Florida Administrative Law and Professional Licensing

Woodring Law Firm handles Florida administrative law cases under the Administrative Procedure Act (chapter 120, Florida Statutes) for individuals and businesses throughout the state, including license defense in professional and occupational licensing and discipline cases, rule challenges, and hearings before the Division of Administrative Hearings (DOAH). Our office is in Tallahassee, where most of the state agencies have their headquarters, so we are well positioned to handle these cases wherever in Florida you are located.

To discuss a license defense or other administrative law matter anywhere in Florida, call 850-567-8445 or use the contact form on this page.

Administrative Law Experience

Mr. Woodring has extensive experience with most areas of administrative law, including:

• Challenges to proposed rules and rulemaking procedures
• Challenges to unadopted (unpromulgated) rules
• Administrative hearings before the Division of Administrative Hearings (DOAH)
• Professional and occupational licensing cases
• State procurements and bid protests
• Petitions for declaratory statements (section 120.565, Florida Statutes)

Before returning to private practice, he served for almost five years as General Counsel of the Florida Department of Education, was the first General Counsel of the Florida Board of Governors, and served as counsel in the Executive Office of the Governor.

He has worked on administrative matters involving the Department of Education (DOE); Department of Management Services (DMS); Executive Office of the Governor (EOG); Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR); Department of Financial Services (DFS); Department of Children and Families (DCF); Department of Health (DOH); Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA); Department of Environmental Protection (DEP); Department of Elder Affairs; Department of State; and the former Agency for Workforce Innovation (AWI).

When You Should Consider Hiring an Administrative Attorney

There are four basic situations in which you may want to retain an attorney to handle administrative law matters for you.

Professional and Occupational Licensing and Discipline

First, you should consider hiring an administrative attorney if an agency is proposing to take disciplinary action against a professional or occupational license that you hold, or has denied your application for a professional or occupational license. Depending on whether there are material facts in dispute, you may wish to defend your license in an administrative hearing, often before the Division of Administrative Hearings, or may wish to defend your license by appearing before the governing body or board assigned to your profession.

Examples of professional and occupational licenses, and the board or agency that regulates each, include:

• Teaching (educator) certificates: Education Practices Commission
• Real estate brokers and sales associates: Florida Real Estate Commission
• Contractors: Construction Industry Licensing Board
• Physicians, nurses, and other health care practitioners: Department of Health and its boards, such as the Board of Medicine and the Board of Nursing
• Certified public accountants: Board of Accountancy
• Engineers and architects: Board of Professional Engineers and Board of Architecture and Interior Design
• Insurance agents and adjusters: Department of Financial Services
• Group homes: Agency for Persons with Disabilities

Rulemaking

You should also consider hiring an administrative attorney if any agency is considering adopting or proposing a rule that would have an impact on you or your business. Unless there is a specific statutory requirement, agencies do much of their regulatory business by means of adopting rules. You will have an opportunity to help shape a rule if you become engaged when an agency is considering a rule that might have a significant impact on you or your business.

Challenges to Proposed or Existing Rules, or Waivers or Variances

You also should consider retaining an attorney if there is a proposed or existing agency rule that you believe you have a basis to challenge under section 120.56, Florida Statutes. Some of the traditional grounds for challenging an agency rule, set out in section 120.52(8), Florida Statutes, are that the rule exceeds specific statutory authority, is arbitrary or capricious, vests unbridled discretion in an agency, or does not establish clear standards. Even if there may not be a basis to challenge the rule, sometimes there are grounds to request a waiver or variance under section 120.542, Florida Statutes, in the application of the rule to your situation.

State Procurements and Bid Protests

If you are involved in obtaining and negotiating contracts for goods or services with state agencies, you should consider retaining an administrative attorney who has experience with the various means of Florida procurements, such as invitations to bid (ITB), requests for quotes (RFQ), state term contracts, invitations to negotiate (ITN), and requests for proposals (RFP). Attorneys are often retained once an agency has posted a notice of intent to award and the vendor is then considering initiating a bid protest. In many situations, it may be too late to help a vendor be in the best position to win a competitive procurement once the agency has already announced its notice of intent to award. For more information, see our page on Florida Procurements and Bid Protests.

Deadlines and How to Reach Us

Please contact us if you believe that we could be of assistance to you in any Florida administrative law matter. Keep in mind that administrative law deadlines are often very short, so you do not want to delay seeking counsel. For example, a petition for an administrative hearing generally must be filed within 21 days of receiving written notice of the agency’s decision, and a notice of protest of a procurement decision must be filed within 72 hours after the decision is posted. If an agency’s final order goes against you, we also handle administrative appeals. Call 850-567-8445, email Info@woodringlawfirm.com, or use the contact form on this page.

Common Questions About Florida Administrative Law

Does Woodring Law Firm handle administrative law cases outside Tallahassee?

Yes. We handle Florida administrative law cases for individuals and businesses throughout the state. Our office is in Tallahassee, where most of the state agencies have their headquarters.

When should I hire an administrative law attorney?

Consider it when an agency proposes disciplinary action against your professional or occupational license or denies your license application, when an agency is considering a rule that would affect you or your business, when you believe you have a basis to challenge a rule or to request a waiver or variance, or when you are seeking a contract with a state agency.

How quickly do I need to act?

Administrative law deadlines are often very short. For example, a petition for an administrative hearing generally must be filed within 21 days of receiving written notice of the agency’s decision, and a notice of protest of a procurement decision must be filed within 72 hours after the decision is posted. Do not delay seeking counsel.

What should I do if I receive a notice of investigation or an administrative complaint?

Contact counsel before you respond. A written response to an investigation is generally due within 20 days, and a request for a hearing on an administrative complaint generally within 21 days.

Can I challenge an agency rule?

Sometimes. Section 120.56, Florida Statutes, provides for challenges to proposed and existing rules. Traditional grounds are that the rule exceeds specific statutory authority, is arbitrary or capricious, vests unbridled discretion in an agency, or does not establish clear standards. Where there is no basis to challenge a rule, there are sometimes grounds to request a waiver or variance under section 120.542, Florida Statutes.

What kinds of licenses does this cover?

Professional and occupational licenses of many kinds. Examples include teaching certificates, real estate licenses, contractor licenses, health care practitioner licenses, and the licenses of certified public accountants, engineers, architects, and insurance agents.

Which state agencies has Mr. Woodring handled matters with?

They include the Department of Education, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, the Department of Health, the Agency for Health Care Administration, the Department of Financial Services, and the Department of Children and Families, among others.