Chief Justice Mark Martin has recently appointed Judge William A. Webb as Chair of the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission. Judge Webb was sworn in on November 29 by NCAOC Director Judge Marion Warren.

The Commission is a 16-member body charged by statute with certifying and regulating mediators who conduct mediated settlement conferences in the North Carolina courts. Judge Webb has been a Commission member since his appointment in September 2014 by Chief Justice Martin, and has served on both the Grievance and Disciplinary Committee and the Ad Hoc District Criminal Court Mediation Program Committee. He is certified by the Dispute Resolution Commission as a mediator in the superior court mediation program.

Judge Webb retired from 14 years on the bench as a Magistrate Judge for the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of North Carolina. Since his retirement, Judge Webb has dedicated his time and considerable expertise to service on a number of boards and commissions, including as co-chair of the N.C. Commission on the Administration of Law and Justice and the UNC Board of Governors.

"I believe Judge Webb will make a very capable Chair. I am especially excited about the fact that he has spent the last two years serving as one of the co-chairs of the Chief Justice's Commission on the Administration of Law and Justice," said Judge Gary Cash, the Dispute Resolution Commission's outgoing Chair. "This will likely mean that he will be a forward-looking Chair who will work hard to position this Commission for its next 20 years."

Among other notable professional achievements, Judge Webb has served as a senior advisor to the Shanahan Law Group in Raleigh, as the federal public defender for the Eastern District of North Carolina, as deputy secretary and general counsel in the N.C. Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, as first chief of the organized crime and drug enforcement task force in the U.S. Attorney's office in Raleigh, and as Commissioner of the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission in Washington, D.C.

The Commission congratulates Judge Webb on his appointment and looks forward to working with him in advancing its mission to support North Carolina's court-ordered mediation programs and to certify and regulate the conduct of the mediators who serve those programs.

For more information, contact the Commission at 919-890-1415, or by email at DRCMediators@nccourts.org.