Our Team
Experience and talent matter when choosing your legal defense.
Raymond Tarlton
Before going into private practice, Raymond Tarlton started practicing law in 2008 in Raleigh, North Carolina as an Assistant District Attorney and, following that, as an Assistant Federal Public Defender for the Eastern District of North Carolina. He has defended clients in numerous jury trials but also knows when to advise clients to work out strategic plea deals. While he mainly practices in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill metro area, he has represented people in cases all over North Carolina and sometimes out-of-state. He is also admitted to practice in federal court in Washington, DC in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
He has represented clients, from all walks of life, in a wide range of state and federal criminal cases, civil rights cases, asset seizure and forfeiture cases, and appeals. He has tried two capital murder cases to jury verdict in heavily litigated death penalty cases. Raymond has extensive experience in white collar, government investigations, and federal criminal defense—from defending drug trafficking, firearms, robbery of banks and interstate businesses, internet sex crimes, and immigration offenses—to grand jury investigations and subpoenas, financial fraud, healthcare fraud, and public corruption cases. His state court practice has been focused more recently on murder and other homicide cases, including death penalty cases, and other serious felonies. He has also worked with other law firms on important civil rights litigation in federal court, including in the areas of police misconduct and wrongful conviction. His appellate practice is mainly in federal cases in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, the US Supreme Court, and the North Carolina appellate courts.
He has been recognized in publications like Best Lawyers in America, Super Lawyers, and Business North Carolina Legal Elite for his talented work in state and federal criminal defense and federal civil rights litigation. In 2022, he received, along with another team member, the North Carolina Advocates for Justice’s Crabtree Award for his work on a legal team in a landmark federal civil rights litigation case arising out of a wrongful conviction.
He takes service to the legal profession seriously, and has served, for example, on committees to create and amend local rules for federal criminal practice in the Eastern District of North Carolina and an advisory committee to the North Carolina Capital Defender’s Office.
Outside of work, Raymond enjoys spending time, including traveling to interesting places, with his wife and their two toddlers. He is a big tennis fan. He also likes to kayak and cycle when he has some extra time to relax.
Experience & Associations
Former Assistant Wake County District Attorney
Former Assistant Federal Public Defender EDNC
Federal Bar Association (FBA)
North Carolina Advocates For Justice (NCAJ)
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NCAJ)
American Association for Justice (AAJ)
Criminal Justice Act Panel, MDNC & Fourth Circuit
NC IDS Capital Murder Private Counsel Roster
NC IDS Non Capital Appeals Private Counsel Roster
Attorneys
Education
Wake Forest University, B.A., Philosophy, 2004
Campbell University School of Law, J.D. 2008
Admissions
North Carolina
US Supreme Court
US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
US District Court EDNC
US District Court MDNC
US District Court WDNC
US District Court for the District of Columbia (DDC)
Joseph Gilbert
OF COUNSEL
Joe has been Of Counsel with Tarlton Law since he retired as Assistant Federal Public Defender (AFPD), Eastern District of North Carolina (EDNC) in June 2016. Joe has tried cases before juries in all six EDNC U.S District Court locations and has represented appeal clients in the United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit since 1996. A veteran of the US Marine Corps, Joe earned his law degree while on active duty at the University of Notre Dame Law School through the funded law education program. He was in private practice at McNeil & Gilbert law firm, Jacksonville, N.C. for nine years prior to his appointment as AFPD.
Joe enjoys creating visual art and now limits his practice to criminal appeals before the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals
Staff
Russell Tarlton
Russell joined Tarlton Law as Logistics Coordinator in 2023, having served 8 years as an instructional assistant at Sanderson High School, where he had also coached a number of sports including football and wrestling. Russell brings experience of the criminal justice system, having served as a correctional officer with the North Carolina Department of Corrections and G4S for over eight years. Russell carries out the firm’s logistical and some clerical work, as well as having a commission as a Notary Public.
When he is not working, Russell enjoys spending time with his daughter, supporting his beloved NC State’s sporting programs, and visiting historical places in NC and beyond.