Administrative Law - Tutorial

8/2/2019 Administrative Law - Tutorial

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Administrative Law Research:A Tutorial by theGeorgetown Law Library

opyright 2007, 2009 the Georgetown University Law Library.

Part I: About This Tutorial

n this tutorial you should learn what administrative law is,

what regulations are, what administrative decisions are, and

how to find regulations and administrative decisions.

This tutorial is divided into six parts.

This introduction is the first part.

The second part is an overview describing the players anddocuments of administrative law.


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The third part discusses agency web sites.


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The fourth part describes methods of researching regulations.


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The fifth part discusses methods of updating the regulations youind.


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The sixth part discusses strategies for finding agency decisions.

This concludes Part I of Administrative Law Research: ATutorial by the Georgetown Law Library.


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Part II: Overview of Federal Administrative Law Sources

n this part of the tutorial you should learn

what administrative law is,

who makes it,

how it is made, and

where it is published.


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What Is Administrative Law?

Administrative law is law made by or about the executive branchagencies, departments, the President (at the federal level) or thegovernor (at the state level). Here are a few examples of federal

agencies and departments that make administrative law:

the Environmental Protection Agency

the Federal Communications Commission

the Securities and Exchange Commission


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the Department of Homeland Security

Agency Lawmaking Authority

At the federal level, executive branch agencies get their authority

o make law when Congress delegates such authority to them instatutes. Statutes that authorize agencies to make law are calledauthority statutes.


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For example, the statute shown at left, 15 U.S.C. 6102,authorizes the Federal Trade Commission to "prescribe rulesprohibiting deceptive telemarketing acts or practices and other

abusive telemarketing acts or practices."

Agency Lawmaking Activities

Once they have statutory authority to do so, most agencies anddepartments engage in two types of lawmaking activity: "quasi-


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egislative" or rulemaking activity, and "quasi-judicial" or decision-making activity.

Laws resulting from an agency's quasi-legislative activities arecalled regulations, and look a lot like statutes. Laws resultingrom an agency's quasi-judicial activities are called decisions,and look a lot like case law.

Lets look at regulations first.


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Federal Regulations

16 C.F.R. 310.4 is a regulation defining and prohibiting certain

abusive telemarketing practices. Some regulations requireactivities, such as the payment of taxes. Similarly, statutes oftendefine, prohibit or require specified activities.

The major difference between statutes and regulations is thatstatutes are made by the legislature, while regulations are madeby agencies and departments of the executive branch actingunder statutory authority.


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Another difference is that authority statutes tend to be lessdetailed than regulations. They create a broad legal frameworkand call upon an agency to fill in the details.

Both regulations and statutes have the force of law.

Because regulations tend to be more specific than the statuteshat authorize them, you might think it is sufficient to find andread just the regulations. In reality, it is extremely important to


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ind and read both the relevant statutes and the relevantregulations.

f the agency that made the regulations exceeded the scope of itsstatutory authority in making them, the regulations will be invalid.You can only judge the validity of regulations by reading themwith the statutes that authorized them.

Regulatory Publications


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Regulations are published in two official sources.

The first official source in which federal regulations appear is adaily periodical called the Federal Register. Regulations arepublished in the Federal Registeras they become final, so theyare arranged chronologically.

The second official source of federal regulations is an annualpublication called the Code of Federal Regulations(C.F.R.), inwhich the regulations are arranged by subject.


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To understand the difference between the Federal Registerandhe C.F.R., it helps to understand the rulemaking process.

The Rulemaking Process

Agencies begin the rulemaking process by publishing draft or"proposed" regulations in the Federal Registerand calling forpublic comments on those proposed regulations.


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After the proposed regulation or revision is published, interestedparties submit written comments like the letter shown here.Sometimes the agency holds hearings at which interestedmembers of the public can testify about how the proposedregulations would affect them.

After the initial comment period, the agency may revise theproposed regulation, publish it again, and call for additionalcomments.


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The cycle of notice (publication of a proposed regulation) andcomment period may repeat several times before the agencypublishes the final, revised regulation in the Federal Register.

The "final rule" notice in the Federal Registermay specify a later

effective date, but not an earlier one.

No federal regulation can become effective until it is published ints final form in the Federal Register.


