Summary. Ten sequences from the decision letter to the petition for review, with the jurisdictional deadlines flagged.

1. Read the decision (twice)

  • The exact action taken — denied, revoked, suspended, conditioned, assessed.
  • The legal authority cited, by statute and regulation section. If none, demand it in writing.
  • The findings of fact and the evidence supporting each.
  • What is not addressed — your evidence, your expert, your proposed alternative.
  • The appeal rights: where, in what form, by when, running from what date.
  • Whether the action is final — a notice of intent or preliminary determination usually is not.
  • Write a one-page analysis: for each ground, what was said, whether it is accurate, what document rebuts it, and whether it is legally sufficient even if true.

2. Find the deadline — before anything else

  • Read the deadline stated in the decision.
  • Confirm it in the organic statute.
  • Confirm it in the agency's regulations.
  • Check the state administrative procedure act for a default.
  • Note whether it runs from mailing or receipt (usually mailing).
  • Note whether it is jurisdictional — in many state schemes it is.
  • Calendar the deadline and a working deadline two weeks earlier.

3. Get the documents that supply your rights

  • The organic statute — powers, limits, procedures, standard of review, reviewing court, timeline.
  • The agency's own regulations — hearing rights, discovery, subpoenas, prehearing procedure, standard and burden of proof, internal appeals.
  • Any applicable guidance, manual, or training material.
  • The agency's prior decisions in comparable matters.

4. File public records requests in week one

  • Federal: a Freedom of Information Act request. State/local: the state public records act.
  • Request records, not answers — date range, subject, custodian, document type.
  • Ask specifically for: the complete file; the staff report and drafts; prior decisions in comparable cases; guidance and manuals applied; communications with third parties; the technical basis and any studies.
  • Request a fee waiver and set a fee limit.
  • Ask for rolling production.
  • Appeal any denial administratively — free and frequently successful.
  • Demand an index of withheld documents with the exemption claimed for each.

5. If this is a rulemaking

  • Comment before the deadline. Late comments need not be considered.
  • Submit data — studies, cost figures, engineering analyses, sworn declarations.
  • Address the alternatives the agency proposed, and propose one it did not, with support.
  • Raise every legal objection: statutory authority, notice adequacy, required analyses, major questions where the claimed power is sweeping.
  • Argue the statute independently — courts now exercise independent judgment on meaning.
  • Note whether the final rule is a logical outgrowth of the proposal.
  • Track the preamble's response to your comment; an unaddressed significant comment is a ground for challenge.

6. Build the record

  • Submit every document, declaration, expert report, and photograph.
  • Identify witnesses and request subpoenas if permitted.
  • Ensure every oral proceeding is transcribed — if not, submit a written summary immediately and ask that it be made part of the record.
  • Demand the agency's evidence in advance, including any report the decision will rest on.
  • Object in writing to anything withheld.
  • Assume: new evidence will not be available on review.

7. Preserve objections — specifically

  • Statutory authority — the agency lacks the power claimed.
  • Procedural — inadequate notice; not a logical outgrowth; failure to follow the agency's own regulations; denial of a required hearing.
  • Substantive — failure to consider an important aspect; explanation contrary to the evidence; unacknowledged change of position; impermissible factors.
  • Bias — pecuniary interest, combined functions in one individual, prejudgment.
  • Due process — the property or liberty interest, and what process is due.
  • Structural constitutional (penalty proceedings) — jury right, appointment of the adjudicator, removal protections.
  • Say the words: "We object on the ground that…" A general objection preserves nothing.

8. Prepare and try the hearing

  • Re-read the procedural regulations for order of proof, burden, standard, exhibit deadlines, subpoenas.
  • File a prehearing statement if permitted.
  • Request subpoenas for unwilling witnesses and third-party documents.
  • Demand the agency's exhibit and witness lists.
  • Build a tabbed, indexed exhibit book — three copies.
  • Draft the findings you want the presiding officer to adopt, and build the hearing to produce each.
  • Prepare witnesses on firsthand knowledge.
  • Prepare cross: "Were you present?" · "Has the agency treated comparable matters the same way?"
  • Open in ninety seconds: the issue, the criteria, what the evidence shows.
  • Move exhibits in early; confirm admission on the record.
  • Object contemporaneously and state the ground.
  • Make an offer of proof whenever evidence is excluded.
  • Close by tying evidence to each criterion in the regulation's order.
  • Order and read the transcript; move to correct errors.
  • File proposed findings if permitted.

9. Exhaust

  • Use every internal level: reconsideration, appeal to the agency head, board review.
  • Where exhaustion is statutory or regulatory, complete it — skipping is usually fatal.
  • Where it is judge-made, confirm an exception applies before relying on it (futility, irreparable harm, jurisdictional challenge, purely constitutional claim).

10. Thresholds before filing in court

  • Final agency action — consummation of the process, with rights or legal consequences flowing.
  • Standing — concrete, particularized injury; traceable; redressable.
  • Ripeness — fit for decision now; hardship from withholding review.
  • Exhaustion — complete, or an exception plainly applies.
  • The right court — many statutes route review directly to a court of appeals.
  • The right vehicle — petition for review, civil action, or a state writ (certiorari or mandamus).
  • The filing deadline, calendared.

11. Interim relief

  • Ask the agency for a stay first — faster, cheaper, sometimes granted.
  • Then ask the court to postpone the effective date or preserve the status quo pending review.
  • Document the irreparable harm from the decision taking effect.

12. Framing the argument on review

  • Frame around the agency's reasoning: what it failed to consider, failed to explain, or changed without acknowledging.
  • For factual findings: substantial evidence on the whole record, including evidence detracting from the conclusion.
  • For policy and reasoning: arbitrary and capricious.
  • For statutory meaning: independent judgment, with persuasive weight for thorough and consistent agency reasoning.
  • For an agency's reading of its own regulation: work through each limiting condition — genuine ambiguity, reasonableness, authoritative position, substantive expertise, fair and considered judgment.
  • Cite the record for every factual assertion.

13. Remedies and costs

  • Decide what you actually want: vacatur, remand, a stay, modified conditions, an explanation on the record, or settlement leverage.
  • Expect a remand, not a substituted judgment.
  • Check fee recovery — the Equal Access to Justice Act against the federal government, or a state analogue — at the outset.
  • Consider settlement throughout: preserve the appeal, then negotiate.

14. Alternatives worth trying first

  • Reconsideration with the missing document.
  • Escalation to a supervisor, program manager, or agency head.
  • The agency ombudsman.
  • A legislator's constituent services inquiry.
  • A modified application or a different permit path.
  • A negotiated consent order with acceptable terms.

Related documents

Educational only, not legal advice. Federal, state, and local procedures differ, and deadlines are frequently jurisdictional. Read the organic statute and the agency's regulations first.