I frequently get telephone calls from professional license applicants and holders including teachers, doctors, nurses, physical therapists, real estate agents and brokers, appraisers, all varieties of health care workers, etc… in shock because a CA licensing board and/or the CA Department of Consumer Affairs is seeking to discipline their license or deny their license application.

Unfortunately, the statutes and rules and regulations governing professional license discipline in CA give boards and licensing agencies wide latitude in seeking discipline of a license. CA Business and Professions Code section 475-490 deals generally with circumstances that allow for professional license discipline in CA. Beyond those statutes nearly every license has its own set of specific statutes (generally found in the CA Business and Professions Code or CA Education Code for teachers) along with detailed rules and regulations found in the CA Code of Regulations.

As such, even a misdemeanor criminal conviction from many years ago allows most CA Boards to deny or discipline a license. Likewise, disciplinary action taken against another previously or currently held license (perhaps in a state outside of CA) often leads to efforts by CA to deny, suspend or revoke the CA license. Thus, for example, if you had a nursing license in another state which was disciplined (perhaps you were put on probation for a minor indiscretion), CA can use that previous discipline to go after the CA license.
The good news I tell those who call me is that before a CA Licensing Board or Agency such as the CA Commission on Teacher Credentialing, the Board of Registered Nursing, the CA Medical Board, the CA Bureau of Real Estate, the CA Board of Behavioral Sciences, the CA Department of Social Services, the CA Department of Consumer Affairs, the Licensed Vocational Nursing Board, the CA Department of Insurance, etc… can discipline or deny a license, the licensee is entitled to receive a complaint (Statement of Issues or Accusation) that states the specific reasons for the discipline. The licensee is then afforded an administrative hearing to challenge the actions proposed in the Statement of Issues or Accusation.
These rights which can be found in the CA Administrative Procedures Act (APA) (see CA Government Code sections 11500-11529) should absolutely be exercised. Further, an experienced professional license defense attorney like me, Jonathan Turner, can assist you in exercising these rights and, hopefully, successfully fight for your license.

If you are being investigated by a CA licensing board or agency, or if a CA Board such as the Department of Consumer Affairs is seeking to deny, suspend or revoke your license or license application, contact me, CA Professional License Defense Attorney Jonathan Turner, for a free consultation.