Administrative Law · Illinois

When a state agency is on the other side, the rules are different. We know them.

DeVore Law Offices represents Illinois clients before state agencies and on judicial review of agency decisions — professional license defense, DCFS appeals, driver's license reinstatement, FOID and concealed-carry, school and education matters, property tax, unemployment, and the full range of contested cases under the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act. The firm has gone toe-to-toe with attorneys from the Illinois Attorney General's Office across cases that affected ordinary people across the state. That experience shapes every administrative matter we take.

15-Minute No-Cost Case Inquiry Call (618) 664-9439

You may be in the right place if…

Your professional license has been suspended, denied, or is under investigation
You received a notice of an "indicated" finding from DCFS
Your driver's license has been suspended or revoked
Your FOID or concealed-carry license was denied or revoked
A state agency has denied an application, permit, or appeal
You've been served with an administrative complaint
An ALJ ruling came out the wrong way and the 35-day clock is running

What's Really at Stake

Administrative cases are not "small" cases. They decide whether you can work, drive, parent, or operate.

Administrative law sounds technical because it is — but the cases themselves are not abstract. A professional license suspension can end a career. A DCFS indicated finding sits on a state registry and is reported to employers and licensing boards. A driver's license revocation can cost a person their job. A FOID denial can end a way of life. A zoning denial can stop a business before it starts. These are real decisions, made by agencies, that change real lives.

The system that governs those decisions is its own world. It has its own statute (the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act), its own appeal vehicle (the Administrative Review Law), its own evidentiary rules, its own deadlines, and its own dynamics in front of an Administrative Law Judge. Most general-practice lawyers do not work in it regularly enough to be effective. The cases that come out the wrong way often come out that way because nobody on the client's side knew the procedural moves.

That is what this practice is built to do — represent ordinary Illinoisans against the agencies that hold a lot of power over their lives, and do it with the procedural fluency the system actually demands.

"Administrative law is where the State makes decisions about your work, your home, your kids, and your rights. The work is making sure your side of those decisions is heard."

— The way the firm has approached agency practice across Illinois for more than fifteen years.

What We Handle

Agency practice, contested cases, and judicial review.

The firm represents clients across the full range of Illinois administrative matters — at the agency level, on Administrative Review in the circuit court, and on appeal where the trial court got it wrong. Below is the day-to-day.

Professional License Defense (IDFPR)

Defense of physicians, nurses, real estate brokers, contractors, cosmetologists, social workers, and the full range of professions regulated by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Investigations, formal complaints, consent orders, and contested hearings.

Driver's License Reinstatement

Formal and informal hearings before the Illinois Secretary of State to restore driving privileges after DUI revocations, multiple-offender revocations, and discretionary suspensions. Mitigation, documentation, and hearing preparation.

FOID & Concealed-Carry Appeals

Appeals from Illinois State Police denials and revocations of FOID cards and concealed-carry licenses. Restoration petitions and the increasingly important constitutional defenses that have changed this practice in recent years.

DCFS Investigations & Indicated-Finding Appeals

Defense of parents, caregivers, teachers, and other mandated reporters facing DCFS investigation. Administrative appeals of "indicated" findings — the only way to keep your name off the State Central Register.

School & Education Matters

Teacher dismissal hearings, student-discipline and expulsion appeals, special-education matters, ISBE complaints, and the contested cases that arise between school districts, employees, and families.

Civil Service & Municipal Employment

Police, fire, and civil-service employment matters before boards of fire and police commissioners, civil service commissions, and merit boards. Discharge, discipline, and promotional disputes.

Zoning & Land-Use Appeals

Variances, special-use permits, and appeals to zoning boards of appeals, planning commissions, and county boards. Annexation and rezoning matters, and judicial review where the local body got it wrong.

Liquor & Local Licensing

Local liquor commissioner proceedings, Illinois Liquor Control Commission appeals, and other local-licensing matters affecting bars, restaurants, and small businesses.

Property Tax Appeals (PTAB)

Appeals before local boards of review and the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board, including assessment challenges, exemption disputes, and judicial review of PTAB decisions.

Unemployment (IDES) Appeals

Claimant and employer appeals of unemployment-insurance decisions through the IDES referee and Board of Review stages, and Administrative Review of final agency decisions.

Administrative Review in Circuit Court

Taking final agency decisions to the circuit court under the Administrative Review Law — the 35-day clock, the proper venue, the issues that can and cannot be raised, and the standards the court will apply.