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Codification

The Federal Registeris published every business day, and isherefore an excellent tool for keeping up with the latestdevelopments in federal administrative law.However, it is not the best tool for finding current regulations bysubject. That's because the final regulations it contains arepublished in chronological order, not subject order. Also, theFederal Registercontains many documents other than final


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regulations, including proposed regulations, expired regulations,meeting notices, and announcements.

To ease the task of finding current regulations by subject, federalregulations are ultimately integrated into a subject compilation

called the Code of Federal Regulations(C.F.R.). The process ofcompiling the regulations into a subject arrangement is calledcodification. Altogether, there are 50 numbered titles in theC.F.R., each representing one broad topical area of federalregulation. Notice that the cover of the C.F.R. volume shown at


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he right is from Title 16, whose subject matter is "CommercialPractices."

C.F.R. volumes do not have pocket parts. Instead, the entire 200-plus volume set is republished every year to incorporate newregulations. Each volume of the C.F.R. contains only regulationshat were in effect on its publication date.

The C.F.R. volume shown here contains regulations that were ineffect on January 1, 2004.


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Besides being published in the print Federal Registerand C.F.R.,regulations are also published unofficially on the Internet, inoose-leaf services, and in databases.

Next, well look at adminstrative decisions.

Federal Administrative Decisions

n addition to making regulations, most federal agencies alsossue decisions. The need to issue decisions arises from


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agencies' enforcement duties. For example, many agencies levyines for violations of their regulations.

To do so, they must first determine whether the regulations haveactually been violated. This may involve holding a hearing, andusually involves issuing a written decision that interprets theregulations.

Unlike federal regulations, federal administrative decisions arenot all published in the same official sources. Most agenciespublish their own reporters, and many of these reporters areseriously out of date. Furthermore, few libraries carry reportersrom every agency. When you can't find a reporter for an agencyyou are researching, other sources you might consult for itsopinions include the agency's web site, loose-leaf services, andsubscription databases such as Lexis and Westlaw.


Part III: Federal Agency Web Sites


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n this part of the tutorial you should learn:

what types of information are available on agency web sites, how to find those web sites, and

some problems to look out for when using agency web sites forresearch.

Contents of Agency Web Sites


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Most federal agencies make a great deal of information availableon their web sites. Often, an agency's web site will be the bestplace to begin your research. Most (but not all) agency web sites

nclude:

regulations and authority statutes administrative decisions press releases recent reports other documents produced by the agency.

The actual information available varies widely by agency.

Finding Agency Web Sites

When you already know which agency regulates the area of lawyou are researching, guessing its URL is usually easy. Forexample, the URL of the Federal Communications Commission

web site is http://www.fcc.gov.

f you don't know which agency regulates your area of law, youcould consult the Library's topical research guides or the federalgovernment's index and search engine to agency web sites,USA.gov (http://www.usa.gov).

Let's try using USA.gov to find the federal agency that has

urisdiction over the following legal problem:

A partner at your law firm is annoyed. Her 10-year old sonordered a supposedly rare coin from an online merchant, buta local coin expert later informed him that the coin was a


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mass-produced imitation. Is there a federal agency thatcould intervene?

Under "Government Information by Topic," there is a Consumer Guides link that seems relevant.Follow that link now.


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Click I for the index heading "Internet Fraud."


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Select the Internet Fraud link.


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USA.gov has led us to a complaint form at the Federal Trade Commission web site, so we now knowhat the FTC investigates internet fraud. Click the arrow at the bottom of the screen to continue.


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Back at USA.gov, we can also search for agencies by keyword, instead of browsing for them by topic.

Type imitation coins in the search box,then press Enter or click Search.


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Notice that many of the returned pages are FTC pages, as indicated by the www.ftc.gov in their URLs.t therefore seems likely that the FTC not only investigates internet fraud, but also regulates the sale ofmitation coins.


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Finding the Law on Agency Web Sites

Like the contents of agency web sites, navigation of those sites

varies. However, most sites seem to place regulations andauthority statutes behind links with labels that include words like"Legal," "FOIA" ("Freedom of Information Act"), "Laws," or"Library." Administrative decisions may be found behind thesame links, or behind links that include words like "Enforcement,""Interpretations," or even "Litigation."

Keeping our fake coin example in mind, let's try finding

administrative law on the FTC web site, http://www.ftc.gov.


