Chief Administrative Law Judge Julian Mann III received the Friend of the Court Award from Chief Justice Paul Newby today for his over 31 years of service as chief administrative law judge and director of the North Carolina Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH). The award is the highest honor given by the Judicial Branch and comes at the expiration of Judge Mann's eighth consecutive four-year term.

"I want to congratulate Judge Mann for an impressive career of service to the citizens of our state," Chief Justice Newby said. "I applaud Judge Mann for his steadfast dedication to OAH and his countless hours of selfless public service."

Judge Mann was appointed as chief administrative law judge over three decades ago by former Chief Justice James Exum in 1989. In addition to holding this position, he has worked in the private practice of law, served as an adjunct faculty member at North Carolina State University, and has served on numerous committees and commissions.

Judge Mann served as director of OAH which is a quasi-judicial agency that provides administrative law judges to preside in contested cases of administrative law. In addition, OAH deals with the procedure which governs rulemaking for North Carolina state agencies, and is designated as a 706 deferral agency of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The Friend of the Court Award was established in 2001 by the Supreme Court of North Carolina. The award is given to a member of the legal community or Judicial Branch employee who has served with exemplary service and served the courts with distinction. Each award is signed by the sitting chief justice.