James Hannaway
87 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1451
Through devices like class actions and other consolidation procedures, agencies have developed several tools to manage large numbers of cases involving similar claims. While this effort to create more effective agency class actions is in its nascent stages, some form of codification is appropriate to strike a balance between flexibility and predictability, and to reduce the costs of agencies creating their own procedures. Congress, the President, or the Administrative Conference of the United States can and should take immediate steps toward codification. No matter who codifies the agency class action, any effort needs to account for procedural differences between administrative agencies and the courts and distinctions between cases involving private litigants and cases involving entitlement to a government benefit.