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The FTC web site has helpfully labeled its link to statutes and regulations Legal Resources. Click thatnk to go to the Legal Resources page.


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The Legal Resources link took us to a page that profiles the FTC's general counsel and links to twoypes of law: Statutes Enforced by the FTC and FTC Rules. Follow the Statutes link by clicking it

now.


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We end up at a page that lists the FTC's authorizing statutes in numeric order by their United StatesCode citations. Click the web site's scroll bar to scroll through the list of statutes. The HobbyProtection Act looks pretty relevant, and the FTC web site provides both a citation and a link to thatact.

f we had followed the FTC Rules link instead, it would have taken us to a different web site, GPOAccess, where we could have searched the C.F.R. We will look at GPO Access in the Part IV of thisutorial. Click the arrow to continue.


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Back at the FTC's front page, we could find administrative decisions behind the Formal Actions link.Click that link now.


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We arrive at a page that lists recent FTC adjudicative opinions, but doesn't tell us what the opinions areabout. This page would be most helpful if we were looking for a specific opinion we already knew about.We will examine other sources of administrative decisions in Part VI of this tutorial.


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Cautions on Using Agency Web Sites

An agency's web site can be an excellent place to retrieve a

known document (such as a recent agency decision or a form), toget quick answers to straight-forward questions, or to get anoverview before conducting deeper research of more complexquestions. However, when using an agency web site, you shouldkeep in mind the following:

the agency web site might not be current,

the regulations on the web site might not be codified, and

the site might not provide full coverage.

The information on the site might not be current.Some agencies are not as well funded as others and may not be

able to update their sites frequently. Even well-funded agenciesmay choose not to update often. For example, the regulationdatabase provided on the FDA web site is no more current thanhe print C.F.R. Be sure to look for information about when anynformation you are relying upon was last updated.


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Regulations provided on the site might not be codified.Many agencies (including the USDA, regulations page shownhere) provide regulations on their sites in the form of Federal

Register"final rule" notices. Because the Federal Registerpublishes regulations in chronological order and not subjectorder, you may have to sift through many related FederalRegisternotices on the web site in order to figure out what the


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agency's current regulations look like. It would probably be easiero look at the regulations in the C.F.R.

The site may not provide full coverage.Some sites provide only selected statutes that they enforce, orselected administrative decisions. Very common are sites thatprovide only decisions or Federal Registerfinal rule noticesssued in the last 5 or 10 years. Decisions and final regulationsssued earlier might still be good law.


Part IV: Finding Federal Regulations

Methods of Finding Federal Regulations

There are many methods of finding federal regulations. Whichmethod you use depends on what information you have about theregulation you are seeking. Types of information you might havenclude a C.F.R. citation, a citation to a relevant statute, or justhe general subject of the regulation.

When You Have a Regulation's Citation

A citation to the C.F.R. looks like this:

16 C.F.R. 304.1 (2004)


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This citation tells us that the regulation cited is section 1 of part304 of title 16 of the 2004 edition of the Code of Federal

Regulations.

A citation to the Federal Registerlooks like this:

53 Fed. Reg. 38,942 (Oct. 4, 1988)

This citation tells us that the regulation appears in volume 53 of

he Federal Register, on page 38,942, which is in the October 4,1988 issue.

With a citation, we could look up the regulation in the print C.F.R.or Federal Register, on a free government web site called GPOAccess, or on Westlaw or Lexis.

t is usually best to look at regulations in their codified (subject

arranged) form, so this tutorial will focus on finding regulations inhe C.F.R. Keep in mind, however, that the Federal Registerishe only source for proposed (non-final) federal regulations andhe only print source for very recent final federal regulations.


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Looking up a regulation in the print C.F.R.:

n the Georgetown Law Library, the current print C.F.R. isavailable on the 4th floor and in the Reading Room of theWilliams Library. You can request earlier editions at theCirculation Desk.

Browse the volume spines for the volume that covers your titleand part. For example, the spine shown here contains parts 0 to


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999 of title 16, and should therefore include 16 C.F.R. 304.1,which is in part 304 of that title.

Looking up the regulation on GPO Access:

Be aware that GPO Access (http://www.gpoaccess.gov) offerswo versions of the C.F.R. One version provides PDF images ofprint pages, and thus provides the "official" version of federalregulations. This version is no more up-to-date than the printC.F.R. The other version, called the e-CFR, offers HTMLversions of federal regulations. This version is very up-to-date,but unofficial. Because it is more current, it is usually better touse the e-CFR. Let's try that now.


