Many people working in California require valid professional licenses to operate or practice. The state has several licensing agencies that issue licenses to various businesses, professions, and occupations. Persons in these occupations depend on their capacity to hold a license to earn a living and run their businesses.

Unfortunately, if, as a professional, you face criminal charges or are convicted of a crime like domestic violence, drug abuse, or DUI, it could adversely impact your license status. Therefore, when charged with a crime, do not hesitate to contact a criminal defense attorney with knowledge of professional license. At San Francisco License Attorney, we can build solid defenses to prevent a guilty verdict and protect your license.

Professionals Whose Licenses are Affected by Criminal Charges or Convictions

When you are a business or professional license holder, you must uphold particular ethics and guidelines of the profession. The adverse effects of a criminal arrest, charge, or conviction affect many professions, including:

  • Health professionals like nurses and doctors

  • Accountants

  • Lawyers

  • Psychologists

  • Therapists

  • Teachers

  • Dentists

A charge, arrest, or conviction for violating the law attracts attention from your licensing agency to your ability to perform your duties, particularly when the offense relates to your moral character or professional duties ethically and safely. These standards are in place to protect the public and ensure that these professions or occupations remain trustworthy.

Instances When a Guilty Verdict Adversely Affects Your License Status

Whether you face an infraction, misdemeanor, or felony charge, the accusations negatively impact your reputation when current and prospective clients learn about them. Additionally, a conviction for the charge will attract severe consequences, some of which will affect your professional license status.

A past guilty verdict will also affect your license and image negatively. The manner and degree to which the conviction adversely affects the license hinges on many factors. Each case has unique circumstances that determine the form of disciplinary action against your license.

The rule of thumb is that the guilty verdict must be substantially related to the roles or codes of conduct you must uphold as a licensee. Typically, the prosecutor gives a broad definition when proving a substantial relationship to your profession, increasing the chances of disciplinary action from the relevant licensing agency. Therefore, whenever you face criminal allegations or convictions, talk to a license defense attorney to help you contest the accusations and defend your license.

Whether or not your professional license will face disciplinary action after the conclusion of an administrative disciplinary proceeding depends on several factors, such as:

  • The classification of your violation (misdemeanor, felony, or infraction). Any of these counts can attract disciplinary action, depending on the severity of the violation. The degree of adverse impact on your license for a felony is higher than that of a misdemeanor or infraction.

  • Whether or not you, the licensee, were formally charged for the violation by the prosecutor, as opposed to being apprehended or cited for the offense, there were no formal charges. When you were only arrested or cited, but there was insufficient evidence to charge you with a crime, you can easily avoid disciplinary action with the guidance of a licensing lawyer.

  • The offense’s nature and whether it is a crime enabling moral turpitude. By moral turpitude, it means your actions during the crime were vile, reckless, or morally inappropriate. A simple breach of regulations does not amount to moral turpitude, although the violation can still attract disciplinary action.

  • Your business or professional license and the licensing board that issues it. Some agencies are more strict than others. For example, as a medical license holder, you risk license suspension for a felony offense even before the charge has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

  • The reporting conditions of your professional license include self-reporting, annual reporting, or when you have been cited or arrested.

  • The duration for which you have held a valid license without disciplinary action

  • Whether you have undergone any rehabilitation efforts after the charges for the underlying crime

  • Your status during the current charges, like whether you were on probation or parole, and the duration of practice before the disciplinary action.

  • How your criminal case was dissolved, if it has already been dissolved, can be dissolved when you plead guilty to the alleged charges, are found not guilty in a trial, or are found guilty. Alternatively, the prosecutor can lower your charges to a lesser offense for lenient penalties, or you can obtain a sentence reduction after presenting compelling mitigating circumstances. Also, the charges can be dropped due to insufficient evidence or offered a diversion sentence. How the case is resolved will impact the negative effects of your license.

Licensing boards consider these factors when determining the disciplinary action against you, if any. However, you should know that some agencies will be harsher on you than others.

For instance, when you are a medical practitioner like a doctor, pharmacist, nurse, or psychiatrist, you will obtain an interim license suspension for any felony arrest or count like sexual abuse on a patient. When you receive an interim suspension from an administrative law judge, you should contact your attorney immediately. License attorneys understand the criminal defense and will conduct a thorough and independent investigation of the accusation, collect evidence, and challenge the interim suspension injunction to allow you to continue practicing while awaiting the case’s conclusion.

Even if the arrest is for a misdemeanor, the agency will find a way to interfere with your capacity to practice.

Notification and Reporting Requirements

Various professions have varying reporting conditions after an arrest or charge for a crime. As a licensee, regardless of occupation, you should self-report all criminal accusations, formal counts, or guilty verdicts to your licensing body. The reporting duration varies, with some agencies requiring quarterly reports and others requiring annual reports.

If you are still getting familiar with these reporting requirements, talk to your professional or business licensing agency to understand the conditions and timelines. Your attorney can check these reporting terms for you.

