About Administrative & Regulatory Law
Administrative Law focuses on interactions with governmental institutions. It includes government regulation, legislation, rulemaking, and relationships with public owners.
Virtually all governmental bodies, whether they are federal, state, or local, have their own sets of procedures and practices for processing applications, making claims, developing laws and regulations, obtaining grants, etc. Understanding and complying with these requirements is essential to pursuing matters before these bodies. There is also a significant substantive component to administrative law. Highly regulated fields include environmental protection, energy, banking, transportation, healthcare, and professional licensing, among many others. Understanding and applying principles of administrative law are critical to effectively representing clients in these fields. Administrative law is also important in interactions with government in its proprietary capacity, e.g., eminent domain, real estate development, contracts, construction.
Lawyers who do administrative or regulatory law work in law firms, in corporations, and in government agencies. Because they work with complex regulations, they must be attentive to details. Other skills, such as negotiation skills, writing, and oral communications are also important.
Courses
Note: Whether a particular course is scheduled depends on faculty availability and student demand. View the Course Descriptions for more information about each course and when it's offered.
Core/Foundation Courses
These are the core courses that — at a minimum — employers expect a student interested in this specialty to have.
Recommended Courses
Students interested in this practice area should consider including one or more of the following courses as electives.
Enrichment Courses
These courses deepen or broaden the skills and substantive information that a lawyer in this field needs and may also provide advanced courses for students interested in a specialty within this area of practice.
Curriculum Questions
For particular Administrative Law curriculum questions, contact Miriam Seifter, Steph Tai, or John Ohnesorge.
Clinics & Externships
Government and Legislative Clinic
Students work side-by-side with legal counsel at state or local government agencies, non-profits, university offices, or other field placements. Students also meet weekly for a seminar, which adds context and support for their work. The class examines the processes, purposes, efficacy, and limitations of regulation through an administrative regime. Students gain a deeper understanding of federal and state legislative process, legislative drafting, statutory interpretation, constitutional restrictions on lawmaking, legislative advocacy, lobbying accountability and disclosure, and ethical issues confronting government lawyers. Students participate in a broad range of policy work and legislative activity, e.g., drafting proposed legislation, preparing staff for committee hearings and meetings with legislators, conducting research and analysis to develop legislative solutions to public policy issues, or responding to individual constituent concerns. Contact Director Erin McBride for additional information at erin.mcbride@wisc.edu.
Law Externship Program
The Law Externship allows students to seek out new externship work sites and receive academic credit for their work. Students work at a variety of government, corporate, non-profit, or university legal counsel offices. Students apply directly to an externship site and once they secure a position, request to receive credit for the field placement. This may require approval of a new placement site. Contact Associate Dean, Emily Kite at emily.kite@wisc.edu for more information.
Student Organizations & Related Activities
Students involved in student activities and organizations are often strong job candidates. Employers look for students who show leadership, public service, and community involvement.
For a full list of student organizations at UW Law, view the Student Organizations, Journals, & Activities.
Faculty
Here are some of the faculty who teach or have an interest in this subject area:
In addition to our full-time faculty, the Law School's adjunct faculty members — prominent practicing lawyers and judges — bring their specialized knowledge and experience to the classroom. Filter by "Adjunct" in the Law School Directory for a full list.