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Follow the Code of Federal Regulations link.


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From this page we could search or browse the current "official" version of the C.F.R., each title of whichs only updated once per year. However, for most purposes we would rather look at the most currentversion of the C.F.R., even if it is unofficial. Instead, click e-CFR.


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This takes us to the very current e-CFR. You would then select your title (Title 16) from the menu andclick "Go." Click Go now.


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From here we just browse for the correct part and section number, 304.1. Click 0-999 now.


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Click 304.


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This takes us to a screen containing all the regulations from Title 16, Part 304 of the C.F.R. Notice theauthority statement, which tells us these regulations were authorized by 15 U.S.C. 2101.

Looking up the regulation on Westlaw or Lexis:

Remember that both Lexis and Westlaw offer services that pullup a document by its citation. On Lexis this service is called Geta Document;on Westlaw it is called Find. Using Find or Get aDocument when you have a citation to the C.F.R. or FederalRegisteris more efficient than searching the full C.F.R. orFederal Registerdatabase.


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At Lexis's "Get a Document" screen, type 16 cfr 304.1 in the Get by Citation box and press Enter orclick Get.


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Great! We retrieved 16 C.F.R. 304.1. Now let's try Westlaw.


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At Westlaw's law school tab, type 16 cfr 304.1 in the "Find by Citation" box and press Enter or click Go.


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Good! Now you know how to retrieve a regulation by its C.F.R. citation.

When You Have a Statute Citation

As you learned in Part II of this tutorial, agencies' authority tomake regulations comes primarily from statutes. If you arealready at a point in the research process where you have founda relevant statute, you may be able to use that statute's citationo help you find relevant regulations.


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There are numerous methods of looking up regulations using astatute citation, including these:

use the Parallel Table of Authorities and Rulesin the printC.F.R. Index and Finding Aidsvolume or on GPO Access;

pull up the statute on Westlaw, then click the Administrative Codelink for a list of related regulations; or

pull up the statute on Lexis, then click the Code of FederalRegulations link for a list of related regulations.

First, let's look at the Parallel Table of Authorities and Ruleson

GPO Access. In the following example (which is based on the"fake coin" scenario introduced earlier), assume that you havealready found the statute 15 U.S.C. 2101, which deals withmarking requirements for imitation coins.


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Click the Code of Federal Regulations link.


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Now click the About the CFR link.


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Follow the link to the Parallel Table of Authorities in PDF (near the bottom of the page).


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Finally, browse for your statute's citation (in this example, 15 U.S.C. 2101) and note the C.F.R. titleand part(s) (here, title 16 and part 304) to which the the table refers.


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Now lets look at the statute on Lexis.

Assume we retrieved 15 U.S.C. 2101 using Lexis's "Get a Document;" now click Code of FederalRegulations in the Practitioner's Toolbox.


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Lexis refers us to 16 C.F.R. Part 304.


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Now, lets look at the statute on Westlaw.

Assume we have retrieved 15 U.S.C. 2101 using Find. Next, we scroll down in the left-hand column,Links for 15 USCA 2101. Click the scroll bar.


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Next, click Administrative Code.


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Westlaw, like Lexis, refers us to 16 C.F.R. Part 304, and even provides links to individual sections.


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n addition, it is also possible to search either Lexis's orWestlaw's CFR database by statute citation. On Lexis, do aerms and connectors search using the Authority segment; on

Westlaw, do a terms and connectors search using the CR field.(CR stands for Credit.)

Let's try such a search on Westlaw.


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From the Westlaw law school tab, type cfr in the "Search for a database" box, then press Enter or clickGo.


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Type cr("15 u.s.c" /s 2101) in the search box, then press Enter orclick Search Westlaw.


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This search retrieved several regulations authorized by 15 U.S.C. 2101, including those in 16 C.F.R.Part 304.


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Now lets try it on Lexis.

At Lexis's C.F.R. search screen, type authority(15 u.s.c. /s 2101), then press Enter or click Search.


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Like Westlaw, Lexis retrieves many regulations authorized by the statute, including those in 16 C.F.R.Part 304.

Now you know how to find regulations when you already have acitation to a relevant statute.


