Administrative Law Overview

What is Administrative Law?
Administrative law is the law concerning the organization and operation of administrative agencies and the relations of administrative agencies with the legislature, the executive, the judiciary, and the public.
Administrative law has three functions:
1) Statutes endowing agencies with powers and establishing rules of substantive law relating to those powers.
2) Body of agency-made law, consisting of administrative rules, regulations, reports or opinions containing findings of fact, and orders.
3) Legal principles governing the acts of public agents when those acts conflict with private rights.
Functions of Administrative Agencies
Legislative: Writing rules and regulations
(Agencies write the rules and regulations that make up administrative law)
Executive: Seeing that rules and regulations are carried out
(Agencies ensure that the administrative regulations created by the agency and the statutes created by the legislature are carried out)
Judicial: Interpreting regulations and statutes
(Agencies interpret the regulations and statutes governing the agency)
Administrative Agencies Rule Making Power-
Administrative agencies are created when congress or a state legislature pass legislation that broadly defines the powers of that agency. This is called an Enabling Statute. Based on the enabling statute, that agency then has the authority to create rules and regulations.
Administrative agencies must conform to various requirements mandated by the constitution and by statute when creating these rules. This is because of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
The APA requires agencies to:
1) Keep the public currently informed of their organization, procedures, and rules.
2) Provide for public participation in the rule-making process.
3) Prescribe uniform standards for the conduct of formal rule-making.
Administrative Law Judges (ALJ)-
An administrative law judge is a judge who resolves disputes between individuals and agencies regarding the application or interpretation of rules and regulations.
Decisions made by administrative law judges include:
Establishment of rates for gas, electrical, communication and transportation
Radio and television broadcasting licensing
Compliance with federal standards relating to interstate trade, labor relations, advertising, consumer products, and food and drugs
Transportation and industry health and safety regulation
Adjudication of claims relating to Social Security benefits, workers’ compensation, and international trade.
Research of Administrative Law-
Research in Administrative law requires the familiarity with the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) and the Federal Register. These two should be used simultaneously to determine the relevant agency ruling or regulation, to update the rule or to determine whether the rule remains effective.
The CFR is a compilation of rules published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the federal government.
The Federal Register provides a chronological publication of agency rules and regulations.
The Federal Regulatory Directory is a source for basic information concerning administrative agencies. The directory presents the information needed to deal with the multitude of federal regulatory agencies.
Paralegals Role-
A paralegal working in a law firm may be responsible for analyzing administrative regulations and helping determine their applicability to clients’ activities.
A paralegal in a corporate department for a regulated industry, like banking, may be responsible for helping attorneys review applicable administrative regulations and evaluate corporate compliance with those regulations.
A paralegal working for an administrative agency may be responsible for drafting proposed rules, gathering facts to determine whether an individual or entity has complied with agency rules, or analyzing surveys to assess whether a new rule is appropriate.