Mandate, Mandamus & Public-Body Challenges

Suits compelling public bodies to act, challenges to ultra vires conduct by state agencies and local government, and the cases that result when ordinary people are pushed harder by their government than the law allows.

Track Record

We have stood up to state agencies on behalf of ordinary Illinoisans — at scale, and in cases that mattered.

145+

Illinois School Districts

100+

Small Businesses Represented

30+

Counties Across the State

During the COVID-era public-health response, Tom DeVore represented hundreds of Illinois parents, students, business owners, and corrections workers challenging school mandates, shutdown orders, and agency-imposed restrictions across more than 145 school districts and 30 counties. Sangamon County Circuit Judge Raylene Grischow issued a TRO in February 2022 affecting approximately 170 named districts — a ruling that contributed to the end of the school mask mandate in Illinois. The firm went up against attorneys from the Illinois Attorney General's Office case after case. Whatever a visitor's politics, that body of work is what this practice was built on: representing ordinary people who otherwise had no one to take their side when the State decided something about their lives.

Why DeVore Law for Your Administrative Matter

The procedural fluency the system actually demands — and the willingness to take the case up the chain.

Administrative law is a procedural practice. The Illinois Administrative Procedure Act, the Administrative Review Law, the exhaustion doctrine, the 35-day clock, the manifest-weight standard on review — these are not optional knowledge. They are the things that decide whether a case lives or dies. Tom DeVore has built this firm's practice around them for more than fifteen years, including in cases that drew opposition from major firms and from the Illinois Attorney General's Office.

You will get a lawyer who explains what is happening in plain English, prepares the administrative record like it is the appellate record (because it usually becomes that), and is willing to take the agency decision to the circuit court — and from there to the appellate court — when the agency got it wrong.

Agency-Tested

Real experience opposing the Illinois Attorney General's Office and major-firm counsel in high-stakes administrative matters.

Procedural Fluency

The Administrative Procedure Act, Administrative Review Law, and exhaustion doctrine are bread and butter — not subjects to look up.

Appellate-Ready

Records built so the case stands up on review. When the trial court gets it wrong, the firm takes the appeal.

Plain English

You will understand what is happening at every step — including what the agency is required to do, and what it isn't.

How We Approach Your Case

An administrative case moves through stages. Here is what to expect from ours.

Confidential Initial Call

An initial conversation, in person or by phone, to understand the agency, the decision, and where the case stands in the process. You will leave knowing whether the firm is the right fit, what your realistic options are, and — critically — what deadlines are running. Many administrative cases turn on whether the lawyer is in the case before a 35-day clock expires.

Identify the Forum and the Deadline

The first procedural question in every administrative matter is which forum the case belongs in — the agency itself, the circuit court on Administrative Review, the appellate court on further review, or, in narrow cases, an original action in circuit court. The answer drives every later step.

Build the Administrative Record

The record is the case. Everything that gets in front of the ALJ has a chance to live in later proceedings; everything left out usually does not. Documents, witness testimony, expert opinions, and the legal positions your case will rest on — all preserved properly the first time.

Hearings, ALJ Practice, and Submissions

Contested-case hearings under the Administrative Procedure Act, pre-hearing motions, written submissions, and post-hearing briefs. Administrative hearings often look more relaxed than circuit court, but the consequences are the same — and the procedural rules still apply.

Resolve at the Agency — or Take It to Court

Some agency decisions can be settled or modified short of final order; others cannot. Where the final agency decision is wrong, we file for Administrative Review in the proper circuit court within the statutory window — usually 35 days from service of the decision.

Judicial Review & Appeal If Needed

Administrative Review in circuit court, and where appropriate, appeal to the Illinois Appellate Court. The firm has appellate experience and is comfortable taking the right administrative case all the way up.

What to Expect

Straight answers on fees, timeline, and how the case moves.

Fees

Most administrative matters are billed hourly against a retainer, with the rate disclosed in writing before any work begins. For limited-scope work (a single hearing, a single Administrative Review filing, a license-application response) flat fees are sometimes available.

You will know what the matter is likely to cost before we start.

Timeline

Agency-level matters vary widely — from a few weeks for a license application to many months for a contested professional-discipline case. Administrative Review in circuit court typically runs six to twelve months. Appellate review takes longer.

We will give you a realistic estimate after the initial call.

