An ELI Professional Practice Seminar
Administrative records are document trails that encapsulate the reasoning behind agency decisions, and therefore form the basis for judicial review. While the government wants to create a robust record, others want to either find flaws in the documentation or come to the agency’s defense. The increased volume of public comments, coupled with the massive growth in electronic document management, has led to the creation of larger rulemaking records, complicating their use in practice. Challenging or defending administrative records is a vital skill for any environmental attorney.
Skills Participants Learned
- How to efficiently manage and utilize increasingly large administrative records
- What to watch for in administrative records: What should be in, what can be left out, and what should be left out or redacted
- Identify which privileges may apply and how to argue for or against them
- Decide what, if any, discovery is available
- Best practices for developing and defending a record
- Strategies for challenging a record
This workshop was designed to review best practices for developing and defending a record, as well as strategies for challenging one. Our panel of experts in administrative and environmental law reviewed the above skills and advised participants on how to be a more effective advocate for their clients.
Panelists:
Adam Babich, Professor of Law and Director of the Environmental Law Clinic, Tulane University Law School (moderator)
Leland E. Beck, Consultant, Committee on Judicial Review, Administrative Conference of the United States
Justin A. Savage, Partner, Hogan Lovells LLP
Carrie Wehling, Office of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Materials:
ACUS Recommendation - Administrative Record in Informal Rulemaking
EPA's Administrative Record Guidance
If you are an ELI member and are logged onto the Members site, you will see links below to additional materials from the session. If you are not an ELI member but would like to have access to archived sessions like this one, go HERE to learn more about the many benefits of membership and how to join.