Imagine that you are a licensed professional accused of misconduct by your underlying licensing agency, who now wishes to revoke your license. You retain counsel, attempt to negotiate a stipulated settlement, but the agency’s attorney just will not budge. So, you go to Read more…
California law requires all licensing agencies to issue Disciplinary Guidelines. (Business and Professions Code, sections 481, 482.) These Disciplinary Guidelines are similar to Sentencing Guidelines in criminal law. They provide for the proposed terms of license discipline and the probation Read more…
A plurality of our law firm’s work comes in the form of defending professional licensees from licensing agency discipline. This entails the administrative hearing process, which typically leads to a hearing of varying length before the Office of Administrative Hearings. But only if Read more…
When one California’s physician attempted to reinstate his license, the Medical Board decided they did not like some of the evidence that was presented. Instead of ruling on the case based on the weight of the arguments presented, the board Read more…
On April 12 and 13, Steve Simas was one of several presenters in two seminars provided by the California Physical Therapy Association (CPTA) in San Francisco and Los Angeles, respectively. Mr. Simas was selected to present due to his deep Read more…
The Affordable Care Act (the ACA, aka ‘Obamacare’) has been the center of news headlines and chatter for quite some time. It’s no wonder, as it is considered one of the most politically contested bills in American history. Whether you Read more…
This blog entry is for all licensees of the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (“ABC”). We were compelled to write this article to warn ABC licensees of the perils of attending an ABC “309 meeting” also known as a Read more…
Vaping is the use of an e-cigarette – a battery-operated, pen-shaped device that turn flavored nicotine into a vapor that users inhale. Because the vapor does not contain tobacco and is smokeless, it is not prohibited by California’s statewide ban Read more…
Our short take – no, never, please don’t, and please avoid at all costs. However, if you must be provided with more explicit reasons, please know that lying to your attorney is really a lose-lose situation. Lying to your attorney Read more…
An often overlooked defense to many claims or causes of action is the failure to exhaust remedies. The concept of the defense is that a plaintiff or claimant must first present and exhaust any internal review of their potential claim, Read more…