Communication

Phone calls returned within one business day. Hearings prepared together in advance. Agency correspondence and rulings explained — in plain English — when they happen.

You will know what is going on in your case without having to chase it down.

What Administrative-Law Clients Say

Straight talk from the people we have represented.

★★★★★

"My nursing license was up for revocation over an allegation that wasn't what the State made it out to be. Tom built the record at the IDFPR hearing carefully, got the right witnesses in, and the case resolved with my license intact. He understood the bureaucracy as well as the law."

— A.B., Professional License Defense, Madison County

★★★★★

"DCFS had indicated me on a report that wasn't true. I didn't know how to fight it, and the local lawyers I called didn't either. Tom did the appeal, won the hearing, and got the indicated finding overturned. My name was off the registry inside of a year."

— J.P., DCFS Indicated-Finding Appeal, Bond County

Common Questions

Plain-English answers to the questions clients actually ask.

What does "administrative law" actually mean?

It's the body of law that governs decisions made by state and local government agencies — professional licensing boards, school agencies, DCFS, the Secretary of State, IDFPR, IDES, and dozens of others. Each agency has its own statute, its own rules, and its own internal procedures, all overseen by the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act. When an agency makes a decision that affects you, administrative law is the system you use to challenge it.

How is an administrative case different from regular court?

Most administrative cases begin in front of an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) at the agency itself, not in a courthouse. The rules of evidence are looser, the proceedings can be faster, and the standards on review are different — courts that later look at the case generally have to defer to the agency's factual findings unless they are "against the manifest weight of the evidence." That is a higher bar than ordinary trial-court review, and it makes building the agency-level record critical.

Why does the 35-day deadline matter so much?

The Illinois Administrative Review Law requires that a complaint for review of a final agency decision be filed in the circuit court within 35 days of service of the decision. Miss that deadline and the case is generally over — the courts have no jurisdiction to consider it. Most administrative cases that come into the firm too late come in past the 35-day window. If you have a written agency decision, the clock has likely started. Call.

Do I have to "exhaust" my agency remedies first?

Usually, yes. The exhaustion doctrine generally requires that you go all the way through the agency's internal review process before going to court. There are exceptions — for example, when the agency lacks jurisdiction, or when going through the agency would be futile — but they are narrow. Trying to skip ahead almost always gets the case dismissed.

What is an ALJ?

An Administrative Law Judge — a hearing officer appointed by an agency to preside over contested cases. ALJs hear evidence, take testimony, and issue recommended (or in some agencies, final) decisions. They are not Article III or Illinois Constitution judges, but they run hearings that look and feel a lot like trials, and the rulings they issue have real consequences.

Can I really win against a state agency?

Yes — but the case has to be built carefully and the procedural moves have to be right. Agencies win a meaningful share of administrative cases because the people on the other side often do not have lawyers, or have lawyers who do not do this work regularly. The firm has been on the winning end of agency cases, including in matters where the State threw real resources at the other side.

What about my professional license?

An IDFPR license matter — whether an investigation, a formal complaint, or a proposed revocation — is one of the most consequential cases a professional can face. The case is built around the formal complaint, the agency record, and the hearing in front of the ALJ. Quick concessions early often do more damage than people realize. Get representation before responding to anything in writing.

My DCFS indicated finding — can it be overturned?

Often, yes. Indicated findings can be appealed administratively to the Department of Children and Family Services itself, with a hearing in front of an ALJ. Many indicated findings are based on incomplete or one-sided investigations and are overturned when the appeal is properly built. The case has to be filed within the time limit set by DCFS rule — usually well under a year.

Do you handle administrative matters across Illinois?

Yes. Administrative practice is largely a statewide practice because state agencies are state-level. The firm has handled agency cases across central and southern Illinois — from the Metro East counties up through the I-55 and I-72 corridors, and south through Effingham, Marion, Williamson, and beyond. Initial calls can be by phone or video, regardless of where the case is.

Request a Case Inquiry

Tell us about the agency decision.

The 15-minute call is confidential and at no cost. It is not a legal advice session — the only question on the table is whether having this firm represent you is likely to be in your interest. If it is, we will talk about what happens next. If you are better served by another lawyer, or by handling the matter without one, we will tell you so.

If you have a written agency decision, the 35-day Administrative Review clock may already be running. Please call.

Or call directly (618) 664-9439 · Monday – Friday, 8:30 to 5:30

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