(a) Parties. A party may appear in person or by an officer, partner, or regular employee of the party, or by or with counsel or other duly qualified representative, in any proceeding under the rules in this part. Any party or his or her representative may testify, produce and examine witnesses, and be heard upon brief and at oral argument if oral argument is granted.

(b) Non-parties. One who appears in person before the Commission or a representative thereof, either by compulsion from, or request or permission of the Commission, shall be accorded the right to be accompanied, represented, and advised by counsel.

(c) Special appearance. An appearance may be either general, that is, without reservation, or it may be special, that is, confined to a particular issue or question. A person who desires to appear specially must expressly so state when entering the appearance, and, at that time, shall also state the questions or issues to which the appearance is confined; otherwise the appearance will be considered general. [Rule 21.]

Any individual acting in a representative capacity in any proceeding before the Commission may be required to show his or her authority to act in such capacity. [Rule 22.]

(a) Upon filing of a complaint instituting proceedings or filing of an answer to an order or complaint, the party filing shall notify the Commission of the name(s), address(es), telephone number(s), and email address(es) of the person or persons who will represent the party in the pending proceeding. Each person who appears in a representative capacity in a proceeding must deliver a written notice of appearance to the Secretary stating for whom the appearance is made. Such notice must indicate whether the representative wishes to be notified of notices, orders and decisions by either email or facsimile transmission. All appearances shall be noted in the record. Motions for leave to intervene must indicate the name(s), address(es), telephone number(s), and email address(es) of the person or persons who will represent the intervenor in the pending proceeding if the motion is granted.

(b) A Notice of Appearance should follow the form set forth in Exhibit No. 1 to this subpart.

(c) An attorney must represent in the Notice of Appearance that he is admitted to practice and in good standing. A non-attorney must describe his or her authority to act in such capacity.

(d) If an attorney or other representative of record is superseded, there shall be filed a stipulation of substitution signed both by the attorney(s) or representative(s) and by the party, or a written notice from the party to the Commission with a Notice of Appearance included. Substitution of counsel or representative will not, by itself, be considered good cause for delaying a proceeding.

(e) If an attorney wishes to withdraw from representing a party, and written consent is not obtained, or if the party is not otherwise represented, the withdrawing attorney shall file an appropriate motion seeking permission to withdraw and provide appropriate reasons for making the motion. Such motion will be decided in consideration of the factors and standards set forth in Rule 1.16 of the American Bar Association's Model Rules of Professional Conduct and by the courts. [Rule 23.]

(a) Practice before the Commission shall be deemed to comprehend all matters connected with the presentation of any matter to the Commission, including the preparation and filing of necessary documents, and correspondence with and communications to the Commission, on one's own behalf or representing another. (See § 502.32).

(b) The term “Commission” as used in this subpart includes any bureau, division, office, branch, section, or unit of the Federal Maritime Commission and any officer or employee of such bureau, division, office, branch, section, or unit. [Rule 24.]

(a) Definition. Presiding officer includes, where applicable, one or more members of the Commission or an administrative law judge.

(b) Functions and powers. The officer designated to hear a case shall have the following powers:

(1) Notices of hearing, subpoenas, depositions, pleadings and scope of proceedings. To arrange and give notice of hearing; sign and issue subpoenas authorized by law; take or cause depositions to be taken; rule upon proposed amendments or supplements to pleadings; and, delineate the scope of a proceeding instituted by order of the Commission by amending, modifying, clarifying, or interpreting said order.

(2) Alternative means of dispute resolution and conferences for settlement or simplification of issues. To inform the parties as to the availability of one or more alternative means of dispute resolution, encourage use of such methods, and require consideration of their use at an early state of the proceeding; hold conferences for the settlement or simplification of the issues by consent of the parties or by the use of alternative means of dispute resolution; transmit the request of parties for the appointment of a mediator or settlement judge, as provided by § 502.91; and require the attendance at any such conference pursuant to 5 U.S.C 556(c)(8), of at least one representative of each party who has authority to negotiate concerning resolution of issues in controversy.

(3) Hearings, evidence, procedural requests, motions, oaths and affirmations, and witnesses. To regulate the course of a hearing; prescribe the order in which evidence shall be presented; dispose of procedural requests or similar matters; hear and rule upon motions; administer oaths and affirmations; examine witnesses; direct witnesses to testify or produce evidence available to them; rule upon offers of proof and receive relevant, material, reliable, and probative evidence; act upon motions to intervene; permit submission of facts, arguments, offers of settlement, and proposals of adjustment; and, if the parties so request, issue formal opinions providing tentative evaluations of the evidence submitted; hear oral argument at the close of the testimony.

