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Defending Against Disciplinary Action

Disciplinary Action Defense Attorney in ChicagoIn addition to issuing licenses to qualified professionals, both the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) and the Illinois Department of Insurance (DOI) monitor licensed professionals to ensure that the standards required to obtain their licenses are maintained in practice.

The Disciplinary Process

Should the IDFPR or DOI investigate a complaint made toward a licensee, a prosecution division may take one of two different options — either an informal hearing or a formal evidentiary hearing. In an informal hearing, the licensee is given a chance to present his or her side of the story and learn what evidence has been found about the situation in the complaint. The licensee and the prosecution can also work together to determine the type of disciplinary measure that will be taken against the licensee, if any.

Mr. Zimmerman has negotiated resolutions with the IDFPR with no disciplinary action imposed against the licensee. Contact us by e-mail or call 1-877-440-0020 to schedule a free initial consultation.

If the prosecution decides that the nature of a case warrants action more serious than an informal hearing, then a formal evidentiary hearing will take place. The formal process is governed by the IDFPR’s and DOI’s procedural rules, as well as specific rules and adjudicatory actions found in the Administrative Code and each professional and occupational licensing act. The procedural rules and statutes ensure that the hearing proceeds with fairness and follows due process. At the Zimmerman Law Offices, P.C., our attorneys have a thorough understanding of these statutes and rules and will prepare you for the process.

As the formal hearing proceeds, both sides are given a chance to present their positions, defenses and any mitigating factors. The formal hearing includes the licensee with his or her counsel, an Administrative Law Judge, a board or committee member and an IDFPR or DOI prosecutor. Additionally, the hearing will include testimony from the licensed professional (the Respondent), as well as other witnesses and experts on behalf of both sides. Being an administrative proceeding, the hearing is open to the public.

At the end of a formal hearing or informal conference, disciplinary action such as reprimand, suspension, revocation, probation and/or fines, or nondisciplinary actions including remedial continuing education, referral to treatment and/or an administrative warning may be taken.

Protecting Clients From Disciplinary Sanctions

To protect your license, it is strongly advised that you retain the services of a qualified and knowledgeable attorney to represent you and your professional status every step of the way. An attorney who understands the workings of the IDFPR and DOI is crucial, as he or she can help ensure that your investigation and/or hearing follows correct protocol and is fair and accurate.

Thomas A. Zimmerman is an experienced attorney who has successfully persuaded the prosecuting attorney and the Board to either reconsider the case altogether or significantly lessen the discipline. Mr. Zimmerman also has a record of success at the trial of formal disciplinary hearings. Contact Zimmerman Law Offices, P.C., for a free initial consultation, representing clients statewide.

Zimmerman Law Offices has also represented a wide range of professionals facing a variety of legal allegations such as:

Appraisal Management Corporation:

improper appraisal assignments, failure to have written comprehensive payment policy

Architect:

alcohol dependence

Auctioneer:

exceeded scope of practice, assessing improper fees

Beauty Shop Owner:

employing unlicensed cosmetologist

Chiropractor:

exceeding patient boundaries, inadequate patient records, practicing on animals

Clinical Laboratory:

CLIA condition-level deficiencies, sanctions imposed against the lab and its director

Clinical Professional Counselor:

abuse finding on health care worker registry, misrepresentations on license application, criminal convictions, insufficient education

Clinical Psychologist:

public disclosure of patient records

Clinical Social Worker:

unlicensed practice, filing a false report

Collection Agency:

unlicensed debt collection

Commercial Driver Training School:

failure to maintain student instruction records, failure to have qualified instructors, deficient course instruction

Community Association Manager:

withholding association documents, criminal convictions

Cosmetologist:

performing unlicensed barber activity

Cosmetology School:

loss of accreditation

CPA:

exceeding the scope of practice

Daycare Facility:

owner’s criminal convictions

Dentist:

patient abandonment, fraudulent billing, sanitation deficiencies, continuing education, substance abuse, inadequate controlled substances logs

Dietician:

unlicensed practice

EMT:

improper use of supplies for self-treatment

Energy Broker:

managerial and technical licensing requirements

Esthetician:

unlicensed activity prior to licensure, improper delegation of duties, improper charting, patient care issues, misrepresentations on license application