Apart from self-reporting, your licensing body can learn of a guilty verdict for a criminal offense from the justice department’s criminal records. The DOJ keeps criminal records of convictions and arrests or citations. Therefore, when your agency discovers you have been apprehended or cited for contravening the law, they will notify you in writing of your obligation to divulge all relevant information regarding the citation, arrest, or conviction.

Sometimes, the DOJ tries to inform the licensing agency of a formal charge, arrest, or conviction. So, even if you do not report, the board will still learn of the record, and you risk harsher disciplinary action for failure to report.

However, as much as you should cooperate with the agency and disclose details of an arrest, criminal count, or conviction, you should be careful not to divulge information that could be self-incriminating. Any statement you make to the board investigators could be used against you, so any reporting should be done with the help of a license defense lawyer or an administrative proceeding attorney to avoid making self-implicating statements that could be used against you in the administrative proceeding.

Disciplinary Action by the Agency

Depending on your case's circumstances, the licensing agency reacts to your arrest, formal charge, or conviction. They could wait for the criminal charges' conclusion or deem the crime unsubstantially related to your license. Other times, the accusations against you could be unsubstantiated, meaning no administrative proceeding will commence regarding your case.

Nevertheless, when the agency takes disciplinary action for the crime, you risk multiple possibilities, including:

  • A private censure is a warning letter issued privately to discourage the same conduct in the future. Usually, the board's accusations are made public through publication on the agency’s website. Therefore, being censured privately is a lenient punishment because your client will not know about it, protecting your reputation.

  • Alternatively, the board could issue a citation publicly or impose a fine, significantly denting your reputation. Many of your past, current, and prospective clients will leave your practice because they no longer believe you can uphold the standards or ethics required in your field or expertise.

  • The agency could also revoke or suspend your professional license, barring you from continued practice. Suspension means your license has been temporarily withdrawn and will be reinstated after a given period, while revocation means the permit withdrawal is indefinite. You have invested time and resources to obtain your practicing license. Therefore, losing your source of livelihood and biggest life investment is the most devastating punishment you can face for a crime. Thankfully, an attorney can protect your license by preventing a suspension or revocation. However, even if the license is suspended, the legal representative can help you reinstate it after the suspension period has lapsed by preparing all the necessary paperwork and attending relevant proceedings.

  • The board could again allow you to continue practicing while on probation or under supervision. License probation means that the board's suspension will be stayed, although after you have served part of the license probation duration imposed. If you adhere to the probationary terms of your license over the probationary period, the licensing agency will impose your license with no conditions.

Protecting Your License During a Criminal Charge

Navigating the possible consequences for your license after a criminal charge, arrest, or conviction requires experienced legal guidance. An experienced attorney knows how license agencies determine whether a criminal charge or conviction is substantially related to your occupation and understand the best defense strategies to prevent disciplinary action.

Also, we can intervene early in the case after an arrest to prevent the filing of formal charges by pre-filing a litigating letter to the prosecutor, seeking a diversion program, or negotiating for a charge reduction whose conviction will not adversely impact your license status.

When defending your accusations in the administrative hearing, our attorneys will argue that a citation, infraction, or misdemeanor does not interfere with your capacity to uphold professional standards or perform your obligations.

You should know that even if the court finds you guilty of a crime substantially related to your profession or you enter a guilty plea to the charges, you will still retain your right to an administrative proceeding. However, in some professions, like medicine, a charge without conviction can trigger an administrative proceeding.

An early intervention by your attorney to have the case dropped or negotiate with the licensing agency can prevent an administrative proceeding. However, when this is impossible, you must attend the administrative proceeding to clear your name or obtain lenient disciplinary action by presenting mitigating circumstances.

Mitigating circumstances that can convert a suspension to a license probation include:

  • Arguing that you did not intend to harm your patient or client

  • Asserting that you have never been convicted or faced disciplinary action in the past

  • Claiming that you cooperated with the board investigators

  • Providing evidence that you have engaged in rehabilitation or paid victim restitution before. However, you must be careful when doing this before entering a guilty plea because it could be construed as implied admission to the criminal accusations and could result in a wrongful conviction.

  • Claiming that you self-reported the matter early without the licensing agency’s intervention

Also, there are additional tactics your attorney can use to protect your license, including:

  • Delaying reporting the charges to the board until you can negotiate a favorable plea deal with the prosecutor

  • Negotiate a deferred entry of judgment or a diversion program when a guilty verdict is imminent. In these situations, you will be sentenced to probation, which will help you avoid a jail sentence and allow you to continue practicing.

  • Negotiating a short probationary period to ensure the license probation is as short as possible and that you can resume practice upon the lapse of the duration.

Expunging Criminal Convictions

When you have already been convicted and lost your professional license, your attorney can petition for an expungement, which, when granted, will clear your criminal record, the crime will be pardoned, and you can successfully apply for license reinstatement. However, not all crimes can be expunged, so you must discuss your case with an experienced attorney.

Find a Competent Licensing Attorney Near Me

When you face a criminal arrest or formal charge in California, your profession, business, or occupation license is on the line. The San Francisco License Attorney provides legal guidance and can help prevent the crime from adversely impacting your license status. Contact us at 415-919-6594 to discuss your case.