Notice2024-14915
Nonlawyer Assistance and Representation; Request for Comments
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
July 8, 2024
Issuing agencies
Administrative Conference of the United States
Abstract
The Office of the Chair of ACUS is requesting public input on representation and other forms of assistance provided by nonlawyers to participants in federal agency adjudication. Responses to this request may inform an ongoing ACUS project, Nonlawyer Assistance and Representation, which, if warranted, may recommend best practices for agencies to use.
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 130 (Monday, July 8, 2024)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 130 (Monday, July 8, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55913-55914]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-14915]
========================================================================
Notices
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings,
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents
appearing in this section.
========================================================================
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 130 / Monday, July 8, 2024 /
Notices
[[Page 55913]]
ADMINISTRATIVE CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED STATES
Nonlawyer Assistance and Representation; Request for Comments
AGENCY: Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS).
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Office of the Chair of ACUS is requesting public input on
representation and other forms of assistance provided by nonlawyers to
participants in federal agency adjudication. Responses to this request
may inform an ongoing ACUS project, Nonlawyer Assistance and
Representation, which, if warranted, may recommend best practices for
agencies to use.
DATES: Comments must be received no later than 10:00 a.m. (ET) August
31, 2024.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#d3babdb5bc93b2b0a6a0fdb4bca5"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d6bfb8b0b996b7b5a3a5f8b1b9a0">[email protected]</span></a> (with
``Nonlawyer Assistance and Representation'' in the subject line of the
message), or by U.S. Mail addressed to Nonlawyer Assistance and
Representation, Administrative Conference of the United States, Suite
706 South, 1120 20th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. ACUS will
ordinarily post comments on the project web page (<a href="https://www.acus.gov/projects/nonlawyer-assistance-and-representation">https://www.acus.gov/projects/nonlawyer-assistance-and-representation</a>) as they are received.
Commenters should not include information, such as personal information
or confidential business information, that they do not wish to appear
on the ACUS website. For the full ACUS public comment policy, please
visit <a href="https://www.acus.gov/policy/public-comment-policy">https://www.acus.gov/policy/public-comment-policy</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matthew Gluth, Deputy Research
Director, Administrative Conference of the United States, 1120 20th
Street NW, Suite 706 South, Washington, DC 20036; Telephone (202) 480-
2080; email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#ed808a81989985ad8c8e989ec38a829b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b8d5dfd4cdccd0f8d9dbcdcb96dfd7ce">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Administrative Conference Act, 5 U.S.C.
591-596, established the Administrative Conference of the United
States. The Conference studies the efficiency, adequacy, and fairness
of the administrative procedures used by Federal agencies and makes
recommendations to agencies, the President, Congress, and the Judicial
Conference of the United States for procedural improvements (5 U.S.C.
594(1)). For further information about the Conference and its
activities, see <a href="http://www.acus.gov">www.acus.gov</a>.
Nonlawyer Assistance and Representation
Millions of people each year engage with administrative programs or
participate in administrative adjudicative processes to access federal
programs (for example, to obtain needed benefits and services) and
resolve legal issues (for example, to resolve tax and immigration
disputes). Many people ``need assistance to access and obtain fair
outcomes'' in administrative adjudications.\1\ But many people,
particularly low-income people and members of other underserved
communities, are not always able to access representation or other
forms of assistance that they need to navigate administrative
adjudications successfully.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable, Access to
Justice in Federal Administrative Proceedings: Nonlawyer Assistance
and Other Strategies 19 (2023).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
One barrier to accessing representation or assistance is the
critical shortage of affordable legal services. Agencies have long
innovated various ways to expand assistance and widen the pool of
available representatives. For example, many agencies currently permit
participants in agency adjudications to be represented by accredited or
qualified nonlawyers. In 1986, ACUS recommended that agencies ``take
the steps necessary to encourage--as well as eliminate inappropriate
barriers to--nonlawyer assistance and representation.'' \2\ Since then,
a growing academic literature has analyzed the experience and outcomes
people have when using various forms of nonlawyer representation. Just
last year, ACUS recommended that agencies allow participants in many
adjudications ``to be represented by a lawyer or a lay person with
relevant expertise'' and to establish ``rules authorizing accredited or
qualified nonlawyer representatives to practice before the agency.''
