ADMINISTRATIVE LAW
01-2-5187 Bassen v. New Jersey Racing Commission, App. Div. (Nugent, J.A.D.) (11 pp.) Petitioner Murray Bassen, a horse trainer, appealed from the New Jersey Racing Commission’s final decision suspending his license for eight months and fining him $5,000, having ruled that Bassen violated certain Racing Commission rules. Bassen argued that the attorney who represented him during the initial ALJ hearing was ineffective because he stipulated to certain facts that were untrue and failed to insist that certain witnesses appear in person. Bassen argued that the attorney he paid to represent him at the remand hearing was ineffective. Bassen was not guaranteed, by the federal or state constitution or by statute, the right to counsel in the administrative proceedings before the ALJ and the Racing Commission. If Bassen’s accusations about his attorneys are true, and his attorneys deviated from a minimum standard of care in presenting his case, his recourse is a civil malpractice action, not a new hearing. The appellate panel affirmed the Commission’s final decision and the penalty imposed.
