In the past 10 years, I’ve worked with many different private attorneys who represent state agencies. Some of these attorneys are very familiar with administrative law, while others are new to it. For those new to administrative law, it’s important to understand the basics to avoid making big mistakes that could hurt their cases and their clients. The first step is to figure out which part of the law applies to your case. If you’re challenging an existing rule, it’s one part of the law, and if you’re challenging proposed agency action, it’s another part. Understanding this will help you navigate the process. When a dispute arises with a government agency, you can file a petition or request for a hearing with the agency. If there are disagreements about the facts, the case will be referred to the Division of Administrative Hearings (DOAH) for a formal hearing. The DOAH will then issue a recommended order for the agency to consider as its final decision.
In some cases, such as rule challenges, the DOAH has the final say instead of the agency. These cases are filed directly with the DOAH.
There are specific rules that must be followed when filing a petition or request for hearing, so make sure to meet all the requirements.
If a motion is filed, a response must be made within seven days, and it must include a statement saying whether the other parties agree with the motion. Administrative law judges have dismissed motions that don’t include this statement. If you’re new to DOAH, don’t worry – it’s very much like regular court proceedings. All pleadings must be filed electronically through DOAH’s system. If the judge issues a recommended order, you have the right to submit written exceptions within 15 days. This is important because the agency may not adopt the portion of the order you have exceptions to. So, make sure to pay attention to this and don’t overlook it, as it can make a big difference in your case. If you disagree with a judge’s decision in an administrative case, you need to file written exceptions to preserve your arguments for appeal. You also need to provide a transcript of the hearing to support your exceptions. It’s important to develop strong arguments in your exceptions because you generally can’t raise new arguments on appeal if you didn’t bring them up in your exceptions. However, there are a few issues that can be raised on appeal without being in the exceptions. But in general, it’s best to make sure you cover all your bases to avoid having to argue that a mistake was so big that it requires a new trial. When you want to appeal a decision made by a government agency, you need to file exceptions with the right office within 15 days of the decision. Make sure to be specific about what parts of the decision you disagree with and why. Also, follow the rules for filing exceptions to avoid having them denied for technical reasons. If you’re not sure where to file your exceptions, contact the agency’s clerk for help. If you win your case at DOAH and get a recommendation in your favor, you don’t have to file any more paperwork. But the other party might file some, and as the winning side, you have the right to respond. It’s not required, but it’s a good idea to take the chance to explain why the other party’s arguments aren’t good. Remember, you don’t get extra time to respond if the other party mails their paperwork to you. Ignoring their arguments could hurt your case, so use this opportunity to make your position clear to the agency. When a recommended order has unfavorable findings of fact, there is very little that can be done. An agency can only reject findings if they are unsupported by credible evidence. “Competent, substantial evidence” is evidence that establishes a solid basis for a fact and is relevant and material. Administrative law judges have a lot of authority when it comes to findings of fact, and it’s very difficult to argue that their findings are not supported by competent, substantial evidence. In administrative law, unfavorable findings of fact by a judge can’t easily be rejected even with lots of evidence on your side. The judge gets to decide which evidence is more credible, regardless of the experts’ credentials. However, there’s some hope if you have strong policy-based reasons to reject the findings. When it comes to unfavorable conclusions of law, agencies have more leeway to reject them. You can appeal these decisions with a petition for review, but it’s not easy and you need a good reason to show why your case will be irreparably harmed if the court doesn’t grant immediate review. If you’re fighting a case against a government agency, you should go to the meeting where they’ll decide your case, especially if the agency is a group of people who meet regularly. This could help your case and save you from having to appeal a bad decision later on. Even if you already got a good recommendation from a judge, it’s still important to show up if the other side is fighting it. This can make a big difference in the outcome of the case. When attending a meeting for a client, make sure to get contact information of the person recording the meeting. It’s a good idea to bring a certified court reporter to make sure you have a clear transcript if you need it later.
If the agency makes a decision that goes against your client, you might want to ask them to reconsider. But be careful because you only have 30 days to file an appeal if they don’t change their decision. So, be ready to file an appeal if they don’t reconsider within that time. When appealing an administrative law case, you have to file a notice of appeal with the agency involved and a copy with the appropriate district court of appeal. You may have some flexibility in choosing which court hears your appeal. Consider where your client lives and whether another district court might be better for your case. Do some research on the issues you want to raise before deciding where to file your appeal. Before filing an appeal, it’s important to consider if you have a good chance of winning. If the agency made a mistake in the procedure or interpretation of the law, or abused its discretion, you may have a successful appeal. If the agency’s decision negatively affects your client, like a fine or license suspension, you should file a motion for a stay to put the decision on hold. If the agency rejects the judge’s findings, there may be financial consequences for them. Overall, it’s important to understand administrative law to help your clients. This is a summary of Florida laws about how administrative hearings work. Hearsay evidence can be used but it’s not enough by itself. If you want a hearing, you have to file a petition with the agency. If there are no disputes, the agency will handle it. If there is a dispute, an administrative law judge will conduct a hearing and then make a recommendation. The agency will then make a final decision. You can challenge agency decisions in court. If you want more info, you can visit the website for the Division of Administrative Hearings. Even if you are representing yourself in court, you still have to follow the same rules as a lawyer. You can’t bring up new issues on appeal that you didn’t raise during the original case. The agency can’t change the facts of the case unless they can prove that the facts were not based on strong evidence. This is important for making sure that the decisions in court are fair. If someone wants to challenge a decision made by a licensing board, they need to make sure they do it within a certain time period. They also need to have a good reason for not doing it on time, or else they might not be able to challenge the decision later on. When making a challenge, they need to provide evidence that a reasonable person could rely on to support their argument. If they don’t do it properly, they might not be able to challenge the decision later. Courts usually defer to the decisions of government agencies when they interpret and apply laws, unless the agency’s decision is clearly wrong. But sometimes courts don’t have to defer to the agency, especially if the topic is not in the agency’s area of expertise. The agency’s decisions must be based on the evidence and should not be rejected without a good explanation. If an agency or judge makes a decision during a case that you think is wrong or unfair, you can ask for a review of that decision. But you have to do it at the right time and follow the rules. You also need to have a record of what happened during the case, like a transcript of the testimony. And if you want to appeal the decision, you have to file a notice with the court within 30 days of the decision. In some cases, filing a motion for reconsideration doesn’t delay the court’s decision, and in those cases, the court can’t consider an appeal. There are specific rules for filing notices and seeking judicial review, and different rules apply for appeals of final orders from administrative tribunals. The location for seeking judicial review can depend on where the agency is based or where the parties live. Filing a notice of administrative appeal doesn’t automatically stop the action being appealed, except in specific circumstances. If a license is suspended or revoked by an agency, the licensee can ask the court for an expedited decision on whether the action should be stopped. If a government agency wants to stop a decision from being enforced, they have to ask the court for permission. The court will only grant permission if the agency can show that not stopping the decision would be very bad for the state. If the agency can’t show that, the court will let the decision be enforced. If the agency wants to ask the court for permission, they have to do it first with the lower tribunal. Garnett Chisenhall, who knows a lot about this, helped write this article. We want all our members to understand their responsibility to help the public, make the legal system better, and learn more about the law.
Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/practice-tips-for-private-attorneys-new-to-administrative-law/
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