(4) Time management and other matters. To fix the time for filing briefs, motions, and other documents to be filed in connection with hearings and the administrative law judge's decision thereon, except as otherwise provided by the rules in this part; act upon petitions for enlargement of time to file such documents, including answers to formal complaints; and dispose of any other matter that normally and properly arises in the course of proceedings.

(5) Exclusion of persons from a hearing. To exclude any person from a hearing for disrespectful, disorderly, or inappropriate language or conduct.

(c) Functions and powers pursuant to Reorganization Plan No. 7 of 1961. All of the functions delegated in subparts A to Q and subpart T of this part, inclusive, to the Chief Judge, presiding officer, or administrative law judge include the functions with respect to hearing, determining, ordering, certifying, reporting, or otherwise acting as to any work, business, or matter, pursuant to the provisions of section 105 of Reorganization Plan No. 7 of 1961. [Rule 147.]

(d) Designation of administrative law judge. An administrative law judge will be designated by the Chief Administrative Law Judge to preside at hearings required by statute, in rotation so far as practicable, unless the Commission or one or more members thereof shall preside, and will also preside at hearings not required by statute when designated to do so by the Commission.

(e) Attachment of functions. In proceedings handled by the Office of Administrative Law Judges, its functions shall attach:

(1) Upon the service by the Commission of a Notice of Filing of Complaint and Assignment of complaint filed pursuant to § 502.62, or § 502.182, or upon referral under subpart T of this part; or

(2) Upon reference by the Commission of a petition for a declaratory order pursuant to § 502.68; or

(3) Upon forwarding for assignment by the Office of the Secretary of a special docket application pursuant to § 502.271; or

(4) Upon the initiation of a proceeding and ordering of hearing before an administrative law judge pursuant to § 502.63.

(f) Unavailability. If the presiding officer assigned to a proceeding becomes unavailable, the Commission, or Chief Judge (if such presiding officer was an administrative law judge), shall designate a qualified officer to take his or her place. Any motion predicated upon the substitution of a new presiding officer for one originally designated shall be made within ten (10) days after notice of such substitution.

(g) Disqualification of presiding or participating officer. Any presiding or participating officer may at any time withdraw if he or she deems himself or herself disqualified, in which case there will be designated another presiding officer. If a party to a proceeding, or its representative, files a timely and sufficient affidavit of personal bias or disqualification of a presiding or participating officer, the Commission will determine the matter as a part of the record and decision in the case. [Rule 25.]

Attorneys at law who are admitted to practice before the Federal courts or before the courts of any State or Territory of the United States may practice before the Commission. An attorney practicing before the Commission is expected to conform to the standards of conduct set forth in the American Bar Association's Model Rules of Professional Conduct in addition to the specific requirements of this chapter. [Rule 26.]

(a)(1) Any person who is not an attorney at law may be admitted to practice before the Commission if he or she is a citizen of the United States and files proof to the satisfaction of the Commission that he or she possesses the necessary legal, technical, or other qualifications to render valuable service before the Commission and is otherwise competent to advise and assist in the presentation of matters before the Commission. Applications by persons not attorneys at law for admission to practice before the Commission shall be made on the forms prescribed therefor, which may be obtained from the Secretary of the Commission, and shall be addressed to the Federal Maritime Commission, Washington, DC, 20573, and shall be accompanied by a fee as required by § 503.50(d) of this chapter.

(2) The application for admission to practice before the Commission by persons not attorneys at law can be downloaded from the Commission's Web site, www.fmc.gov, or acquired from the Secretary of the Commission and must be accompanied by a fee as required by § 503.43(e) of this chapter. The application should be sent to the Federal Maritime Commission, Washington, DC 20573.

(3) All applicants must complete the following certification:

I. __________________________ (Name) ________________________, certify under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States, that I have not been convicted, after September 1, 1989, of any Federal or State offense involving the distribution or possession of a controlled substance, or that if I have been so convicted, I am not ineligible to receive Federal benefits, either by court order or operation of law, pursuant to 21 U.S.C. 862.

(b) The Commission, in its discretion, may call upon the applicant for a full statement of the nature and extent of his or her qualifications. If the Commission is not satisfied as to the sufficiency of the applicant's qualifications, it will so notify him or her by registered mail, whereupon he or she shall be granted a hearing upon request for the purpose of showing his or her qualifications. If the applicant presents to the Commission no request for such hearing within twenty (20) days after receiving the notification above referred to, his or her application shall be acted upon without further notice.

(c) The Commission may deny admission to, suspend, or prohibit any person from practice before the Commission who it finds does not possess the requisite qualifications to represent others or is lacking in character, integrity, or proper professional conduct. Non-attorneys who have been admitted to practice before the Commission may be excluded from such practice only after being afforded an opportunity to be heard.

