On Tuesday, March 24, 2015, Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law welcomed
Nestor Davidson
, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law at Fordham University School of Law. Dean Davidson presented a thought-provoking discussion,
The Administrative City-State: Administrative Law and Local Governance
as the featured guest for our
Chapman Dialogue Lecture Series
. The event was moderated by
Donald Kochan
, Fowler’s Associate Dean for Research & Faculty Development and Professor of Law, who also teaches Administrative Law & Practice (along with Property and other courses).

Dean Davidson’s presentation educated the audience about the breadth of administrative bodies and processes at the local government level and why we must understand these local processes as deserving particularized attention. To understand administrative law in this country, we cannot become too fixated on federal processes which often differ from local ones, he explained. Dean Davidson set out to establish a framework by which we can better understand local administrative law. The framework focused on (1) courts appreciating the distinctive nature of local administrative governance; (2) courts calibrating the unique tensions at the local level between procedural regularity and local legitimacy; (3) courts remaining sensitive to the unusual mix of public with private that often exists in local leadership and administration; and (4) courts appreciating differentiations in both technical and local knowledge expertise at the local level that may be different from what exists in federal agencies. Dean Davidson called for improving our understanding of distinctly local administrative law concerns to in turn foster a new dialogue on these issues that will improve the administration of law itself.

“Dean Davidson’s insights exposed a critical gap in our academic and practical understanding of administrative law as it relates to local government structures and local decision-making processes. Teachers, practitioners, and scholars of administrative law will all do well to listen to this talk and read the paper generated for it. Dean Davidson convinces that we cannot truly understand the regulatory world if we do not understand the unique characteristics of the administrative processes of local governments.” –Donald J. Kochan, Associate Dean for Research & Faculty Development and Professor of Law


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Fowler School of Law Dean Tom Campbell, Fordham University School of Law Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Nestor Davidson, and Fowler School of Law Associate Dean for Research & Faculty Development Donald Kochan.