\3\ Additionally, a recent recommendation on regulation of
representatives in agency adjudicative proceedings led to a working
group focused on developing a model code for representation.\4\ Yet
there is still much more to understand about the extent and character
of representation by professionals who are not lawyers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Admin. Conf. of the U.S., Recommendation 86-1, Nonlawyer
Assistance and Representation, 51 FR 25641 (July 16, 1986).
\3\ Admin. Conf. of the U.S., Recommendation 2023-5, Best
Practices for Adjudication Not Involving an Evidentiary Hearing, 89
FR 1509 (Jan. 10, 2024); Admin. Conf. of the U.S., Recommendation
2023-6, Identifying and Reducing Burdens on the Public in
Administrative Proceedings, 89 FR 1511 (Jan. 10, 2024).
\4\ George M. Cohen, Regulation of Representatives in Agency
Adjudicative Proceedings (Dec. 3, 2021) (report to the Admin. Conf.
of the U.S.). See also Working Group on Model Rules of
Representative Conduct, Admin. Conf. of the U.S., <a href="https://www.acus.gov/research-projects/working-group-model-rules-representative-conduct">https://www.acus.gov/research-projects/working-group-model-rules-representative-conduct</a>.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
ACUS is undertaking a project to map and define the spectrum of
assistance that parties to administrative proceedings may (or may not)
have available to them. It will identify areas in which certain forms
of assistance may be underutilized in administrative proceedings and,
conversely, where agencies may be relying too heavily on certain types
of assistance.
Specific Topics for Public Comment
ACUS welcomes views, information, and data on all aspects of
strategies that agencies are using or might use to expand assistance
and/or representation for members of the public when they engage with
administrative programs or participate in administrative adjudicative
processes. ACUS also seeks specific feedback on the following questions
related to assistance and nonlawyer representation:
Experiences Navigating Administrative Adjudication
1. What has been your experience interacting with an administrative
adjudication regarding a benefit or service that you are applying for
or renewing, for example unemployment
[[Page 55914]]
insurance or student loan assistance? Were you able to receive adequate
assistance from the agency, including interactions with agency staff
and agency-provided resources, such that you did not need external
legal services from lawyers or nonlawyers? If not, what steps did you
take to find such assistance, if any?
2. If you have been represented by someone in an administrative
adjudication, how would you describe the experience and outcome? Have
you experienced any unintended consequences from representation? How
did you find and decide to work with your representative? Did the
agency assist you with finding your representative? Was your
representative a lawyer? If not, was your representative part of an
organization or a solo practitioner? How did you decide to proceed with
your representative, and what alternatives did you consider?
Perspectives From Representatives or Legal Assistance Providers
3. If you have worked as a nonlawyer representative in
administrative adjudications, how long have you worked in this
capacity? Before which agency or agencies do you practice? What tasks
do you undertake as part of your representation? How were you trained?
Are you required to re-certify regularly or seek ongoing training? Is
training provided by the agency or by a sponsoring organization? Are
you supervised by a lawyer in any capacity?
4. If you have worked as a nonlawyer representative in
administrative adjudications, what was the certification and oversight
process from the agency? In your experience, was that process efficient
and/or successful?
5. If you have worked as a nonlawyer representative in
administrative adjudications, have you felt that you were treated
professionally and equally by others in the process? Was the government
represented by a lawyer?
6. If you are a lawyer representing people in administrative
adjudications, what are your experiences and interactions with
nonlawyer representatives, if any?
7. If you represent people in administrative adjudications, what
are your experiences with agency rules and procedures regarding
representation? In what ways could they be improved?
Landscape of Relevant Agency Programs
8. Are you familiar with specific agency programs that encourage
nonlawyer representation? Are these programs working to meet the demand
of need for assistance and/or representation in administrative
adjudications? If not, how might they be improved?
9. Are there specific agency programs that could be expanded to
encourage more forms of nonlawyer assistance and/or representation?
10. Are you aware of studies or other data examining aspects of
nonlawyer representation before federal agencies, beyond data that is
publicly available through agency websites?
11. What role can public- and private-sector groups play in
increasing nonlawyer representation, and how should government agencies
encourage such actions, if at all?
Dated: July 2, 2024.
Shawne C. McGibbon,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2024-14915 Filed 7-5-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6110-01-P
</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on July 8, 2024.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.