These are informal hearings where you can be the “lawyer” and the “witness”. An administrative hearing is similar to a court trial but is less formal. Like a trial, its purpose is to gather facts through testimony, documents, and other evidence. An administrative hearing is an informal way of resolving disputes between agencies and citizens without the strict procedural rules of a court. An administrative law judge conducts the hearing and prepares an order. There are two kinds of orders: final orders and proposed orders.
The judge will lead both parties through the process. The administrative law judge who hears your case is an employee of the Office of Administrative Hearings. He or she is not an employee of the agency which issued the administrative decision. The Office of Administrative Hearings is an independent and impartial agency, which provides professional administrative law judges who are specially trained in administrative law to decide your kind of case.
We recommend that if you are opting to represent yourself, that you increase your chances of “winning” by being trained to be both an efficient and effective presenter and witness. The 22-week BSW Witness Self-Care Plan is beneficial for cases disputing issues that you are emotionally charged about.