Administrative Law PLG Syllabus and Course Guide. All class sessions are recorded and may be viewed by students at any time.

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1 National Paralegal College 6516 North 7 th Street, Suite 103 Phoenix, AZ Tel: Fax: info@nationalparalegal.edu Website: Administrative Law PLG Syllabus and Course Guide The NPC Administrative Law course meets 15 times over the course of the 8-week term in the NPC Interactive classroom. Each session consists of about 60 minutes of online lecture by the course instructor. After the lecture, students may ask questions and make comments on the material being studied. There will be TWO alternative lecture times for this course: 9:00 PM, Eastern Time taught by Eric Martinez 10:15 PM, Eastern Time taught by DeDe Sandler You may come to either of these classes based on your own schedule and convenience. Attendance at any of the two classes will satisfy the weekly interaction requirement. You may switch back and forth between lecturers. All three classes will be recorded. There is no need to attend or listen to more than one section on a given day, as they will cover the same material. All class sessions are recorded and may be viewed by students at any time. To successfully complete the course, each student must satisfactorily complete: - 5 written assignments - 3 examinations COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course presents the constitutional, legal, and administrative principles that regulate the activities of administrative agencies, on both the state and federal levels. Students will learn both formal and informal advocacy techniques, including the role of the paralegal in such proceedings. Substantive topics will include administrative delegation of power, rule making, agency discretionary powers, remedies, and judicial review. Procedural topics include agency operation, adjudication, hearing preparation, and administrative and judicial appeals. 1

2 INSTRUCTORS AND CONTACT INFO: Lecturers: - Eric Martinez (emmnpc@yahoo.com) - DeDe Sandler (reachdedenpc@yahoo.com) Grader: DeDe Sandler COURSE OBJECTIVES: At the completion of this course, the student will be able to: Perform basic administrative law research on the Federal and state levels, including agency directories and LEXIS Discuss how administrative bodies work Explain the scope and limitations of agency investigations Describe how administrative rule making is done Provide an overview of Administrative Procedures Act Explain the role of the Freedom of Information Act in agency matters TEXTBOOK AND READING ASSIGNMENTS: The textbook for this course is by John D. DeLeo, Jr. It is published by Wadsworth Publishing Company. The book may be ordered directly from the publisher or you may purchase it second hand through another source, such as Textbooks.com or Amazon.com. It is expected that each student will obtain a copy of the textbook prior to the beginning of the course. The textbook for this course is: Administrative Law, First Edition Author: John D. DeLeo, Jr. Publisher: Delmar/ Cengage Learning ISBN number: It is expected that each student will obtain a copy of the textbook prior to the beginning of the course. The book may be obtained in any manner the student chooses to do so, including: Amazon.com: 2

3 Buy.com: Barnes and Noble: Unless otherwise noted, all reading assignments refer to the above referenced textbook. Any additional materials assigned in this syllabus will be posted on the NPC site for reading or download. All statutes and regulations referenced in the text can be downloaded or viewed through Lexis. Directions on how to do this will be discussed in class and posted to the course message board. All reading assignments should be completed prior to the corresponding lecture. Lecture slides and additional documents can be found on the Documents and Slides page on the NPC student website. WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS: During the course (as indicated on this syllabus), five assignments will be posted assignments and exams page. The 5 assignments will cumulatively count for 40% of the student s grade for the course. Information will be posted to the message board that indicates when the material for each assignment is discussed in class. Assignments are to be submitted via the section of the student menu entitled assignments and exams. It is highly recommended that assignment answers be composed in a word processing program and then passed into the NPC system rather than composing it in the assignment answer window. This is important because an inadvertent page refresh or login timeout could cause you to lose all unsaved work typed into the NPC assignment window. Pdf documents and images may also be submitted as part of your assignment. For a short tutorial on creating and submitting pdf documents, please see: (You may have to log into Google to view this document.) Each submitted assignment will be graded on the following scale: 4 - Excellent 3 - Good 2 Satisfactory 1 Poor 0 Not acceptable (must resubmit) 3

