Facts: Our client, LP, hired us to defend him against a complaint filed with the Board by a quasi-governmental entity alleging he had violated minimum professional standards for real estate appraisers. The deficient complaint threatened harm to his professional reputation, his ability to obtain future work from clients, potential disciplinary action from the Board and a negative impact on his livelihood. All this came from a complaint that never should have been opened by the Board because it lacked jurisdiction over the issue.
Outcome: The Firm collected and evaluated the client’s appraisal report and work file necessary to fight back against the defective claims. We prepared a written response demonstrating the Board lacked a valid complaint and the jurisdiction to pursue the matter. We advocated aggressively on the client’s behalf to demonstrate that the complaint had no legitimacy and lacked evidence of any violations of professional standards. We demonstrated to the Board staff why the client had not violated the law and why the complaint needed to be immediately dismissed. After the Board completed an investigation, the investigator agreed the complaint had no merit, and needed to be dismissed. The Board dismissed our client’s complaint in full. The Board took no action against LP’s license, leaving his professional reputation and livelihood unblemished.