Photograph of Professor Gary Edles

Gary Edles

Fellow in Administrative Law

Phone: 202-274-4186
E-mail: vCard


Gary Edles is a Fellow in Administrative Law and adjunct professor of law who teaches the Federal Regulatory Process course each summer. He also serves as a visiting professor at the University of Hull Law School in England, where he teaches a seminar each Fall in American Public Law. He is listed in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in American Law and is a member of Gray’s Inn (London). Before joining WCL in 1996, he had a wide-ranging legal career as a senior U.S. federal government lawyer at 4 agencies, specializing in government regulation and the administrative process. From 1987 to 1995 he was General Counsel of the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS), the government’s expert advisory body on matters of administrative law and process. Professor Edles is co-author of Berg, Klitzman and Edles, An Interpretive Guide to the Government in the Sunshine Act (Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice, American Bar Association, 2d ed. 2005); Edles & Nelson, Federal Regulatory Process: Agency Practices and Procedures (Aspen Law & Business, 2d ed. 1989), a book that has been cited by the Supreme Court and the lower federal courts; and the author or co-author of more than a dozen articles. He also serves on the Faculty Review Board of the Administrative Law Review.



Currently Teaching



Degrees & Universities

  • S.J.D., The George Washington Univ. Law School 1975
  • LL.M., The George Washington Univ. Law School 1966
  • J.D., New York University Law School 1965
  • B.A., Queens College, City University of New York 1962

  • Selected Publications

    • Gary Edles, Service on Federal Advisory Committees: A Case Study of OLC’s Little-Known Emoluments Clause Jurisprudence, 58 Admin. L. Rev. 1 (2006).
    • Gary Edles, Richard K. Berg & Stephen H. Klitzman,, An Interpretive Guide to the Government in the Sunshine Act (2d ed., ABA 2005).
    • Gary Edles, An APA-Default Presumption for Administrative Hearings: Some Thoughts on ‘Ossifying’ the Adjudication Process, 55 Admin. L. Rev. 787 (2003).
    • Gary Edles & Marshall J. Breger, Established By Practice: The Theory and Operation of Independent Federal Agencies, 54 Admin. L. Rev. 1111 (2000).
    • Gary Edles & Jerome Nelson, Federal Regulatory Process: Agency Practices and Procedures (2d ed., Aspen L. & Bus. 1989).

    • + More Publications...

    • Gary Edles, Book Review: The Regulators: Anonymous Power Brokers in American Politics, 23 J. Policy Mgt. 635 (Summer 2004).
    • Gary Edles, Book Review: Rulemaking, Participation and the Limits of Public Law in the USA and Europe, 8 Eur. Pub. L. 299 (Winter 2002).
    • Gary Edles, The Almost Accidental Start of a New Federal Agency, 47 Fed. Law. 32 (Jan. 2000).
    • Gary Edles, Developing A European Administrative Law Tradition: The Model of the American Administrative Procedure Act,, 6 Eur. Pub. L. 543 (2000).
    • Gary Edles, Book Review: Importing the First Amendment: Freedom of Speech and Expression in Britain. Europe and the USA, 5 Eur. Pub. L. 471 (Fall 1999).
    • Gary Edles, Letter from Britain, 45 Fed. Law. 22 (May 1998).
    • Gary Edles, Lessons from the Administrative Conference of the United States, 2 Eur. Pub. L. 571 (Fall 1996).
    • Gary Edles & Brian C. Griffin, An Alternative Look at the Administrative Conference's Recommendations on the Administrative Judiciary, 32 JJ. J. 38 (1993).
    • Gary Edles, Are They More Virtuous Today? A Focus on Government Ethics, 37 Fed. B. News & J. 378 (1990).
    • Gary Edles, The Administrative Conference: Entering A Third Decade of Practical Scholarship, 41 Admin. L. Rev. 399 (1989).
    • Gary Edles, The ICC Hearing Process: A Cost-Benefit Approach to Administrative Agency Alternative Dispute Resolution, 16 Transp. L.J. 99 (1987).
    • Gary Edles, The Hearing Requirement in the 1980's, 31 Fed. B. News & J. 434 (1984).
    • Gary Edles, The Strategy of Regulatory Change, 49 ICC Pract. J. 626 (1982).
    • Gary Edles, Biblical Parallels in American Law, 49 N.Y. St. B.J. 644 (1977).
    • Gary Edles, Mobilization of the Masses: A Survey of Communist Chinese Labor Law, Wash. U. L.Q. 395 (1969).
    • Gary Edles, IATA, the Bilaterals, and International Aviation Policy, 27 Fed. B.J. 291 (1967).

  • + Selected Presentations

    • Gary Edles, Testimony, The Reauthorization of the Administrative Conference of the United States (Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law, House Committee on the Judiciary, Wash., D.C., July 24, 2004).
    • Gary Edles, Testimony, Legislation to Reform the Federal Regulatory Process (Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, Wash., D.C., Mar. 8, 1995).
    • Gary Edles, Testimony, Legislation to Study the Adjudicatory Procedures at the Department of Veterans Affairs (Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, Wash., D.C., Mar. 24, 1994).
    • Gary Edles, Testimony, Legislation to Establish a Social Security Court (House Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Social Security, Wash., D.C., Oct. 21, 1993).
    • Gary Edles, Testimony, Legislation Dealing with the Civil Money Penalty Program at the Federal Aviation Administration (House Committee on Public Works and Transportation, Subcommittee on Aviation, Wash., D.C., Mar. 26, 1992).
    • Gary Edles, Testimony, The Health and Safety Whistleblower Act (House Committee on Education and Labor, Subcommittee on Labor-Management Relations, Wash., D.C., Nov. 16, 1989).