4 (Half-points may also be awarded in assignment grading.) Please see the Assignment Grading Rubric (the next page of this syllabus) for more detailed information as to how assignments are graded and the key elements of assignments that instructors look for when grading assignments. In addition to a grade, students will receive written feedback from the instructor on their assignments, where appropriate. To the extent that such is possible, it is recommended that students complete the assignments as the course proceeds rather that waiting until after the course ends. 4

5 Assignment Grading Rubric Factor 4 (Excellent) 3(Good) 2(Satisfactory) 1 (Poor) 0 (no credit) Thoroughness Answered all questions in the exercise completely and in the appropriate order. Answered all questions in the exercise but not completely and/or not on the appropriate order Answered most of the questions in the exercise but not completely and/or not on the appropriate order Did not answer many of the questions in the exercise but did make some reasonable effort to do so. Made little or no reasonable effort to answer the questions posed in the assignment Demonstrated Understanding Of the Assignment and has come to an appropriate conclusion Documentation/ Legal research (note: For assignments, sources should be those obtained through legal research; for exam essays, legal principles learned in class or the courseware is sufficient.) Organization Critical Thinking and Analysis Response demonstrates a thorough understanding of the exercise and the student has justified and enunciated an appropriate conclusion. Student has cited at least two excellent sources and has applied them appropriately. Appropriate sources are documented and well cited and well integrated. Essay is organized very well; the reader can clearly understand where the essay is going at all point and a cohesive easy-tofollow argument is made in the essay. Separate paragraphs are used for separate ideas. Shows excellent critical thinking and analysis. The student was able to apply the cited law to the facts of the given case in a clear and convincing manner. Response demonstrates an understanding of the exercise and comes to a conclusion. Student has cited one excellent source or two or more good sources but has missed at least one excellent source. Sources are integrated well in the assignment. Essay is well organized. The essay is coherent, though may not flow freely. Different components of the essay are broken up appropriately. Shows good critical thinking and analysis. The student s points are well argued and well supported. Response demonstrates some understanding of the exercise. The conclusion that the students comes to may not be appropriately justified by the rest of the essay. Student has cited appropriate sources but has missed the best available OR student has cited good sources but has done a poor job of integrating them. Essay shows some level of organization, but is difficult to follow. The essay is not as focused as it should be. Essay may go back and forth between points without using new paragraphs. Shows adequate critical thinking and analysis. The student s points are supported by logic, but are not exceptionally convincing. Response demonstrates some understanding of the exercise but shows a high level of confusion on the part of the student. The student s conclusion, if any, is not supported b the rest of the essay. Student has cited poor or inappropriate authorities or has failed to establish the relevance of the sources that he or she has cited. Essay is poorly organized and is very difficult to follow. The student did not appropriately separate thoughts and did not properly organize the essay. Shows minimal critical thinking and analysis. The student s arguments are weak and unconvincing. Response demonstrates a very poor understanding of the subject matter presented by the assignment. Student has not cited any legal authorities or has cited authorities that are irrelevant. Student s essay is in chaos. There is no reasonable attempt to organize the essay coherently. Shows no effort critical thinking or analysis. The student s points make no sense. EXAMINATIONS: Examinations will be posted on the NPC website when indicated on the syllabus of the course. The examinations consist entirely of short essay questions. The 3 examinations will cumulatively count for 60% of the student s course grade. 5

