This post is partially in response to a comment to my previous one on How to Become an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). By diversity, I mean diversity of legal experience. With respect to gender and ethnic diversity, the administrative law judiciary has been a success.
The current requirements for becoming an ALJ essentially limit professional experience to either serving as a hearing officer or a litigator before courts or administrative bodies at the local, state, or Federal level. What is left out are career law clerks, judicial clerkship experience, rule making, and transactional experience (I observe that this does not apply to Administrative Judgeships outside the OPM process).
It is essential to have judges with extensive litigation experience. However, I believe that diversity of experience can be a positive at the ALJ level. Rule making provides the judge with insights into how the regulations they may be interpreting are promulgated. A career clerk or judicial clerk understand what it is like from the other side of the bench. They have experience assisting with hearings, case management, and legal opinion writing. I came to the administrative judiciary myself as a transactional attorney. It has provided me with an understanding of how contracts are formed, and the effects of decisions on day to day management. Given that candidates must pass a competitive examination and thorough review process to insure fitness, it should not deteriorate the quality of ALJs to have a wider range of legal experience qualify.
Posted by Scott Maravilla on December 29, 2015 at 07:03 PM