ATLANTA: Paul Kehir, gave mentally ill, poor protection in court

People didn’t always understand or approve of Paul Kehir’s chosen line of work, but it was his calling. Kehir was a criminal defense lawyer, working mostly with people who were poor and mentally ill.

He believed in what he did, and he felt rewarded when he could help people who had so many strikes against them, said his fiancee, Margaret Cannon of Atlanta.

“Paul was a person that, if he could help somebody in any way, it was a challenge for him. It was a challenge to get some of these kids the help they needed, whether it was getting them into programs or schools,” she said.

In 1996, Mr. Kehir started Fulton County’s conflict public defender office, which helped defendants find an attorney when the regular public defenders had a conflict of interest and couldn’t take the case. Later, he was deputy director for the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council, which oversees the state’s public defender system.

Mr. Kehir, 62, died Wednesday at Crawford Long Hospital of complications from esophageal and stomach cancer. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. today at H.M. Patterson & Son, Spring Hill Chapel.

Mr. Kehir, a native of New Jersey, attended Union Junior College, which has since closed, before transferring to the University of Tennessee. Mr. Kehir earned his law degree at the Woodrow Wilson College of Law in Atlanta, which also is closed.

He was a lifelong, die-hard fan of UT football, keeping a banner for the school in his office, said Michael Mears, associate dean of the John Marshall Law School and one of Mr. Kehir’s closest friends. The two worked together at the standards council, where Mr. Mears was the director.

“He was a jewel to work with,” Mr. Mears said. “I think he got along with everyone.”

After getting a divorce many years ago, Mr. Kehir moved into a condo close to the courthouse in downtown Atlanta. He often walked to work. On weekends, however, he loved to go on driving trips in his Dodge Durango, Ms. Cannon said.

“He would drive from Atlanta to Chatsworth to have breakfast at the Biscuit Box,” she said. “He thought nothing of it.”

He kept irregular hours, often rising at 5 a.m. to write a legal brief, Ms. Cannon said. “He was not a 9-to-5 kind of worker. He worked seven days a week, but it might be early in the morning or at night on his balcony.”

Mr. Kehir also enjoyed shopping for antiques at shops and markets.

He saw the world as a complicated place where it wasn’t always clear what was right and wrong, said his daughter, Dr. Staci Kehir, a veterinarian in Dover, N.H.

“I didn’t see eye to eye with him on that,” Dr. Kehir said. “He always told me things were never black and white, that there always was a gray area. I think that’s why he practiced criminal defense.”

Survivors include another daughter, Karen Ayers of Greenwood, S.C.; and a son, Curtis Kehir of Loganville.