Funeral Director and Embalmer:

termination for posting inappropriate photos

Home Inspector:

inadequate home inspection, continuing education

Insurance Agency:

embezzling premium trust money, DOI audit of records, failure to remit premiums

Insurance Producer:

altering documents, criminal convictions, fraudulent claims

Locksmith Agency:

false advertising, failure to supervise, improper billing

Massage Therapist:

improper touching of patient, fraudulent application

Nurse:

dispense wrong medication, criminal convictions, failure to supervise, diverting controlled substances, failure to report termination, exceeding scope of practice, disclosing confidential patient information, improper delegation of duties, improper charting, patient care issues, misrepresentations on license application

Optometrist:

unlicensed practice, continuing education

Pedorthist:

making supportive orthotic devices without authority

Pharmacist:

improper filling of prescriptions, diverting controlled substances, forging prescriptions

Pharmacy:

quality control deficiencies

Pharmacy Technician:

diverting controlled substances, fraudulent prescriptions

Physician:

professional misconduct, overprescribing controlled substances, termination of clinical privileges, substandard care, exceeding patient boundaries, substance abuse, inadequate medical records, homicide, diverting controlled substances, importing unregulated prescriptions

Physician Assistant:

diverting controlled substances, failure to diagnose

Private Security Contractor:

criminal convictions

Professional Design Firm:

exceeded scope of allowed engineering services

Professional Engineer:

inadequate experience

Real Estate Appraiser:

generating misleading appraisal, USPAP violations, generating fraudulent appraisal, continuing education, unlicensed appraisal

Real Estate Broker:

aiding the unlicensed practice, continuing education, failing to disclose licensed status, failing to provide documents, commingling escrow money

Real Estate Broker Corporation:

failing to return earnest money, IDFPR audit of records, aiding the unlicensed practice, improper advertising, operating without a managing broker, charging improper fees

Real Estate Managing Broker:

improper record keeping, failure to supervise, continuing education

Roofer:

criminal convictions, inadequate work, operating beyond the scope of license

Veterinarian:

improper patient care, inadequate records

Department of Financial
and Professional
Regulation

To effectively carry out its various activities, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) is comprised of four divisions. The IDFPR licenses over one million professionals in approximately 100 different industries. The IDFPR protects the public by ensuring licensed professionals are adequately tested and qualified for their professions through enforcing and maintaining rigorous standards. The IDFPR regulates the following professions:

Beauty & Barber Learn More → Dental Learn More → Engineering Learn More → Home Inspection Learn More → Medical Learn More → Nursing Learn More → Pharmacy Learn More → Psychology & Social Work Learn More → Real Estate Learn More → Roofing Learn More → Security & Locksmiths Learn More → Other Professions Learn More →

We have successfully represented over 1,000
licensed professionals in dozens
of different professions.

Medical Practice Act Section Declared Unconstitutional

We convinced the circuit court to declare a provision of the Illinois Medical Practice Act unconstitutional because it prohibited courts from staying the enforcement of disciplinary sanctions imposed on physicians until a final resolution of the administrative review proceeding.

Seminal Decision Overturning Clinical Lab Director Sanction

We obtained the first decision in the nation that ruled a sanction imposed against a lab applies only to the person who directed the lab at the time of the infractions, and it does not apply to any former or subsequent lab director.

First Russian Pharmacy School Graduate Licensed in Illinois

We appealed the IDFPR’s denial of an application for licensure as a pharmacist to the circuit court and won. This was the first time that a graduate of a Russian pharmacy school was issued a pharmacist license in Illinois.

Expanded the Scope of Professional Design Firm Licensure

We obtained a variance from the IDFPR to allow a company with a professional design firm registration to provide structural engineering services in Illinois.

Results

Nurse Dispensed Wrong Medication to Discharged Patient

The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) accused a registered nurse of dispensing the wrong medication to a patient. The patient had been discharged, and his family members came back to the hospital to pick up his medication. The nurse looked in the medication cart, and she found the medication with the patient’s name on it and gave it to the family. Although the hospital terminated the nurse’s employment, we argued that the nurse did not breach the Code of Ethics due to the fact that this was not her patient, she did not have access to the patient’s medical chart, she was unaware that the prescription had been discontinued, and she dispensed the medication only because it was on the medication cart with the patient’s name on it waiting to be picked up. The IDFPR closed its investigation with no disciplinary taken against the nurse.

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