Administrative Law Judge Explained

An administrative law judge (ALJ) in the United States is an official who presides at an administrative trial-type hearing to resolve a dispute between a government agency and someone affected by a decision of that agency. The ALJ is the initial trier of fact and decision maker. ALJs can administer oaths, take testimony, rule on questions of evidence, and make factual and legal determinations.[1] ALJ-controlled proceedings are comparable to a bench trial, and, depending upon the agency's jurisdiction, may have complex mutli-party adjudication as is the case with the the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or simplified and less formal procedures as is the case with the Social Security Administration.

Procedure for reviewing an ALJs decision varies depending upon the agency. Agencies generally have an internal appellate body, with some agencies having a Cabinet secretary deciding the final internal appeals. Moreover, after the internal agency appeals have been exhausted, a party may have the right to file an appeal in the courts. Relevant statutes usually require a party to exhaust all administrative appeals before they are allowed to sue an agency in court.

Federal ALJs are appointed under the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946 (APA). Their appointments are merit-based on scores achieved in a comprehensive testing procedure, including an 4-hour written examination and an oral examination before a panel that includes an OPM representative, American Bar Assn. representative, and a sitting federal ALJ, . Federal ALJs are the only merit-based judicial corps in the United States.

The APA is designed to guarantee the decisional independence of ALJs. They have absolute immunity from liability for their judicial acts and are triers of fact "insulated from political influence." Federal administrative law judges are not responsible to, or subject to the supervision or direction of employees or agents of the federal agency engaged in the performance of investigative or prosecution functions for the agency. Ex parte communications are prohibited. ALJs are exempt from performating ratings, evaluation, and bonuses. Agency officials may not interfere with their decision making and administrative law judges may be discharged only for good cause based upon a complaint filed by the agency with the Merit System Protections Board established and determined after a APA hearing on the record before an MSPB ALJ. Butz v. Economou, 438 U.S. 478, 514 (1978)

Only ALJs receive these statutory protections. Some agencies conduct hearings before individuals referred to as "hearing officers" or "trial examiners." These agency employees with delegated hearing functions are not protected by the APA.

In American administrative law, ALJs are Article I judges, and are not Article III judges under the U.S. Constitution. Unlike Article III judges, Article I judges are not confirmed by the Senate. However, the United States Supreme Court has recognized that the role of a federal administrative law judge is "functionally comparable" to that of an Article III judge. An ALJ's powers are often, if not generally, comparable to those of a trial judge: The ALJ may issue subpoenas, rule on proffers of evidence, regulate the course of the hearing, and make or recommend decisions. The process of agency adjudication is currently structured so as to assure that the hearing examiner exercises his independent judgment on the evidence before him, free from pressures by the parties or other officials within the agency." [2]

Most U.S. states have a statute modeled after the APA or somewhat similar to it. In some states, like New Jersey, the state law is also known as the Administrative Procedure Act. T

Unlike Federal ALJs, whose powers are guaranteed by the APA /federal statute, state ALJs have widely varying power and prestige. In some state law contexts, ALJs have almost no power; their decisions are accorded practically no deference and become, in effect, recommendations. In some agencies, ALJs dress like lawyers in business suits, share offices, and hold hearings in ordinary conference rooms. In other agencies (particularly the Division of Workers' Compensation of the California Department of Industrial Relations), ALJs wear robes like Article III judges, insist on being called "Honorable" and "Your Honor," work in private chambers, hold hearings in special "hearing rooms" that look like little courtrooms, and have court clerks who swear in witnesses.

Professional organizations that represent federal ALJs iclude the Federal Administrative Law Judges Conference, the Association of Administrative Law Judges, which represents only Social Security aljs, and the Forum of United States Administrative Law judges.