I Don’t Understand A Document Called The Accusation (The Anatomy of An Accusation)

When you are facing discipline before a medical board of the Department of Consumer Affairs, you will be served with a document called the “accusation”. The accusation is a type of pleading that is drafted by the California Attorney General’s office. The accusation is supposed to give the respondent (the professional being accused of misconduct) notice concerning what misconduct the respondent is accused of, as well as what discipline is being sought.

Although every accusation is different, most accusations have a similar set of sections or parts. A general overview of the sections of parts of an accusation will be discussed below:

The first section of an accusation is entitled “Parties”. This section is largely a formality and simply lists an official with the Department of Consumer Affairs and the name of the respondent.

This section simply states the legal basis (which usually involves a section of the California Business and Professions Code) by which the Department of Consumer Affairs has authority to discipline the respondent.

This section deals with the specific statutory provisions (the law) that applies to the current accusation. The statutory provisions may be of a more general nature (providing authority, definitions, general guidance) or of a more specific nature (the specific law that respondent is accused of violating).

Similar to the statutory provision section, the regulatory provision section simply deals with the specific regulations that apply to the current accusation. In many accusations, this section will be combined with the statutory provisions section.

COST RECOVERY

This section deals with the legal authority by which the Department of Consumer affairs may recover the costs of the disciplinary hearings from the respondent. Often when a respondent is disciplined by the Department of Consumer affairs, part of the discipline will be to pay a monetary fine or fee. The authority to recover costs may also simply be listed in the section entitled “Prayer”.

This section is often omitted in simple cases but can be quite long in more complex cases. This section often lists what the Department of Consumer affairs believes are detailed facts showing justification to discipline the respondent. Sometimes this section can be pages long.

This section is broken down in various “causes”. These causes are similar to what are known as “causes of action” in civil lawsuits, or “counts” in criminal cases. Basically, a cause for discipline summarizes the facts and applies it to the specific law or regulation that the respondent is accused of violating. Whereas the factual allegations only recite facts, the causes for discipline applies those facts to the law.

The “prayer” lists what the Department of Consumer desires to happen by filing the accusation. Or to put it more simply, the prayer lists in what manner the Department of Consumer Affairs wants to discipline the respondent.

The disciplinary process occur can occur very quickly. You don’t want to lose your case because you didn’t act quickly.

You are already reading this as your desire information, but why browse endless web pages looking for answers? Get the answers now. Call 866-790-2242 now for your free consultation.

You are already reading this as you desire more information, but why browse endless web pages looking for answers? Get the answers now. Call 866-790-2242 now for your free consultation.

(c)Malakauskas Law, APC. Attorney Advertisement. This website shall not be construed as legal advice and is for informational purposes only. Each and every case is different and requires an attorney to examine the specific case in question to arrive at an adequate legal conclusion. Consult with your own personal attorney for more information on the subject matters.