6 Examinations are non-cumulative; they cover only the material that has been covered since the previous examination. The instructor will provide specific information regarding the content of each examination as the examination time approaches. All examinations are timed. A student may begin the examination any time after it is posted to the NPC website. Once begun, the examination must be completed within 4 hours. Examinations will be graded on a conventional scale. The number of points each question is worth is equal to 100 divided by the number of questions on the examination. For each examination question, full credit will be awarded if the student: 1) Correctly identifies the legal issue(s) presented by the question 2) Applies the correct law to the legal issue(s) presented (note: full credit may also be awarded if the student s answer comes to an incorrect conclusion if the student bases his or her analysis on correct law and supports his or her position in a convincing manner) 3) Presents his or her answer in a clear and understandable manner The amount of partial credit to be awarded, if any, for an answer that is not complete and correct is at the discretion of the instructor. Instructors are instructed to award partial credit that is proportional to the level of knowledge and legal skill displayed by the student in answering the question. The following factors are generally NOT taken into account in grading examinations: Legal research; Although research is a key component of assignments, examinations are graded on the student s knowledge of the legal concepts taught and do not require independent research. Grammar and spelling (unless they impact the ability of the graded to understand the student s answer); Although these are essential skills for a paralegal, examinations test legal knowledge and ability to apply the skills learned, not necessarily the ability to write professional legal memoranda (assignments test this skill). In addition, because exams are taken under time constraints, we would rather see the students spend their time spotting legal issues and applying applicable law than on proofreading answers for typos and grammar mistakes. For more information on assignments and examinations, please see the NPC Student Handbook. To the extent that such is possible, it is recommend that students complete the exams as the course proceeds rather that waiting until after the course ends. WEEKLY INTERACTION REQUIREMENT 6

7 To ensure that all students are involved and participating in the course as the course moves forward, each student enrolled in this course must, at least once during each week, either: 1) Attend a live lecture OR 2) Submit at least one assignment OR 3) Take at least one examination OR 4) Answer a weekly interaction question or questions that will be posted on the Assignments and Exams page. The weekly interaction question(s) will be simple and straightforward and will cover material covered in class that week. Answers to these questions should be short (typically 1-3 sentences) and to the point. This student response (which is necessary only if the student does not attend a live class or take an exam or submit an assignment in the given week) will be graded on a pass/fail basis. The interaction questions will be posted no later than Monday of each week and must be answered on or before the following Monday. The weekly interaction questions will be posted alongside the assignments. Students who do not attend a live class or take an exam or submit an assignment in the given week will be required to answer the questions presented. Students who did attend a live class or take an exam or submit an assignment in the given week may ignore the question. Any student who does not fulfill this requirement during a given week will receive a reduction in his or her over-all grade of 2 percentage points from his or her over-all average. Moreover, for students who are receiving federal financial aid, under applicable federal regulations, students who do not satisfy an interaction requirement for 14 consecutive days may lose their eligibility for federal financial aid. All examinations and assignments are due no later than Sunday, July 29, Lecture and reading assignments schedule Class 1 Monday, May 7, 2012 In this class, we will familiarize ourselves with the three branches of government and the role played by each. We will also be introduced to the concept of the administrative agency as the fourth branch of the U.S. government. Finally, we will identify the scope and sources of administrative law. 7

8 Documents: Chapter 1: Introduction to Administrative Law Art. I, Art. II, and Art. III of The United States Constitution (can be located using an internet search engine) Class 2 Wednesday, May 9, 2012 We will continue our discussion of administrative law by focusing upon administrative agencies. As part of our discussion, we will define the term administrative agency as well as explore how such agencies are created. We will also examine how the delegation and non-delegation doctrines determine the validity of a transfer of authority to an administrative agency. We will complete our discussion by identifying the various types of agencies. Chapter 1: Introduction to Administrative Law Class 3 Monday, May 14, 2012 This class will consist of a Lexis tutorial/assignment walkthrough. The instructor will use a research assignment from a past or current course to demonstrate the manner in which an assignment should be researched and composed. The instructor will walk the students through the various Lexis databases and explain to students how to most efficiently use the Lexis system to complete research assignments. Various general aspects of navigating Lexis, including Shepardizing, seeking and finding appropriate search databases, getting a document by citation, etc., may be explored. The instructor will also discuss how to most effectively plan, outline, organize and draft research assignments. Model answers and/or past student submissions may be used to illustrate what a 4 assignment looks like and how to compose one. Class 4 Wednesday, May 16, 2012 In this class, we will discuss rulemaking. We will be introduced to the concepts of formal and informal rulemaking; hybrid rulemaking; and negotiated rulemaking. We will also learn to differentiate between legislative rules and non-legislative rules. Chapter 2: Rulemaking Legislative Power of Agencies 8

