At the end of June 2025, I was on a panel at the Arizona State Bar Convention for a CLE about the effects of A.R.S. § 12-910 on appeals from administrative cases at the Registrar of Contractors.
Specifically, we were talking about the trial de novo provision.
Who was the “we” on the panel?
- Chance Peterson – Chance is the current head of the Registrar’s Legal Department and the agency’s chief counsel.
- Flynn Carey – Flynn is an attorney in private practice, and he’s a certified specialist in Arizona administrative law.
- Matthew Williams – Matt is another attorney in private practice, and he’s participated in briefing the Arizona Court of Appeals on the effects of revisions in A.R.S. 12-910.
- Greg Hanchett – Greg was the director of the Office of Administrative Hearings for many years, and he has extensive experience as an administrative law judge, both in Arizona as well as in Montana.
The panel was coordinated by Erika Johnsen. She did an excellent job pulling it all together.
The presentation was lengthy (about three and a half hours, I would say), but there was never a dull moment (at least not for the presenters; I can’t speak for the audience).
We covered topics including:
- whether the Rules of Civil Procedure apply;
- the importance of getting a stay of the final administrative decision;
- who bears the burden of proof;
- the scope of the trial and whether it can be consolidated with other civil actions (e.g., a breach of contract lawsuit).
One of the things that impressed me was the reality that the law, as a body of knowledge, is very communal. There is a real community of practice.
