How to Respond to an Accusation
How to Respond to an Accusation from a California Licensing Board, Agency, Commission or the CA Department of Consumer Affairs?
The Accusation is usually accompanied by a Statement to Respondent and a generic Notice of Defense. Needless to say, you are feeling overwhelmed by this stack of seemingly complicated legal documents.
Fortunately, anyone faced with an Accusation from a CA licensing board including the CA Commission on Teacher Credentialing, the CA Board of Registered Nursing, the CA Licensed Vocational Nursing Board, the CA Chiropractors Board, the CA Board of Veterinarian Medicine, the CA Medical Board, the CA Department of Insurance, the CA Bureau of Real Estate (formerly the DRE or Dept. of Real Estate), the CA Board of Behavioral Sciences, the CA Department of Social Services, the CA Physical Therapy Board, the Occupational Therapy Board of CA, the CA Dental Board, the CA Department of Consumer Affairs, etc… has the right to be represented by an attorney throughout these administrative law proceedings.
As such, if you receive an Accusation, it is crucial that you contact an experienced CA professional license defense attorney like Jonathan Turner right away. As the Accusation paperwork explains, a response in the form of a Notice of Defense is due within 15 days. To meet that deadline you can submit the Notice of Defense supplied by the Board however it is recommended that you have an attorney draft a more detailed Notice of Defense and submit that so that all of your potential defenses to the Accusation are adequately preserved.
Also, upon receipt of discovery, it is important that your attorney exercise your full rights to discovery in the case and issue a detailed and comprehensive discovery request to the attorney (often a CA deputy attorney general) prosecuting the case for the licensing board or agency.
Aside from raising certain sophisticated defenses and availing you of your rights to discovery, there are numerous other due process rights that a licensee facing discipline of their license is entitled to which, again, is why it is vital that you engage the services of CA professional license defense attorney Jonathan Turner upon receipt of that Accusation.
LEGAL TROUBLE WITH YOUR PROFESSIONAL LICENSING BOARD?
If you received a denial of a professional license or any threat to your ability to continue practicing your profession, please contact attorney Jonathan Turner using this contact form or call (916) 471-6506 for a personal conversation.