9 Class 5 Monday, May 21, 2012 We will discuss how agencies enforce regulations: collect information; perform investigations; and recordkeeping and reporting. We will also discuss the applicability of the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. Chapter 3: Agency Enforcement of Regulations Documents: Amend. V, U.S. Constitution (can be located using an internet search engine) Examination # 1 will be administered at this point. Class 6 Wednesday, May 23, 2012 We continue our discussion regarding agency enforcement of regulations by taking a look at the following methods of enforcement: investigations, inspections, and filing a complaint. Chapter 3: Agency Enforcement of Regulations Class 7 Wednesday, May 30, 2012 This lecture will introduce students to the agency s authority to issue subpoenas. We will define subpoena duces tecum and explore its limitations. Additionally, we will also learn how to enforce a subpoena Finally, we will discuss the 4 th amendment and how the protection against unreasonable searches and seizures applies in administrative proceedings. 9

10 Documents: Chapter 3: Agency Enforcement of Regulations Amend. IV, U.S. Constitution (can be located using an internet search engine) Class 8 Monday, June 4, 2012 In this class, we will explore adjudication, the judicial power of agencies. We will differentiate between formal and informal agency actions, and the role of the enabling act in making that determination. We will also discuss the two general categories of agency adjudication. Chapter 4: Adjudication Judicial Power of Agencies Class 9 Wednesday, June 6, 2012 We continue our study of adjudication by identifying the stages of adjudication, as well as characteristics respective to the stages. We will also learn to differentiate between adjudication and rulemaking. Chapter 4: Adjudication Judicial Power of Agencies Class 10 Monday, June 11, 2012 This lecture provides an overview of agency activities. As part of our discussion, we will identify the numerous types of activities performed by agencies. Chapter 5: Overview of Agency Activities 10

11 Examination # 2 will be administered at this point Class 11 Wednesday, June 13, 2012 We continue our overview of agency activities by identifying the various ways in which agencies disclose information: dissemination, leaks, and via the Freedom of Information Act. Documents Chapter 5: Overview of Agency Activities The Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552 (can be located using an internet search engine) Class 12 Monday, June 18, 2012 In this lecture, we will examine ways in which the judicial branch exercises control over administrative agencies. We will explore applicable constitutional issues, including due process. We will also differentiate between procedural and substantive due process. Documents Chapter 6: Judicial Control of Administrative Agencies Amend. XIV, U.S. Constitution (can be located using internet search engine, e.g., Google, Yahoo!) Amend. V, U.S. Constitution (can be located using internet search engine, e.g., Google, Yahoo!) Class 13 Wednesday, June 20, 2012 We continue our discussion regarding judicial control of agencies. We will identify when courts will defer to an agency s discretion and discuss the scope of judicial review. Chapter 6: Judicial Control of Administrative Agencies 11

12 Class 14 Monday, June 25, 2012 In this class, we will discuss legislative control of administrative agencies. We will explore the various methods used by the legislative branch to influence the activities of administrative agencies. Chapter 7: Legislative Control of Administrative Agencies Class 15 Wednesday, June 27, 2012 We will wrap up our study of administrative law with a discussion of executive control of administrative agencies. We will examine the various methods used by the executive branch to influence the activities of administrative agencies. Chapter 8: Executive Control of Administrative Agencies Examination # 3 will be administered at this point. All examinations and assignments are due no later than 11:59 PM EASTERN TIME on Sunday evening, July 29, Extensions may be granted only for good cause. No extension can be granted unless and until at least one assignment or exam is completed and no extension of longer than 30 days after the deadline may be granted. 12