The Administrative State Wars Yet to Come

The Trump Administration has boasted of the “most far-reaching regulatory reform” in U.S. history. Meanwhile, the modern knowledge economy disrupts the very industries around which New Dealers had previously built up our Executive Agencies. And the last three Justices appointed to the Supreme Court are either prominent defenders of (Justice Kagan) or opponents of (Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh) the regulatory state as constructed. It appears the next generation’s most critical Supreme Court battles will be over the shape and powers of the “Fourth Branch of Government.” To understand these looming doctrinal contests, we will explore the history of the administrative state, contemporary cases on the Constitutionality of agency adjudication, and the impact of new technology on industrial organization, which demands new frameworks for regulatory responses.

Thursday, February 28, 2019
9:00am – 4:00pm

Lipton Hall
108 West Third Street
New York, NY 10012

Registration & Coffee (8:40-9:10 a.m.)

Opening Remarks (9:10-9:15 a.m.)

Panel 1 – The Administrative State in Historical Context
This panel will explore the evolution of administrative law and practice in light of America’s political and economic transformations. It will examine how historical events and doctrinal moves led to greater regulatory authority being delegated to centralized, executive agencies. This panel is geared toward presenting the deep premises and tensions underlying modern debates over administrative law to lawyers who may interact with the administrative state through regulatory enforcement actions, programs for compliance with guidance and rules, public policy work, or appellate and constitutional practice touching administrative issues.

Moderator: Mario J. Rizzo, Economics Department at NYU Graduate School of Arts and Science
Panelists: C. Boyden Gray, Boyden Gray & Associates
Sally Katzen, NYU School of Law
Joseph Postell, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
Adam White, George Mason University Center for the Study of the Administrative State

Coffee Break (10:45 a.m.)

Panel 2 – Agency Adjudication and the Rule of Law (11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.)
What are the separation of powers ramifications of recent opinions in Lucia v. SEC and Oil States v. Greene, respectively holding that SEC ALJs are “officers of the United States” subject to the appointments clause, and that administrative patent adjudications do not violate Article III or the VIIth Amendment? What might a ruling in Gundy v. United States mean for nondelegation and the rule of law?

Moderator: Richard Epstein, NYU School of Law
Panelists: Evan Bernick, Georgetown Law
Megan La Belle, Columbus School of Law
Christopher Walker, Ohio State University Moritz College of Law

Lunch (12:30 p.m.)

Panel 3 – The Administrative State Meets the Tech Economy (1:30-3:00 p.m.)
As the knowledge economy displaces the industrial economy, disrupting all aspects of life from labor to trade to communications, how can an administrative state built to regulate a bygone era adapt?

Moderator: Max Raskin, NYU School of Law
Panelists: Robert M. Bernstein, U.S. Department of Labor
Colleen Chien, Santa Clara University School of Law
Randal Milch, NYU School of Law

Keynote: “The Anti-Federalists & Executive Power” (3:00 – 4:00p.m.)
Judge Andrew S. Oldham (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit) will discuss the ani-federalist’ stance on executive power. Much has been written about whether and to what extent the administrative state comports with Article II of the Constitution. Much less has been written about the Anti-Federalist concerns with that Article. In this keynote speech, Judge Oldham will explore who the Anti-Federalists were, why they worried, and how their concerns inform modern debates over administrative law.

The event was approved for 6 CLE credits in the area of professional practice.