Administrative Law
Administrative law is the practice of law before government entities and includes both litigation and transactional work. Examples of administrative law litigation include:
- Contesting a license denial
- A government action that has a negative impact on an individual or business
- Denial of certain government benefits
Examples of administrative law transactional work include:
- Licensure applications
- Assisting a business with compliance requirements
- Responding to an investigation
- Seeking a waiver or exemption from certain statutory requirements
This area of practice involves federal, state, and local governments and their individual agencies. In the area of health care, for example, administrative law could involve a federal agency, such as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a state agency, such as a department of health or licensing board, or a local agency, such as a county.
Litigation
Litigation is a generic term that refers to what most people envision when they think about the practice of law: attorneys in a courtroom arguing cases before a judge or jury. Litigation also refers to activities that do not take place in the courtroom but are part of preparing the case. Those behind-the-scenes activities include:
- Filing pleadings — complaints, answers to complaints, and cross-complaints
- Asking for information from the other party — known as discovery
- Arranging administrative tasks, also known as case management
- Negotiating settlement
- Trying to win a specific legal point through a motion or brief
In essence, litigation begins when a case is first filed and only ends when that case is settled or is the subject of a court judgment. Litigation continues throughout the life of a case, including appeals, and involves all aspects of a case, from the most mundane to the most controversial, in court and out of court.
