Understanding Administrative Law

This Understanding volume is designed to help the reader grasp the fundamental concepts of administrative law. Understanding Administrative Law addresses the role of administrative agencies in our system of government, the processes of administrative decisionmaking by agencies, and judicial review of agency action. As appropriate, Understanding Administrative Law touches on the substance of the laws that agencies are called upon to implement and administer.

As students study the topic of administrative law and later enter into legal practice, they will find that the substance of the laws that agencies implement and administer and the procedures that agencies follow in performing those functions are increasingly intertwined and, in many instances, almost inextricable. An awareness that no bright line exists between substance and procedure, particularly in the context of an administrative agency, is especially helpful to a thorough understanding of administrative law.

Additionally, Understanding Administrative Law includes recommendations for identifying administrative law issues and tools for organizing the reader's thinking once an issue has been identified. Understanding Administrative Law highlights the manner in which a client's issues may move through a typical agency and the manner in which lawyers cope with different stages of client representation before administrative agencies. Additionally, Understanding Administrative Law identifies trends in judicial review of agency action, including an evolving jurisprudence regarding the nondelegation doctrine, agency design, and judicial deference to agency interpretations of law. The seventh edition discusses recent cases and provides extensive citations to law review articles and other resources for readers who wish to study further topics covered by the volume.