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Part V: Updating Federal Regulations

n this part of the tutorial you should learn how to updatefederal regulations using

GPO Access,

Westlaw, Lexis, and

Regulations.gov.

The Necessity of Updating Regulations

This tutorial has already pointed out that each title of the printC.F.R. is only updated once per year. You should also be aware

hat even the electronic versions of the C.F.R. are not necessarilyupdated as soon as new regulations become effective.

Regardless of which version of the C.F.R. you use for yourresearch, you will need to update the regulations you find. This isbecause new regulations become effective each business daywith the publication of a new issue of the Federal Register.

Updating Federal Regulations on GPO Access

Recall that there are two versions of the C.F.R. on GPO Access:an official version that provides PDF images, and an unofficialversion entirely in HTML. The official, PDF version of the C.F.R.


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available at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/ is no more currenthan the print version. This makes sense when you consider thathe PDF images are generated by taking photographs of pages

rom the print C.F.R.f you choose to begin your research in the official C.F.R.,whether in print or on GPO Access, one way to update theregulations you find is to look them up in the unofficial e-CFR,available at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/ecfr, then furtherupdate them using the Federal Register.

Let's try using this method to update the regulations related toour fake coin scenario, those in 16 C.F.R. Part 304. Imagine thatyou are updating the regulation on February 26, 2007 - the dayhis lesson was written.


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Here is 16 C.F.R. Part 304 as it appeared in the e-CFR on Feb. 26, 2007. Notice that near the top ofhe screen a message tells us that the information in the e-CFR is only current through Feb. 22, 2007.Because new regulations and amendments can become effective as soon as they appear in theFederal Register, and because the Federal Registeris published every business day, it is possible thathe regulations have changed between Feb. 22 and Feb. 26 (today, for purposes of this tutorial).

A simple way to find out whether the regulations have changed

between February 22 and February 26 would be to browse theable of contents for each Federal Registerissue publishedduring that period. The Federal Register's table of contents listsmaterials by agency and subject matter, so you could browse for


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notices from the Federal Trade Commission (which regulatesmitation coins).

Notice that every page of the e-CFR site includes a link to the Federal Register. Click that link now.


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From the Federal Register page, scroll down to the Browse the Table of Contents from back issuesmenu and make sure the current year (2007) is selected, then click the Go button or press Enter.


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A list of recent Federal Registerissues appears. The most recent issue is at the top of the list, witholder issues listed after it. Notice that there have been only two issues published after February 22. Wewould need to check both issues for new FTC regulations or amendments affecting 16 C.F.R. Part 304.

From the list of issues, click on Friday, February 23, 2007.


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We are now looking at the Table of Contents from the Feb. 23, 2007 issue of the Federal Register. Wehave scrolled down to the entries from the Federal Trade Commission. It turns out they have issued aule amendment related to the labeling of imitation coins! In real life we could look at the full text of this

amendment by following the appropriate "Text" or "PDF" link, but we won't bother right now.

Note that even though we found changes in the February 23

ssue of the Federal Register, in real life we couldn't stop ourupdating there; we would still have to check the February 26ssue. You must check every issue published since the date ofhe last e-CFR update, because more than one issue could


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contain additional changes. Usually there will only be two or threessues to check.

Now you know how to update federal regulations using the e-

CFR and Federal Registeron GPO Access.

Updating Federal Regulations on Westlaw

When you pull up a federal regulation on Westlaw, it may be aew days out of date. Luckily, Westlaw provides one of theeasiest methods of updating regulations. When you have

retrieved a regulation either by searching the CFR database or byusing Westlaw's Find service, look for KeyCite red or yellowlags. A red flag indicates a new regulation or amendments to theold regulation, while a yellow flag indicates proposed (but notinal) new regulations or amendments.

KeyCite is not as good at indicating proposed changes to aregulation as it is at indicating final changes, so if you need toind all proposed changes to a regulation, you may want toconsult Regulations.gov (covered in another section of thisutorial) or the agency's web site as well.

Let's try updating our imitation coin labeling regulation now.Assume that we are updating the regulation on February 26,

2007 (the day this lesson was written).


