[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 130 (Monday, July 8, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55913-55914]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-14915]


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 Notices
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
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  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.

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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 [email protected] (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 (https://www.acus.gov/projects/nonlawyer-assistance-and-representation) 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 https://www.acus.gov/policy/public-comment-policy.

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 [email protected].

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 www.acus.gov.

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.
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    \1\ White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable, Access to 
Justice in Federal Administrative Proceedings: Nonlawyer Assistance 
and Other Strategies 19 (2023).
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    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.
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    \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., https://www.acus.gov/research-projects/working-group-model-rules-representative-conduct.
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    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]
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