[Billing Code: 6110-01-P]
ADMINISTRATIVE CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED STATES
Nonlawyer Assistance and Representation; Request for Comments
AGENCY: Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS).
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
SUMMARY: The Office of the Chair of ACUS is requesting public input on representation and
other forms of assistance provided by nonlawyers to participants in federal agency adjudication.
Responses to this request may inform an ongoing ACUS project, Nonlawyer Assistance and
Representation, which, if warranted, may recommend best practices for agencies to use.
DATES: Comments must be received no later than 10:00 a.m. (ET) August 31, 2024.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by email to info@acus.gov (with “Nonlawyer
Assistance and Representation” in the subject line of the message), or by U.S. Mail addressed to
Nonlawyer Assistance and Representation, Administrative Conference of the United States, Suite
706 South, 1120 20th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. ACUS will ordinarily post comments
on the project web page (https://www.acus.gov/projects/nonlawyer-assistance-andrepresentation) as they are received. Commenters should not include information, such as
personal information or confidential business information, that they do not wish to appear on the
ACUS website. For the full ACUS public comment policy, please visit
https://www.acus.gov/policy/public-comment-policy.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Matthew Gluth, Deputy Research Director, Administrative Conference of the United States,
1120 20th Street NW, Suite 706 South, Washington, DC 20036; Telephone (202) 480-2080;
email mgluth@acus.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The Administrative Conference Act, 5 U.S.C. 591–596, established the Administrative
Conference of the United States. The Conference studies the efficiency, adequacy, and fairness

of the administrative procedures used by Federal agencies and makes recommendations to
agencies, the President, Congress, and the Judicial Conference of the United States for
procedural improvements (5 U.S.C. 594(1)). For further information about the Conference and
its activities, see www.acus.gov.
Nonlawyer Assistance and Representation
Millions of people each year engage with administrative programs or participate in
administrative adjudicative processes to access federal programs (for example, to obtain needed
benefits and services) and resolve legal issues (for example, to resolve tax and immigration
disputes). Many people “need assistance to access and obtain fair outcomes” in administrative
adjudications.1 But many people, particularly low-income people and members of other
underserved communities, are not always able to access representation or other forms of
assistance that they need to navigate administrative adjudications successfully.
One barrier to accessing representation or assistance is the critical shortage of affordable
legal services. Agencies have long innovated various ways to expand assistance and widen the
pool of available representatives. For example, many agencies currently permit participants in
agency adjudications to be represented by accredited or qualified nonlawyers. In 1986, ACUS
recommended that agencies “take the steps necessary to encourage—as well as eliminate
inappropriate barriers to—nonlawyer assistance and representation.”2 Since then, a growing
academic literature has analyzed the experience and outcomes people have when using various
forms of nonlawyer representation. Just last year, ACUS recommended that agencies allow
participants in many adjudications “to be represented by a lawyer or a lay person with relevant
expertise” and to establish “rules authorizing accredited or qualified nonlawyer representatives to

WHITE HOUSE LEGAL AID INTERAGENCY ROUNDTABLE, ACCESS TO JUSTICE IN FEDERAL ADMINISTRATIVE
PROCEEDINGS: NONLAWYER ASSISTANCE AND OTHER STRATEGIES 19 (2023).
2 Admin. Conf. of the U.S., Recommendation 86-1, Nonlawyer Assistance and Representation, 51 FR 25641 (July
16, 1986).
practice before the agency.”3 Additionally, a recent recommendation on regulation of
representatives in agency adjudicative proceedings led to a working group focused on developing
a model code for representation.4 Yet there is still much more to understand about the extent and
character of representation by professionals who are not lawyers.
ACUS is undertaking a project to map and define the spectrum of assistance that parties
to administrative proceedings may (or may not) have available to them. It will identify areas in
which certain forms of assistance may be underutilized in administrative proceedings and,
conversely, where agencies may be relying too heavily on certain types of assistance.
Specific Topics for Public Comment
ACUS welcomes views, information, and data on all aspects of strategies that agencies
are using or might use to expand assistance and/or representation for members of the public
when they engage with administrative programs or participate in administrative adjudicative
processes. ACUS also seeks specific feedback on the following questions related to assistance
and nonlawyer representation:
Experiences Navigating Administrative Adjudication
1. What has been your experience interacting with an administrative adjudication regarding
a benefit or service that you are applying for or renewing, for example unemployment
insurance or student loan assistance? Were you able to receive adequate assistance from
the agency, including interactions with agency staff and agency-provided resources, such
that you did not need external legal services from lawyers or nonlawyers? If not, what
steps did you take to find such assistance, if any?

Admin. Conf. of the U.S., Recommendation 2023-5, Best Practices for Adjudication Not Involving an Evidentiary
Hearing, 89 FR 1509 (Jan. 10, 2024); Admin. Conf. of the U.S., Recommendation 2023-6, Identifying and Reducing
Burdens on the Public in Administrative Proceedings, 89 FR 1511 (Jan. 10, 2024).
4 George M. Cohen, Regulation of Representatives in Agency Adjudicative Proceedings (Dec. 3, 2021) (report to the
Admin. Conf. of the U.S.). See also Working Group on Model Rules of Representative Conduct, ADMIN. CONF. OF
THE U.S., https://www.acus.gov/research-projects/working-group-model-rules-representative-conduct.
2. If you have been represented by someone in an administrative adjudication, how would
you describe the experience and outcome? Have you experienced any unintended
consequences from representation? How did you find and decide to work with your
representative? Did the agency assist you with finding your representative? Was your
representative a lawyer? If not, was your representative part of an organization or a solo
practitioner? How did you decide to proceed with your representative, and what
alternatives did you consider?
Perspectives from Representatives or Legal Assistance Providers
3. If you have worked as a nonlawyer representative in administrative adjudications, how
long have you worked in this capacity? Before which agency or agencies do you
practice? What tasks do you undertake as part of your representation? How were you
trained? Are you required to re-certify regularly or seek ongoing training? Is training
provided by the agency or by a sponsoring organization? Are you supervised by a lawyer
in any capacity?
4. If you have worked as a nonlawyer representative in administrative adjudications, what
was the certification and oversight process from the agency? In your experience, was that
process efficient and/or successful?
5. If you have worked as a nonlawyer representative in administrative adjudications, have
you felt that you were treated professionally and equally by others in the process? Was
the government represented by a lawyer?
6. If you are a lawyer representing people in administrative adjudications, what are your
experiences and interactions with nonlawyer representatives, if any?
7. If you represent people in administrative adjudications, what are your experiences with
agency rules and procedures regarding representation? In what ways could they be
improved?
Landscape of Relevant Agency Programs

8. Are you familiar with specific agency programs that encourage nonlawyer
representation? Are these programs working to meet the demand of need for assistance
and/or representation in administrative adjudications? If not, how might they be
improved?
9. Are there specific agency programs that could be expanded to encourage more forms of
nonlawyer assistance and/or representation?
10. Are you aware of studies or other data examining aspects of nonlawyer representation
before federal agencies, beyond data that is publicly available through agency websites?
11. What role can public- and private-sector groups play in increasing nonlawyer
representation, and how should government agencies encourage such actions, if at all?
Dated: July 2, 2024.
Shawne C. McGibbon,
General Counsel.

[FR Doc. 2024-14915 Filed: 7/5/2024 8:45 am; Publication Date: 7/8/2024]