One of the great things about being a law Librarian in a law library is that I have access to THOUSANDS (that’s right, thousands) of legal resources to browse through.  Picture it: there’s everything from Animal Law to Zoning; Dog Law to Neighbor Law; Golf Law, Baseball Law, Equestrian Law, and Online Gaming Law.  Then, just the other day I was looking through our CEB collection and found one resource that was particularly interesting:  Professional Licensing: Disciplinary Practice in California.

To be honest, on first glance I thought this was a book about how to disbar an attorney.  Turns out, it covers darn near every professional license except attorneys in California like:

• Physician, Osteropath, Podiatrist and Physician Assistant in Chapter 9
• Psychologist & Other Mental Heath Care licenses in Chapter 10
• Dentistry, Chiropractor, Pharmacy in Chapter 11
• Other Health Care Professional Licenses in Chapter 12
• Contractor, Pest Control Operator in Chapter 13
• Accountant, Architect, Engineer, Geologist, Geophysicist, Land Surveyor in Chapter 14
• Automotive Repair, Smog Check Stations, Investigators, Security-related professions in Chapter 15
• Barbering, Electronic & Appliance Repair, Cemetery,& Funeral, Court Reporter in Chapter 16

In fact, in Chapter 1, it covers the type of licensing actions and the overview of the general license discipline process.  Chapter 3 deals with Criminal Convictions (not how to get them but how a person who is being reviewed might deal with the fact that in their past life they had a criminal conviction and how it might impact their license).

By the time you get through Chapter 5 (Other Common Grounds for Discipline), you’re feeling pretty beat up thinking there is no hope for your future.  Then you hit Chapter 6 (Common Defenses) and you get a second wind.  Chapter 6 covers limitation of actions and laches, defenses related to Jurisdiction and Authority like

• Subject Matter Jurisdiction and Personal Jurisdiction
• Constitutional challenges to codes related to agencies
• Regulations beyond agency authority

Defenses derived from criminal law such as

• Entrapment,
• Warrantless searches, and
• 5th Amendment privilege against self-incrimination,

defenses derived from Federal civil law like

• Bankruptcy and
• the Americans with Disabilities Act

and Defenses derived from California Civil Law like

• Equitable Estoppel
• Licensee responsibility
• Res Judicata and Collateral Estoppel

There is only one volume to this resource but it is packed tight with information.  A pretty good read if an agency has you in their sights or if you just want to bone up on agency disciplinary procedure.  Either way, Professional Licensing: Disciplinary Practice in California is on our shelves waiting for you when you need it/us.  Oh, and you have a great rest of the day!