It’s never a pleasant experience to receive notice that a formal complaint has been filed against your professional license. After all, any complaint made against a professional with your licensing Board not only puts you at risk of internal discipline but of losing your license altogether—which naturally risks both your reputation and your livelihood. But there are actions you can take (or fail to take) in such an event that only serves to make things worse and which you should avoid assiduously.
For one thing, you should never ignore (or avoid answering) the complaint notice that you receive. It’s incredible to us how often professionals do this. This is not the time to assume everything will turn out fine if you just keep plugging along as always and let the complaint go unaddressed. It won’t just go away—and in fact, every day that passes without action causes the situation to grow direr. Even if you do not belong to one of those professions whose boards place upon their licensees an affirmative duty to respond to a complaint, a well-composed and reasoned response to a complaint is the first step in erecting a solid defense—and the longer your professional license defense attorney has to compose it before the deadline, the better.
Speaking of which, you should never miss any deadlines established by the Board or agency. These dates will be given to you in the complaint notice. Make a note of them, and meet them.
Moreover, some professionals make underwhelming—and even inadequate—responses to their notices of complaint. As alluded to above, the first response you make to the complaint is key to the eventual outcome of the case against you, in part because it can help shape the scope of the investigation to come. A response that fails to do this can cause you to face even more discipline for issues unrelated to the initial complaint.
So as soon as you are alerted to the existence of a complaint, you should call an experienced professional license defense attorney to help with your defense. BERTOLINO LLP proudly represents those fighting threats to their licenses or for licensure reinstatement across the entire State of Texas, and we have a solid track record of success. The earlier we are brought in, the more influence we may have on the shape of the investigation to come and craft an effective and dynamic defense. To best serve our clients, we have offices in Austin, Houston, and San Antonio. Contact us today or call (512) 476-5757 and schedule a case evaluation.
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