In a recent unpublished opinion, Nadal v. Federal Aviation Administration, the airman appealed an NTSB order affirming the sixty-day suspension of his airman certificate. On appeal, one of the arguments raised by the airman was that he received ineffective assistance of counsel at the evidentiary hearing before the ALJ. In considering the argument, the Court observed that “the only context in which courts have recognized a constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel in civil litigation is in immigration cases.” The Court then concluded that “[w]e see no reason to extend this right to FAA certification proceedings.”
Although this case is unpublished (meaning it doesn’t have direct precedential effect on other cases), it is a clear indication of how the 10th Circuit views the argument and how it will likely rule on the argument in the future.
