While the number of actual applicants for judicial clerkships increased by 42%, the number of online applications increased by 66%

Administrative Law Work - Part I: Building Your Law Practice

by Carmen Mosley-Sims, Esquire

It is the best-kept secret of a successful legal practice. Do you know what it is? Litigators may tell you it’s a solid foundation in civil procedure and evidence. High-volume practitioners will tell you it’s a well-developed library of forms and templates. Judges will assure you strong writing skills will take you far, long after your legal knowledge has been exhausted. These “secrets,” however, while important to success as a lawyer, are not very secret. Anyone reasonably familiar with the practice of law could figure them out—or pay someone to tell him.

The secret I’m going to tell you really is secret. So secret, almost no one knows what it is until they have been in practice for ten years or more, and most people never know. It will not appear in any of the “build your own practice” books, and it probably does not occur to even the most well-rounded and street smart law student as she cultivates dreams of her own firm. Bowen Law School offers a course on the subject, but you have probably seen it listed on the course schedule and thought, as I did, “What a weird specialty area. That certainly won’t be any use to me.” I am, of course, talking about administrative law.

Administrative law? That subject for dyed-in-the-wool government bureaucrats? Surely I’m joking. But no, I’m not. Administrative law is the law of the executive branch. It is where the government steps down from its ivory tower on Capitol Hill and gets down to the business of governing. It is where literally every single mandatory course in law school gets applied, simultaneously, in the most convoluted and unlikely scenarios the government and the public can dream up....

Administrative Law Work - Part II: Building Your Law Practice

... More importantly for your purposes, administrative law is everywhere. When your family and friends are not asking for free legal advice about divorce and child custody, they will be asking for advice about some notice a government agency has sent them. Between the feds, the states, and the local governments, there are rules, regulations, and public policies governing virtually every aspect of our lives. Most of these deal with the flow of tax money between government agencies and from the government into the hands of private interests. Occasionally individual citizens can get a slice of the pie, such as through entitlement programs like Medicaid, TEA, Food Stamps, and child care vouchers. The questions then become, “How can I become eligible for public money for myself, my child, or my business? And once I am eligible, how can I make sure I stay eligible? And if the government tells me I am not eligible, how can I appeal and win?” To answer these questions, everyone from welfare mothers to corporate executives looks for legal counsel. And most lawyers simply do not know enough administrative law and public policy to provide answers quickly, efficiently, and effectively.

For the solo or general practitioner, administrative law could provide as much bread and butter as domestic relations. Elder law practice is a booming business in the AR, with few practitioners trying to serve a growing number of clients—individuals and families with modest resources looking for legal ways to become eligible for public benefits without bankrupting the family legacy. An attorney stuck in a litigation frame of mind will expend unnecessary time and resources fighting red tape and filing appeals. When these attorneys lose, they blame the administrative process and assume it must be biased against outsiders. Meanwhile a savvy administrative practitioner can navigate the rules and policies successfully with a fraction of the effort. Medical providers are another source of income, as these small and mid-sized businesses may need frequent legal consultation and occasional representation when their Medicaid claims get denied.

There are endless opportunities to focus a small portion of your practice on some administrative specialty to ensure a steady source of income during even the leanest times.