Chapter 10 - § 10.3 • FEDERAL REGULATION OF ADVOCATES IN ARBITRATIONS GOVERNED BY THE FAA

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 10.3 • FEDERAL REGULATION OF ADVOCATES IN ARBITRATIONS GOVERNED BY THE FAA

Historically, the regulation and qualifications of attorneys and the practice of law were largely left to the states, even as to "federal proceedings." However, in recent years, federal (and not state) regulation of attorneys and other representatives increasingly has been held to apply as to federal law, federal courts, and federal agencies. Perhaps the same is true as to arbitrations governed by the FAA. See §§ 10.2.2 and 10.2.3.

For example, the Internal Revenue Service defines who may practice before it. So, too, does the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which also has its own rules of professional conduct. Likewise, the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado defines who may be admitted to practice before it, expressly rejecting Colorado licensing as a condition.

In Augustine v. Department of Veterans Affairs,¹⁶ the Federal Circuit held that federal law and not state law controls whether a lawyer not licensed in a state may represent a claimant and recover statutory fees in a federal administrative proceeding. The court...