A Welcome Message From the Chair
By I am honored and excited to serve as Chair of the Administrative Law Council for the 2025-2026 year. I am Frank Trainor, and I have been an administrative lawyer in the Raleigh area for 25 years. I am (almost) a lifelong North Carolina resident, having attended Hayesville High School and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I currently work for the NC State Board of CPA Examiners.
Our officers this year are Vice Chair Charla Burrill, Treasurer Wes Tripp, and Secretary Catherine Lee. We are looking forward to serving the needs of our section, its members and the public.
The greatest benefit that this Council can provide to its members is continuing legal education. I believe that is the best way to present current and relevant information to our members so that they can improve their practices and advance the profession. To that end, I have doubled the number of Committee members dedicated to developing the Section’s CLE programs. I encourage anyone practicing administrative law to contact the Council if you have an idea that would benefit the other Section members. You are welcome to provide ideas, or you may also volunteer to present on a topic. I especially invite attorneys who may have litigated an interesting administrative case to make a presentation about their experience. If you do not feel comfortable in compiling the materials for a presentation, we have individuals who can assist you with that.
The Council will continue to roll out its Rules of the Road lunch-and-learns. As agencies prepare for the second 10-year cycle of periodic review of their rules, this is a crucial time to refamiliarize yourself with the rulemaking process. These learning sessions are open to attorneys and non-attorneys who find themselves navigating the rulemaking process. It is the Council’s hope that the sessions will enable agencies to craft quality rules that will enhance their roles of public protectors. I hope the sessions will also enable agencies to produce rules that will require less intervention from the Rules Review Commission as it fulfills its important task of reviewing agency rules for the purpose of clarity and statutory authorization.
My predecessor, Rob Patchett, did a fantastic job of reaching out to law schools and young lawyers so that they know that administrative law is a great opportunity for a career. As I attend national conferences, I have come to recognize that North Carolina’s administrative bar is special. The number of autonomous boards and commissions and the mixture of public and private practitioners lends itself to an environment of collegiality and professionalism that I believe is being lost in other areas of the law. There is a real opportunity to appeal to young attorneys and law students who aspire to start their careers in a healthy atmosphere.
I encourage anyone interested in serving on the Council or one of its committees to reach out to me. My time on the Council has been truly rewarding.
Frank Trainor serves as the 2025-2026 chair of the Administrative Law Section.