Administrative law governs the activities of government agencies such as the National Labor Relations Board, the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, and the Social Security Administration, to mention only 3 of the 30 federal agencies that have permanent administrative law judges.

Congress and state legislatures routinely pass laws giving government agencies the right to make regulations in matters of concern to the public. Government agencies also act like judges by levying fines and penalties and by issuing decisions concerning a particular business or person.

Keep in mind the following when dealing with government agencies and administrative law judges:

1. The regulations that are made should be compared carefully to the authorizing statute by a business owner or administrative lawyer to make sure the regulations don't exceed the scope of the authorizing statute. This issue is relevant in an administrative law practice that reviews federal regulations proposed in the Federal Register and in deciding whether a ruling by an agency is lawful and fair.
2. Before consulting with high priced administrative lawyers, a business owner should learn as much as possible about the issue.
3. If an agency decision is unreasonable, there is a common law right to sue the agency in a court of law. In 1937 New York State codified this common law with Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules. Except for the right to a jury trial, such petitions are full-fledged lawsuits against the agency and an administrative law firm or a lawyer with an administrative law practice should be retained.
4. Both state and federal administrative law judges (also called an administrative judge, hearing officer, hearing examiner, appeals referee, arbitrator and magistrate) conduct bench trials or hearings to determine whether an agency's action against a complaining citizen was fair and within the law.
5. Federal administrative law judges are not confirmed by the Senate, but must pass a written and oral examination. Unlike administrative attorneys working for a state agency as a hearing officer, federal admin law makes its judges independent of the agency they are hearing cases for.
6. If you lose a case before an administrative law judge, you can sue in a state court or federal district court. According to the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946, the grounds from bringing such an action in a federal district court is the same as in the New York State statue: the decision complained of must be arbitrary and capricious. Lawyers with administrative law practices can determine whether to bring the suit in a federal or state court.
7. Lawyers who practice administrative law also help clients comply with orders of local, state, and federal government departments. Administrative law attorneys may represent clients before agencies like state workers' compensation appeals boards and federal agencies.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find which government agency affects your business regarding administrative law

Information about local, state, and federal agencies that have an impact on your business can be important.

I recommend: Scanning a hierarchical list (such as this one at the Louisiana State University Library) of federal government agencies for links to agencies you know or think make regulations affecting your business and a similar alphabetical list from a major government website, such as the Office of Citizen Services and Communications. Also at this site, you can find websites of state governments to get information about state agencies.

Search for federal regulations if you are not an administrative attorney

Administrative law firms have access to Westlaw and Lexis and their own libraries. Businesses and administrative law employees can find the regulations that affect their business from the Internet.

I recommend: The Cornell University Law School website for information about federal regulations. GPO Access is a service provided by the Government Printing Office, which prints the Federal Register (FR) and the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). The CFR publishes the final version of the regulations published in the FR, which is published daily. The official version of the CFR can be downloaded as PDF documents. There are also HTML versions of the PDF documents which are more up to date, but not as official.

Obtain information about administrative lawyers

There are a number of websites that will help you find an administrative law firm.

I recommend: FindLaw lists firms specializing in businesses and administrative law by state and city. HG.org is oriented to governmental issues worldwide and has information about administrative lawyers listed by country and state.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Make sure that your employees are aware of any rules and regulations that may affect your business, in the realm of federal and state law.