An Outcomes Analysis of Scope of Review Standards

This article raises a question that is rarely asked: Do outcomes (reversal/affirmance/remand rates) on appeal from administrative decisions bear a predictable relationship to the relevant scope of review standard? It turns out that the answer is both yes and no and that in two very active review systems (district court review over Social Security disability and FOIA decisions) the results run counter to what one might surmise based on the relative intensity of the review standards. While conclusions are carefully and necessarily hedged, the subject yields hypotheses worthy of further analysis.