The American Bar Association's Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Section, the Judicial Division of the ABA and the National Conference of Administrative Law Judges(NCALJ) are endorsing the promulgation of initial and continuing legal education requirements for state administrative law judges.

State ALJs are said to hear more adjudicative cases than members of the judicial branch. While a majority of states mandate minimum educational requirements for members of the judiciary, there are no comparable requirements for ALJs. NCALJ urges the following standards of judicial education for state ALJs.

* •State agencies would have the responsibility to provide adequate official time and funding for education and training.

* •NCALJ and the National Association of Administrative Law Judges would be responsible for providing educational programs.

* •ALJs would be required to attend an orientation session before taking the bench.

* •Orientation would cover transition to the bench, ethical and professional standards, overview of procedural rules and evidentiary standards, alternative dispute resolution techniques, hearing management, decision writing and substantive law.

* •Non-legally trained ALJs would be also given a general introduction to the law, and to administrative law and theory and legal research, in particular.

* •Orientation methods of teaching would include observing pre-hearing conferences and hearings and conducting hearings with a mentoring judge.

* •Continuing education would be mandatory.

* •A minimum number of hours in prescribed courses would be required on a continuing basis. The number of hours would be guided by a state's continuing legal and/or judicial education requirement.

* •Continuing education methods would include observing hearings and discussing cases with a mentoring judge, and could be supplemented by tapes and correspondence courses.

The proposed ABA resolution is as follows:

RESOLVED, That to improve administrative adjudication, the American Bar Association endorses the principle that education and training are essential to the professionalism, quality and efficiency of the administrative judiciary and supports implementation of the "Standards for the Education of the Administrative Judiciary" dated August, 1999, prepared by the American Bar Association Judicial Division National Conference of Administrative Law Judges and the National Association of Administrative Law Judges.