Texas Tech Administrative Law Journal
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/2346/72461
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Browsing Texas Tech Administrative Law Journal by Subject "Administrative hearings"
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Item Are We Our Brother's Keepers? A Discussion of Nonlawyer Representation Before Texas Administrative Agencies and Recommendations for the Future(Texas Tech Journal of Texas Administrative Law, 2007) Clayton, Barbara AllisonThis comment discusses the proper role of a nonlawyer (including: paralegals, disbarred attorneys, and attorneys from outside jurisdictions) in administrative proceedings and whether Texas agencies should not only acknowledge the nonlawyer’s role, but also pass laws that both include and regulate lawyers. It begins with a brief history of the exclusion of the nonlawyers from administrative agency hearings, including Texas’s history of nonlawyer exclusion. It suggests a framework and analysis for Texas agencies to apply in determining whether to allow nonlawyer representatives. Further, it proposes what type of regulation a nonlawyer should be subject to by looking at different ethics regulations, including the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct. Finally, it argues why nonlawyers must be subject to more regulation by administrative agencies.Item Which Way is the Scale Tipped Now? The Shifting Balance of Power Between the Authority of Administrative Agencies and the State Office of Administrative Hearings Regarding Rulings in Contested Cases(Texas Tech Journal of Texas Administrative Law, 2003) Harlan, Nancy L.This comment reviews developments in the evolving relationship between the agencies and the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) administrative law judges (ALJs) regarding agency modifications of the ALJ’s findings of fact or conclusions of law expressed in a proposal for decision in a contested case or alternately, agency rejection of the proposal altogether. First, it reviews the mandate for independent ALJs and outlines the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) rulemaking process. Next, it analyzes the deference an agency must give to the SOAH ALJ proposal for decision and the standards that apply to changes to such a proposal an agency makes in issuing its final order in a case. Then, it examines amendments to agency rules which detail criteria for agency administrators to change a proposal decision from a SOAH ALJ. Finally, it focuses on one agency’s rules, court criticism of the board’s application of those rules, and the inherent conflict between the agency and the independent hearing examiner (ALJ).