Brief Adjudicative Proceeding (BAP). An Attorney | Lawyer’s Prospective on Brief Adjudicative Proceeding (BAP).
“The Washington State Capitol” by Bluedisk at English Wikipedia. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons
Washington administrative agencies, lawyers and legislators know that the standard adjudicative process can be lengthy and time consuming, even if it is shorter than most other Superior Court criminal or civil proceedings. Sometimes if an issue is deemed to have less significance, a shortened legal process called a brief adjudicative proceeding may be pursued by an administrative agency.
In Washington and in general, these types of hearings are only permitted if it does not violate any provision of law and the public’s interest does not require notice and an opportunity to participate be given to individuals other than the parties. This type of proceeding has a less involved process than a standard administrative proceeding. A brief adjudicative process, or BAP, is typically more informal and quicker. It does this by cutting out numerous procedures. For example, these types of administrative proceedings may have the discovery process is removed, no prehearings or not allow any oral testimony.
Despite this lax process, lawyers and individuals are still able to seek review of a decision administratively and judicially. In general, if you seek administrative review, you must request it either in writing or simply orally within 21 days. Just like with a petition for review with a normal adjudicative hearing, if there is no response to your request of administrative review within 20 days, then it is deemed denied. It is important for people and businesses to remember that administrative actions are harsh on timelines. As lawyers who handle administrative law matters, we handle BAP hearings as part of larger cases or issues, or, to contest and fight unfair results.
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