CA License Law 101

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In California professional license law, at a contested hearing deciding an accusation or a statement of issues an administrative law judge only has the power to make a proposed decision, not a final decision.  The administrative agency – for example, the Medical Board of California or the California Department of Insurance – has delegated the…

One of the most confusing parts of licensing law is the concept of “who makes the final decision?”  Even though licensees have the right to an administrative hearing before they are disciplined in any way by the agency, the written result of hearing is called the “proposed decision” and doesn’t become final until the agency…

The agreement by which almost all California license discipline or denial cases are settled is called a stipulated settlement.  In a stipulated settlement, a licensee or license applicant usually makes admissions of some wrongdoing and agrees to accept an administrative sanction.  The stipulated settlement is usually prepared by the attorney for the licensing agency, which…

A Notice of Defense is the document a licensee and some license applicants submit to preserve their right to a hearing after receiving an accusation or denial.  If a Notice of Defense is not timely filed, a licensing agency can take the licensee or license applicant’s default.  A default usually means that the harshest sanction…

 An accusation is the document that commences formal license discipline against a California licensee.  If you know something about law, you might have heard of a civil or criminal complaint; it is similar.  Simply put, it is a letter from the executive officer or an administrative chief of a licensing agency to the governing body…

For the start of 2014, I am creating a new line of articles I am calling "CA License Law 101".  With a sorry lack of good information on the internet that explains how license law works for the California licensing agencies that follow the Administrative Procedure Act (basically all of them), I will strive to get "back to…