Administrative Law

From navigating public benefits, to government licensing and permitting, to parole applications, to inmate disciplinary proceedings, to hundreds of other contexts, the federal, state, and local governments have delegated to New York state and city administrative agencies tremendous authority and power to administer a broad swath of regulatory schemes.

In the administrative law context, the arbiter of the facts and the law is typically an employee of the arm of the government administering the law, such as an Administrative Law Judge or Judicial Hearing Officer – not a state or federal court. Before a state or federal court will hear the typical administrative law claim, the person who wishes to bring the claim must exhaust administrative remedies by appealing the adverse decision. If and when a state or federal court does review the claim, the scope of that review is typically limited to consideration of the factual record – and legal arguments – before the administrative agency. In other words, if a prospective litigant does not front-load the factual record and legal arguments, the state or federal court may not review them at all.

Gideon’s work in administrative proceedings has included:

  • New York State Division of Parole hearings and administrative appeals
  • New York State Department of Correctional Services inmate disciplinary hearings and administrative appeals
  • New York City Police Department proceedings and administrative appeals
  • New York City Department of Parks and Recreation proceedings and administrative appeals
  • New York City Environmental Control Board hearings and administrative appeals
  • New York City Department of Consumer Affairs hearings and administrative appeals
  • Freedom of Information Law requests and administrative appeals