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Here is 16 C.F.R. 304.1. Notice the KeyCite red flag at the top of the screen. In the left column of thescreen, the flag is accompanied by the phrase "Regulatory Action," meaning the flag is due to a newegulation or an amendment to this regulation. KeyCite would also show us a red flag if the regulation

had been declared unconstitutional by a federal court, or if it had been abrogated by an act ofCongress.


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Near the bottom of the section, Westlaw tells us how current the CFR database is. As of February 26,2007, it was current through the February 22, 2007 issue of the Federal Register. We know, therefore,hat the changes to this section must appear in an issue published after February 22.


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To see the Federal Registernotice for the final rule that amends this section, click the red flag in theeft column.


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KeyCite references one updating document, and provides a link to that document in the FederalRegisterso you could easily look it up.

f there were a pending rule proposal that might amend 16 C.F.R.304.1, we would probably see a yellow flag with the phrase"Proposed Regulations" in the left column.

Those are the essentials of updating federal regulations onWestlaw.


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Updating Federal Regulations on Lexis

When you pull up a federal regulation on Lexis, it may be a fewdays out of date. You therefore need to update it. Regulationscan be Shepardized, but this will only provide you with a list ofdocuments such as cases or law review articles that have citedhe regulations. Shepardizing a regulation will not tell youwhether the regulation has recently been amended or revoked.

nstead, when you pull up a regulation on Lexis, you should look

or a "Retrieve Regulatory Impact" link near the top left corner ofts screen. Let's try updating 16 C.F.R. Part 304, which we havealready determined applies to our hypothetical fact pattern.Assume we are updating the regulation on February 26, 2007(the day this lesson was written).


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First, click the Retrieve Regulatory Impact link.


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The Regulatory Impact screen appears. It links to the FTC's final rule notice, which appeared at 72Fed. Reg. 8165. Follow that link now.


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Lexis retrieves the only relevant document, a final rule notice from the FTC regarding amendments to6 C.F.R. Part 304.

You are now familiar with the basics of updating regulations on Lexis.

The Need to Find Proposed Regulations

Often when you do administrative law research you will want toknow what the regulations say right now, or what they said atsome point in the past. Sometimes, however, you will need to beable to advise a client about what the regulations are likely to say


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n the near future. This is because clients often need legal advicen order to plan their future activities.

When your goal is to advise your clients about future actions, youmust look not only for current regulations, but also for agencyproposals that might change the current regulations. As you mayrecall from Part II of this tutorial, proposed regulations andamendments are published in the Federal Register. An easy andree tool for finding proposed regulations is Regulations.gov(http://www.regulations.gov).

Regulations.gov

Regulations.gov is a free federal government web site where youcan find, view, and comment on proposed regulations and otheractions of federal agencies. For the purposes of this tutorial, it issufficient that you learn to find and view proposed regulations onRegulations.gov.

We will try looking for proposed amendments to the FederalTrade Commission's regulation relating to the labeling of imitationcoins, 16 C.F.R. Part 304.


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On Regulations.gov, the basic search option is a keyword search of all the documents available here.We only want to find out if there are any proposed regulations pending that will affect 16 C.F.R. Part304, so we will do a more targeted search.

Click the horizontal scroll bar at the bottom of the screen to look for more search options.


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Follow the "Advanced Document Search" select here link.


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The Advanced Documents Search page opens. Choose Title 16 fromthe CFR "All Titles" menu.Type 304 in the CFR Citation box, since we are looking for proposed regulations that would affect part304, then press Enter on your keyboard.


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We find no proposed regulations, because there are none which would affect 16 C.F.R. Part 304. Clickhe arrow at the bottom of the screen to continue.

That's all it takes to find proposed regulations usingRegulations.gov.


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Part VI: Finding Agency Decisions

Overview of Federal Agency Decisions

You may recall from part II of this tutorial that federal agenciessometimes issue decisions interpreting their own regulations and

he statutes authorizing those regulations. Often this happens inhe context of a licensing proceeding (e.g., when the agencydenies someone a license), or when the agency levies a fine.

Finding federal agency decisions can be trickier than findingregulations. This is because there is no comprehensive orstandardized system of publication for agency decisions, and

here is no one place where all such decisions are located. Eachagency follows its own practices and procedures on how it makests decisions available to the public.

This part of the tutorial will therefore focus on identifyingsources of agency decisions, including:

agency web sites,

commercial databases,

loose-leaf services, and

official agency reporters.