(d) A non-attorney may not practice before the Commission unless and until an application has been approved.

(e) Paragraph (d) of this section shall not apply, however, to any person who appears before the Commission on his or her own behalf or on behalf of any corporation, partnership, or association of which he or she is a partner, officer, or regular employee. [Rule 27.]

The Commission may call upon any practitioner for a full statement of the nature and extent of his or her interest in the subject matter presented by him or her before the Commission. [Rule 31.]

Title V of the Ethics in Government Act proscribes certain activities by certain former Federal employees (18 U.S.C. 207). In summary, as applied to former Commission employees, the restrictions and basic procedures are as follows:

(a) Restrictions. (1) No former Commission employee may represent in any formal or informal appearance or make any oral or written communication with intent to influence a U.S. Government agency in a particular matter involving a specific party or parties in which the employee participated personally and substantially while with the Commission.

(2) No former Commission employee may, within two years of terminating Commission employment, act as a representative in the manner described in paragraph (a)(1) of this section, as to a particular matter which was actually pending under the employee's official responsibility within one year prior to termination of the employment.

(3) Former senior Commission employees (defined as Commissioners and members of the Senior Executive Service as designated by the Office of Government Ethics under 18 U.S.C. 207(d)(1)) may not, for two years after terminating Commission employment, assist in representing a person by personal presence at an appearance before the Government on a matter in which the former employee had participated personally and substantially while at the Commission.

(4) Former senior Commission employees, as defined in paragraph (a)(3) of this section, are barred for one year from representing parties before the Commission or communicating with intent to influence the Commission, regardless of prior involvement in the particular proceeding.

(b) Prior consent for appearance. (1) Prior to making any appearance, representation or communication described in paragraph (a) of this section, and, in addition to other requirements of this subpart, every former employee must apply for and obtain prior written consent of the Commission for each proceeding or matter in which such appearance, representation, or communication is contemplated. Such consent will be given only if the Commission determines that the appearance, representation or communication is not prohibited by the Act, this section or other provisions of this chapter.

(2) To facilitate the Commission's determination that the intended activity is not prohibited, applications for written consent shall:

(i) Be directed to the Commission, state the former connection of the applicant with the Commission and date of termination of employment, and identify the matter in which the applicant desires to appear; and

(ii) Be accompanied by an affidavit to the effect that the matter for which consent is requested is not a matter in which the applicant participated personally and substantially while at the Commission and, as made applicable by paragraph (a) of this section, that the particular matter as to which consent is requested was not pending under the applicant's official responsibility within one year prior to termination of employment and that the matter was not one in which the former employee had participated personally and substantially while at the Commission. The statements contained in the affidavit shall not be sufficient if disproved by an examination of the files and records of the case.

(3) The applicant shall be promptly advised as to his or her privilege to appear, represent or communicate in the particular matter, and the application, affidavit and consent, or refusal to consent, shall be filed by the Commission in its records relative thereto.

(c) Reporting possible violations. Possible violations of section 207 of Title 18 of the United States Code, 18 U.S.C. 207,by,pursuant.103(a) and 5 CFR 2638.603.

(d) Partners or associates. (1) In any case in which a former member, officer, or employee of the Commission is prohibited under this section from practicing, appearing, or representing anyone before the Commission in a particular Commission matter, any partner or legal or business associate of such former member, officer, or employee shall be prohibited from (i) utilizing the services of the disqualified former member, officer, or employee in connection with the matter, (ii) discussing the matter in any manner with the disqualified former member, officer, or employee, and (iii) sharing directly or indirectly with the disqualified former member, officer, or employee in any fees or revenues received for services rendered in connection with such matter.

(2) The Commission may require any practitioner or applicant to become a practitioner to file an affidavit to the effect that the practitioner or applicant will not: (i) Utilize the service of, (ii) discuss the particular matter with, or (iii) share directly or indirectly any fees or revenues received for services provided in the particular matter, with a partner, fellow employee, or legal or business associate who is a former member, officer or employee of the Commission and who is either permanently or temporarily precluded from practicing, appearing or representing anyone before the Commission in connection with the particular matter; and that the applicant's employment is not prohibited by any law of the United States or by the regulations of the Commission. [Rule 32.]

Docket No. __________________________:

Please enter my appearance in this proceeding as counsel for ________________________.

Indicate authority for representation [choose one of the following]:

____ I am an attorney admitted to practice and in good standing before the courts of the State of ______________________.

____ I am admitted to practice before the Commission pursuant to 46 CFR 502.27.

____ I am an officer, director, or regular employee of the party.

I request to be informed of service of notices, orders and decisions in this proceeding by [choose one of the following]: