A petition for review is the formal request that asks a federal court of appeals to overturn or correct a final decision by a government agency. In federal practice, the mechanics are set by Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 15, and the legal grounds come from the Administrative Procedure Act. Filing one successfully means hitting a short statutory deadline, picking the right circuit, meeting strict content rules, and framing your challenge around a standard of review the court will actually apply.
When You Can File
Two threshold rules decide whether a court will even look at your petition: finality and exhaustion.
The agency action you want reviewed generally must be final. The APA authorizes judicial review of “final agency action for which there is no other adequate remedy in a court.”1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 704 – Actions Reviewable An interim ruling, a procedural order from an administrative law judge, or any step short of the agency’s last word is usually not reviewable on its own. You raise those issues later, inside your challenge to the final decision.
Exhaustion is the companion rule. If the agency offers internal appeals, you have to work through them before going to court. Skip a required administrative appeal and the petition is likely dismissed without reaching the merits.
Interlocutory review of a non-final trial court order is possible under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b), but only if the trial judge certifies in writing that the order involves a controlling question of law with substantial grounds for disagreement and that an immediate appeal would materially speed up the case. The application must be made within ten days of the order, and the court of appeals can still refuse to take it.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1292 – Interlocutory Decisions
Legal Grounds the Court Will Consider
A reviewing court does not redo the agency’s work. It measures the decision against the categories in 5 U.S.C. § 706 and sets aside agency action that is:
- Arbitrary or capricious — the agency ignored relevant evidence, relied on factors Congress did not intend, or reached a conclusion no reasonable decision-maker would reach.
- Contrary to constitutional rights, such as due process or equal protection.
- Beyond the agency’s statutory authority or short of its legal obligations.
- Procedurally defective, meaning the agency skipped a required step like notice or an opportunity to be heard.
- Unsupported by substantial evidence in formal proceedings — the record lacks enough relevant evidence that a reasonable person would accept it as adequate.
- Unwarranted by the facts, when the court reviews those facts fresh.
These six grounds are the backbone of almost every federal petition for review.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 706 – Scope of Review
How the Standard of Review Shapes Your Argument
The standard dictates how much deference the court gives the agency, and that practically dictates how hard the case is to win. Under arbitrary and capricious review, the agency gets significant leeway on policy judgments, but the court will intervene for obvious gaps in reasoning or ignored parts of the record. The substantial evidence standard is slightly more demanding but still deferential: the question is whether a reasonable mind could accept the evidence as adequate, not whether the court would have decided the same way.
Pure legal questions get the least deference. When the dispute is about what a statute means or which legal framework applies, courts often review the question from scratch, called de novo review. That is usually where petitioners have the best odds, because the court owes the agency no special respect on what the law means. Match each issue in your petition to its standard before you draft, because the argument you need to make for “the reasoning was irrational” is different from the one you need for “the agency got the law wrong.”
The Filing Deadline
Deadlines on petitions for review are among the least forgiving in federal litigation. FRAP 15 requires that the petition be filed “within the time prescribed by law,” which means the deadline comes from the specific statute that authorizes judicial review of your agency’s action.4Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 15 – Review or Enforcement of an Agency Order There is no universal default. Some statutes give 30 days, others 60, and a few as little as 15. Many courts treat these deadlines as jurisdictional, meaning they have no power to hear a late petition no matter the reason.
Some circuits have begun treating certain deadlines as procedural rather than jurisdictional, which can open the door to equitable tolling in extraordinary circumstances like fraud, incapacity, or misleading agency conduct. Do not plan around that possibility. Find your deadline in the statute and treat it as absolute.
Which Court to File In
Not every circuit can hear your petition. For review of federal agency orders, you typically file in the circuit where you live, where your organization has its principal office, or in the D.C. Circuit.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 2343 – Venue Some agency statutes designate an exclusive venue, and the D.C. Circuit handles a disproportionate share of regulatory challenges for that reason. Verify the venue provision in the governing statute before you file. Filing in the wrong court can push you past your deadline when you refile.
What the Petition Must Contain
FRAP 15 sets minimum content requirements. The petition must:
- Name every party seeking review. Shorthand like “et al.” or “petitioners” is not enough; each person or entity must appear in the caption or body.
- Name the agency as respondent. If the statute requires it, the United States becomes a respondent automatically.
- Identify the specific order under review, pinning down the exact order or the exact part of the order you are challenging.
Vague descriptions and missing party names invite immediate rejection from the clerk’s office.4Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 15 – Review or Enforcement of an Agency Order
Supporting Documents
You need a certified copy of the order you are challenging, which you obtain from the clerk of the court or agency that issued it. If your argument relies on testimony, include relevant, clearly labeled excerpts from the hearing transcript so the judges can locate the moments you claim show error. Many petitions also require a statement of the case summarizing the dispute and procedural history, and a statement of the issues presented framing the specific legal questions. Those two sections do most of the work. A vague or argumentative issue statement signals that the petitioner has not identified a concrete legal error.
Length Limits
A principal brief under the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure may not exceed 13,000 words or 30 pages, and a reply brief is capped at half that length.6Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 32 – Form of Briefs, Appendices, and Other Papers Petitions for extraordinary writs are capped at 7,800 words.7Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 21 – Writs of Mandamus and Prohibition, and Other Extraordinary Writs Individual circuits set their own limits for specific petition types and rarely grant motions to exceed them. Check local rules before you draft.
Privacy Redactions
Every document you file, electronic or paper, must redact certain personal identifiers. Filings may include only the last four digits of Social Security or taxpayer ID numbers, only the year of a birth date, only the initials of a minor child’s name, only the last four digits of a financial account number, and only the city and state of a home address. The clerk will not review your filings for compliance. If you file an unredacted document without asking that it be sealed, you waive the privacy protection for that information permanently.8Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 25 – Filing and Service
How to File and Serve
Most federal courts require electronic filing through the Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF) system. CM/ECF accepts filings around the clock and gives immediate confirmation of receipt, which matters when you are against a statutory deadline.9United States Courts. Electronic Filing (CM/ECF) You have to register for an account first, and uploads generally must be text-searchable PDFs.
Where paper filing is permitted, courts require multiple copies, and the required number varies. Formatting failures — wrong margins, wrong font, incorrect binding — can send documents back unfiled, and the clock keeps running.
CM/ECF handles service automatically for registered parties, so no separate proof of service is needed. For service by mail, hand delivery, or commercial carrier, you must file proof of service that lists the date, the method, the names of those served, and their contact information.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 25 – Filing and Service
Fees and Waivers
The federal courts of appeals charge a $600 docketing fee for a petition for review, plus a $5 statutory fee under 28 U.S.C. § 1917.11United States Courts. Court of Appeals Miscellaneous Fee Schedule No fee, no filing, unless you obtain a waiver.
FRAP 24 allows you to request in forma pauperis status if you cannot afford the fee. For petitions for review that go directly to the court of appeals from an administrative agency, you file a motion in the appellate court along with an affidavit detailing your income, assets, debts, and dependents.12Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 24 – Proceeding in Forma Pauperis Incomplete affidavits or borderline finances can mean denial, so do not assume approval.
Filing Does Not Pause Enforcement
This is the costly misunderstanding. Filing a petition for review does not stop the agency from enforcing its decision. Fines keep accruing. A revoked license stays revoked. Compliance deadlines keep running. If you need the order halted while the court decides, you have to ask for a stay.
Under FRAP 18, you ordinarily have to ask the agency itself for a stay before turning to the court. Your motion in the court of appeals must either show that asking the agency first was impractical or explain that the agency denied the request. The motion must lay out the reasons a stay is justified, include supporting evidence, and identify the relevant parts of the record.13Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 18 – Stay Pending Review Courts sometimes condition a stay on a bond or other security, so plan for that cost.
What Happens After You File
The agency has a set period to respond, with timelines varying by court and governing rule but typically running 20 to 30 days. The agency also files the official record. Under FRAP 16, the record consists of the order under review, any findings or report supporting it, and the pleadings, evidence, and other materials from the agency proceedings. Missing or misstated items can be fixed by agreement or by court order.14Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 16 – The Record on Review or Enforcement
Outside parties with a stake in the outcome may file amicus curiae briefs. The federal government, its agencies, and state governments can file without permission; everyone else needs leave of court. An amicus brief supporting the petition must be filed within seven days of the petition and may not exceed 2,600 words.15Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 29 – Brief of an Amicus Curiae
Once the court has both sides and the record, it decides whether to grant or deny the petition. A grant triggers a scheduling order for full briefing and potentially oral argument. A denial leaves the agency’s original decision in place.
Sanctions for a Frivolous Petition
Courts can punish petitions filed without legitimate grounds. Under FRAP 38, if the court finds a petition frivolous, it can award the opposing party actual damages plus single or double costs after giving the petitioner notice and a chance to respond.16Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 38 – Frivolous Appeal, Damages and Costs Courts do impose these sanctions, particularly when the petitioner rehashes arguments the agency already rejected without identifying any actual legal error, or files only to delay enforcement of an order the petitioner knows is valid.