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Agency Web Sites

The easiest way to identify which agency regulates the area of

aw you are researching is to use the federal government searchengine and index USA.gov. USA.gov is also a good tool forinding agencies' web sites. Methods of searching USA.gov werediscussed in part III of this tutorial, Federal Agency Web Sites, sowe won't cover them again here.

Although an agency web site usually provides at least some of

he agency's decisions, web sites vary in dates of coverage andn searchability. When you don't have a citation to a specificagency decision, it is often better to look elsewhere.

Commercial Databases

When you have access to them and can afford to search them,commercial databases are often a better option for finding

agency decisions than the agencies' web sites. Commercialdatabases usually have better search capabilities and morecomplete coverage of decisions. Lexis and Westlaw are not theonly commercial databases that offer agency decisions, but wewill look at them first. The best way to find agency decisiondatabases on Lexis and Westlaw is to browse the databases byarea of law. Let's try that now, keeping in mind our fake coin

scenario.

Lets look at Lexis first.


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From Lexis's sources screen, click on Area of Law by Topic.


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Decisions of the Federal Trade Commission can be found under Antitrust & Trade. Click on Antitrust& Trade.


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The database Federal Trade Commission Decisions appears under "Antitrust & Trade -Administrative Materials & Regulations." Click on the i button next to the name of this database.


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A pop-up window opens that tells us about the contents of the database. This database contains FTCdecisions from 1949 to the present. In contrast, the FTC web site only has decisions back to about995.

Next, lets look for FTC decisions on Westlaw.


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From the Westlaw welcome screen, click Directory.


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From Westlaw's Directory screen, click Topical Practice Areas.


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Since consumer protection is an area of trade regulation, click Antitrust & Trade Regulation.


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Next, click Federal Adminstrative Materials.


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Here we find a database of FTC decisions. Like Lexis's FTC decisions database, this one includesdecisions dating back to 1949.


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Most other commercial databases that include agency decisionsare based on print research tools called loose-leaf services. Thenext part of this lesson discusses loose-leaf services, including

heir online equivalents.

Loose-leaf Services & Electronic Equivalents

Loose-leaf services are print publications that provide bothsecondary and primary source materials about a single legalsubject, such as trade regulation or tax law. The primary sourcesn a loose-leaf service generally include statutes, case law,

regulations, and agency decisions. These print services areupdated very frequently (generally at least once every twoweeks) by the replacement of old pages with new ones.

Probably the largest publisher of legal loose-leaf services is acompany called CCH. Its loose-leaf services come in large blackbinders.

Like most other legal publications, loose-leaf services have beenmoving online for the last several years. Now, most loose-leafpublishers offer subscription databases that are equivalent toheir print offerings. Like the print versions, these databases areexcellent sources of agency decisions.


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dentifying Relevant Loose-leaf Services

So how do you know which services include decisions from theagency whose regulations you are researching? As withdentifying relevant Lexis and Westlaw databases, it is a good

dea to look for a service by topic. The best tool for identifyingoose-leaf services by topic is an annual publication available inmost law libraries, Legal Looseleafs in Print.


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Looking under Trade Regulation in Legal Looseleafs in Print, weind a list of several relevant services, including one by CCH:Trade Regulation Reports. We are referred to page 203 for morenformation about this CCH service.


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The description of Trade Regulation Reportstells us that it isavailable in CD-ROM and Internet versions. A URL is providedor the Internet version. Keep in mind that although this service isavailable on the Internet, it is not free.


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To find out whether the service is available in our library, wecould search the Library's catalog (http://gull.georgetown.edu) bytitle. Georgetown subscribes to the Trade Regulation Reporter(also known as Trade Regulation Reports) in both print andelectronic formats.


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Official Agency Reporters

What if you wanted an official version of an agency decision?

How could you determine whether your library owned theagency's official reporter? Assuming you didn't know the name ofhe official reporter, you could do a keyword search in theLibrary's catalog for agency name and decisions. (In ourscenario, the agency name would be Federal TradeCommission.)


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Type Federal Trade Commission decisions in the first search box, then press Enter on yourkeyboard.

The first item listed, Federal Trade Commission Decisions, looks relevant. Follow that link.


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The fact that the catalog record lists the U.S. Government Printing Office as the publisher is a goodndication that this is the official FTC reporter.

Administrative Law - Tutorial

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