Manning Fulton is pleased to celebrate the latest honor bestowed upon our friend and colleague, The Honorable (Ret.) Howard E. Manning Jr.
At the 2019 Annual Meeting of the North Carolina Bar Association, Judge Manning became the 39th recipient of the NCBA’s Judge John J. Parker Award. The Judge John J. Parker Award was established in 1959 by the NCBA as “the highest honor of this association bestowed in recognition of conspicuous service to the cause of jurisprudence in North Carolina.”
A native of Raleigh, Manning has served the Bar Association, and the people of North Carolina, tirelessly throughout his distinguished career. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UNC School of Law, he served as a JAG officer in the United States Navy from 1968-1972, and practiced law with Manning Fulton from 1972-1988.
Manning then served on the Superior Court bench for Wake County for 25 years, beginning with his appointment by Governor Martin in June 1988.
Judge Manning will be forever linked to Leandro v. State, the landmark education lawsuit over which he presided for nearly two decades. Following the Supreme Court ruling guaranteeing every child in North Carolina the “right to a sound basic education,” Judge Manning faithfully oversaw the state’s compliance with that ruling from 1997 until October 2016, when he reached the state’s mandatory retirement age.
Underscoring the significance of the award is the fact that recipients are chosen as merited, not annually.
Judge John Johnston Parker (1885-1958) was for 50 years a member of the North Carolina State Bar, for 44 years a member of the NCBA, for 32 years a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, for 27 years chief judge of that court, and in those and many other capacities rendered distinguished service to this profession, the State of North Carolina, and the Nation.
The entire Manning Fulton family congratulates Judge Manning on having received this esteemed award.