What is Administrative Law | A Washington Lawyer’s Prospective.
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From the perspective of administrative lawyers | attorneys who handle a variety of disputes and litigation with administrative agencies, it is important, in our opinion, to understand what makes administrative law “tick”. Understanding the nature of administrative law takes the anxiety and mystery out of the process, helps clients and their lawyers better communicate and increases the chances of achieving a set goal.
Administrative law is simply the legal name for the body of law surrounding administrative agencies who write and enforce rules, policies and punishment in a particular area that they were created and designed to manage. If you understand the inherent problems with this situation, understand the nature of administrative law, understand the rules and policies that drive the particular government agency at issue and the application of enforcement provisions and clearly define what the goal of litigation is, you will improve your position. In our roll as administrative law lawyers, we do this all the time.
Overview
United States government is divided into three branches of government: legislative, executive and judicial. Each of these branches has its own job to do. In theory, this division helps each branch act as a check and balance to the historic abuses of power common in all forms of government.
The various branches of the Washington State government, and Federal government for that matter, do not have the time or ability to manage all the work involved in running our heavily regulated society; so, in order to create, manage, and enforce all the laws and regulations, these various branches of government formally delegated some of their power and created administrative agencies to handle the details. This delegated power is what creates an Administrative Agency and is the starting point of any discussion about administrative law. As attorneys | lawyers who deal with administrative law, we know the law must provide standards and safeguards to limit the scope of this delegated power in order to prevent abuse. From the viewpoint of lawyers who work in administrative law, keeping these limitations and scope of power in mind is the first step in engaging in any dispute or negotiation with any of these agencies. Understanding an agency’s limitations as well as the purpose, policies and fundamental goals of an agency allows one to tailor arguments, negotiations or litigation to the right issues which, in our opinion, increases the chances of winning. For more discussion read Washington State Administrative Agencies.
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