litigation or investigative work) but my fellow board members were advised by the district staff to choose hourly billing. I voted in favor of the retainer."
Bradford also attacked WHQR as biased.
“It's a real challenge to comment to WHQR knowing in [sic] your bias that you're going to pick out whatever part that you think will make someone you don't agree with look the worst that you possibly can. There's a term for that,” she said. “You do know you're playing with people's lives for your own gain, right? I am going to answer you, but only because what you are do [sic] is so wrong.”
Prior reporting on the Vogel Law Firm, LLC
- NHCS’ law firm sued for breach of contract by former colleagues
- New Hanover County school board extends Vogel Law Firm contract
- NHCS’ new law firm doesn’t have the software to review public email requests
- NHC board switches legal representation in contentious vote
- NHC school board set to vote on legal representation at upcoming meeting
