NFPA Paralegal Core Competency Exam (PCCE)Legal ResearchMedium
A paralegal is performing research for a case involving an administrative agency action. The paralegal needs to find the official decisions and orders issued by a specific federal administrative agency. Which primary legal source would contain these documents?
- AAgency Adjudications and Decisions
- BAdministrative Law Reporter
- CUnited States Code (USC)
- DFederal Reporter (F.)
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Agency Adjudications and Decisions
Administrative agency adjudications and decisions are primary legal sources that contain the official rulings and orders issued by federal administrative agencies, often published in agency-specific reporters or online databases.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. An Administrative Law Reporter is typically a secondary source or a commercial compilation, not the original primary source of the agency's official decisions.
- C. The USC contains federal statutes, not agency decisions.
- D. The Federal Reporter contains opinions from federal appellate and district courts, not administrative agency decisions.
Agency Adjudications & Decisions
Official rulings, orders, and interpretations issued by federal (and state) administrative agencies, functioning as primary legal authority.
- Primary source of administrative law
- Issued by agencies as part of their adjudicatory or rulemaking powers
- Often found in agency-specific reporters or online databases
Memory trick: Agencies make rules and decisions, their decisions are the direct source.