I am delighted to join the lineup of regular bloggers at the Yale Journal on Regulation.  One contribution I will make to the blog will be an ongoing series, entitled Administrative Conference Update, which will highlight new and continuing projects, upcoming committee meetings, proposed and recently adopted recommendations, and other news about the Administrative Conference of the United States.

If you are not familiar with the Administrative Conference, it is a free-standing federal agency that studies administrative procedure and makes recommendations for improvement to other agencies, the President, Congress, and the Judicial Conference.  The agency is composed of a Chairman, who is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, and 100 other members drawn from both government and the private sector.  The members are experts in administrative procedure and governance and donate both their time and expertise to the agency’s work.  (For example, my co-blogger, Chris Walker is a Public Member.)  Created by statute in 1968, the Administrative Conference was defunded in 1995, reauthorized again under the George W. Bush and Obama Administrations, and resumed operations in 2010 under the leadership of Chairman Paul R. Verkuil.  I was fortunate enough to join the agency’s small staff at that time, first serving as an Attorney Advisor and then as the Research Director.

The Administrative Conference Update will highlight projects and events that may be of interest to you.  The agency hires academic consultants to conduct research on cutting-edge issues of administrative procedure, produces “proposed recommendations” through meetings of its six subject-matter based committees, and then debates and adopts the recommendations at semiannual Plenary Sessions held in June and December.   Meetings are open to the public (and streamed online), and public comments are always welcome.  In addition, the agency periodically hosts events, which are generally open to the public, addressing various administrative topics.  The Administrative Conference Update aims to increase awareness of the agency’s work and to encourage you, dear reader, to get involved!