Certified Public Accountants have a job that is focused intently on detail, which they have worked long and hard to achieve. There is a great deal of stress over the potential of making mistakes. And with good reason. A formal complaint made because of a mistake can threaten their licenses and livelihoods. Of course, it’s not just simple mistakes. Sometimes there can be a mistake that the person who files the complaint—and even the Texas...
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An accusation of having violated the rules or norms in the course of a real estate transaction can put a real estate licensee’s ability to practice their profession at risk. The disciplinary action that might come as a result of an accusation could mean the end of their career, whether directly or indirectly. When the Texas Real Estate Commission receives a complaint against someone it has granted a license to practice real estate, its Standards...
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Firefighters in Texas are regulated by the Texas Commission on Fire Protection (TCFP), as are other fire safety professionals in fire safety and fire service organizations. The Commission manages the licenses of fire safety professionals at nearly 750 departments in seven separate regions within the state, while offering 31 courses and 49 certificates in fire safety. And it is responsible for collecting, reviewing, and investigating complaints made against fire safety professionals who fall under its umbrella, under...
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In Texas, Respiratory Care Practitioners are governed by Chapter 604 of Title 3 of the Texas Occupations Code. This code places the Texas Medical Board in charge of licensure for Respiratory Care Practitioners, with the aid and guidance of the Texas Board of Respiratory Care. The latter has been empowered with, among other things, establishing standards for regulating the practice of and disciplining any violations of rules made in the course of practice by a...
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The effects of being convicted of Drinking While Intoxicated (a DWI) are profound no matter who receives it. But professionals are faced with a double-whammy: both receipt of the criminal charge of DWI and the likely loss of their professional license because of it. This means that not only are these professionals likely to face discrimination when seeking future employment because of a criminal conviction, but their current livelihoods might soon be swept out from...
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It is a fundamental requirement of any Texas establishment that wants to sell alcohol that it successfully obtain a license from the state to do so. That license is granted by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC), which was initially established in 1935 to regulate, inspect, and tax the sale, use, and production of alcoholic beverages. These days the Commission exists under the auspices of the 1977 Alcoholic Beverage Code for the same purposes. It...
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Dentists who find they have been accused of insurance fraud in Texas are at risk of discipline and even of losing their licenses. If this happens to you, it is important that you immediately seek out an experienced dental license defense attorney who can make the case from the get-go that the medically necessary procedure you ordered does not meet the definition of fraud. The majority of dentists have entered into agreements with insurance carriers...
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Every complaint made against Texas nurses is reviewed by the Texas Board of Nursing. At times this Board will offer an Agreed Order, which sets forth particular sanctions against a nurse. The Agreed Order is explicitly designed to describe the type of discipline to which a nurse who accepts it will be subjected. This includes any requirements the nurse under consideration will need to complete, such as any sort of remedial education, or a set...
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When a Texas medical care provider is accused of not following the regulations they are required to follow in order to accept either private insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid, they have entered a potentially career-ending scenario. A medical care provider who has been determined to have committed such violations of regulations can face further problems, including accusations of criminal insurance fraud. And when the Texas Medical Board learns of this finding of fraud, it will proceed...
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Professional practitioners are often surprised to learn that Administrative hearings before the Texas State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) are quite a lot like courtroom trials. These hearings are formalized such that in the course of the process, a practitioner fighting for their license will be given a chance to question witnesses, produce relevant evidence, and ultimately present their defense before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). Indeed, a normally-proceeding SOAH hearing will follow the following...
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