This Understanding treatise is designed to help the reader grasp the fundamental concepts of administrative law. Understanding Administrative Law concentrates on the process of administrative decisionmaking but also deals with the substantive law of agencies when appropriate. As students progress through the course and later enter practice, they will find that substance and procedure become more and more intertwined and, in many instances, become almost inextricable. An awareness that there is no bright line between substance and procedure, particularly in the context of an administrative agency, is especially helpful to a thorough understanding of the subject.

A good deal of the material in this book consists of recommendations and processes to identify administrative problems and mechanisms for organizing a reader s thinking when the problem is identified. Understanding Administrative Law highlights the manner in which a client s problem moves through the typical agency and the manner in which a lawyer copes with the various problems and issues encountered in representing clients before administrative agencies. In addition, this book contains a significant amount of material on trends in administrative law such as deregulation and regulatory reform. The Fifth Edition includes comprehensive references to recent cases and law review articles for readers who wish additional depth in any of the topics covered.