Washington, D.C., September 30, 2024—The Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) is pleased to release new Model Rules of Representative Conduct. 

The Model Rules provide agencies with a useful blueprint for developing or updating their regulations governing the conduct of lawyers and other individuals who represent parties in federal agency proceedings. They build on Recommendation 2021-9, Regulation of Representatives in Agency Adjudicative Proceedings, in which ACUS offered best practices for agencies to consider when developing rules governing the participation and conduct of representatives.

The Model Rules were developed by a Working Group comprised of federal agency officials, representatives who practice before agencies, specialists designated by the American Bar Association, and other experts. The Working Group was chaired by Erin M. Wirth, Chief Administrative Law Judge of the Federal Maritime Commission, and Louis J. Virelli III served as its reporter. Virelli is a Professor of Law at Stetson University College of Law and a Public Member of ACUS.

Other members of the Working Group were:

• David Camp, Chief Policy Officer, National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives
• George M. Cohen, Brokaw Professor of Corporate Law, University of Virginia School of Law
• Stefanie K. Davis, Deputy General Counsel and Ethics Officer, Office of Legal Affairs, Legal Services Corporation
• William Funk, Lewis & Clark Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus, Lewis & Clark Law School
• Jeremy S. Graboyes, Research Director, Administrative Conference of the United States
• Allyson N. Ho, Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
• Karen A. Lash, Senior Fellow, Georgetown Justice Lab
• Jean M. Mauss, Transformation Officer, Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, U.S. Department of Labor
• Wendy J. Muchman, Harry B. Reese Professor of Practice, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law
• Nine E. Olson, Executive Director, Center for Taxpayer Rights
• David Pang, Administrative Law Judge, Social Security Administration
• Diane Boyd Rauber, Executive Director, National Organization of Veterans’ Advocates
• Lauren Alder Reid, Assistant Director, Office of Policy, Executive Office for Immigration Review, U.S. Department of Justice
• Roxanne L. Rothschild, Executive Secretary, National Labor Relations Board
• James J. Sandman, Distinguished Lecturer and Senior Consultant to the Future of the Profession Initiative, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School; President Emeritus, Legal Services Corporation
• William A. Stock, Managing Partner, Klasko Immigration Law Partners, LLP
• John Z. Jones, Acting Chief Counsel, Board of Veterans’ Appeals, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

“ACUS has long encouraged agencies to find ways to increase the availability of representation and other assistance by lawyers and qualified nonlawyers to participants seeking to obtain necessary benefits and services,” ACUS Chair Andrew Fois said. “These Model Rules will prove invaluable to agencies seeking to set or improve guidelines for representative conduct for years to come. ACUS is delighted to issue these model rules, a culmination of 18 months of intense and detailed work, and extend our thanks to Judge Erin Wirth, Lou Virelli, and ACUS Deputy Research Director Matt Gluth for their leadership on this project and to every member of the working group.”

The Model Rules of Representative Conduct are ACUS’s third set of model rules, following the Model Adjudication Rules and the Model Rules for Implementation of the Equal Access to Justice Act. Model rules are designed to help agencies develop new or update existing regulations in accord with best practices recommended by ACUS. All are available on the ACUS website at www.acus.gov/page/model-rules.

About ACUS

The Administrative Conference of the United States is an independent, non-partisan federal agency within the executive branch dedicated to improving administrative law and federal regulatory processes. It conducts applied research, and provides expert recommendations and other advice, to improve federal agency procedures. Its membership is composed of senior federal officials, academics, and other experts from the private sector. Since 1968, ACUS has issued hundreds of recommendations, published reports and reference guides, and organized forums to improve the efficiency, adequacy, and fairness of administrative processes such as rulemaking and adjudication. Many have resulted in reforms by federal agencies, the President, Congress, and the Judicial Conference of the United States. Learn more at www.acus.gov.

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