What to expect for a G.S.20-141(J1) in Chapel Hill, NC (63mph in a 45mph)?

I suggest hiring an attorney. You want to do everything you can to prevent an increase in your insurance premiums. You insurance can increase 30-45% over the next 3 years. Spend the $100-150 on a lawyer and save yourself a considerable amount of money in the long run. Best of luck.

I don't know that I would characterize hiring an attorney as a "financial mistake" but certainly it is an option that you can take advantage of or not as you see fit. Like many decisions we make, it will probably be clear in retrospect whether you would have been better off with a lawyer. I would say it this way: for a traffic ticket your legal fee is likely to be rather minimal, and for that fee you will get the services of an experienced lawyer who knows the system and who will go to court for you to take care of your ticket in the most advantageous way possible, eliminating the side-effects (license and insurance points) of the ticket and the long-term costs that may follow. That being said, you are absolutely correct that you can simply go to court on your own and handle the matter without legal representation, and many people go that route. Candidly that may work out just fine for you. But if this ticket ends up hitting your insurance, the one-time cost of the lawyer will be massively eclipsed by your monthly insurance premium increase. So at the end of the day, if you are confident about going to court and avoiding that result there is no reason to hire a lawyer. But this is the question when has many people contemplating hiring legal counsel rather than going it alone.

A 63 in a 45 is a license revocation offense. That's why you're not allowed to simply pay it off via the mail and move on. It requires a court appearance by you or an attorney acting on your behalf. As a practical matter, in Orange County an attorney may be able to negotiate this down to a "non-moving" violation, which means that 1) you won't lose your license for 30 days; and 2) you wont get insurance points which will raise you current rates by a significant amount for the next three years. In my experience, you'll only be able to procure such a non-moving violation if you hire an attorney who can take the appropriate steps to negotiate this result for you. I do practice in Orange County and am happy to help you if you do intend to hire an attorney, or, of course, you can simply wait until 20 or so lawyer solicitation letters end up in your mailbox. In that event, caveat emptor!