Los Angeles Legal Blog

When you are a medical provider, the threat of losing your license can loom large in your mind. It's hard not to wonder whether the mistakes you make -- at work or in your private life -- will come back to haunt you.

One of the best ways to keep your professional license safe is to know what sort of things will put it in danger in the first place. Every year, medical professionals lose their ability to practice for the following reasons:

• Addiction: If you have a drug or alcohol problem, you need to get into a recovery program and get clean. Your addiction can affect your judgment, and that puts patients in danger.
• Defaulted loans: While it seems counter-productive to take someone's license to practice medicine if they default on their student loans, that's exactly what can happen. If you're having trouble paying your loans, work with the lender to get them deferred so that you don't put your license in danger.
• Insurance fraud or misrepresentation: Billing codes matter. Maintaining a standard fee schedule for both your insured and uninsured patients is important. Accurate record and chart keeping is critical. Mistakes in any of these areas can cost your license and expose you to criminal liability as well.
• Boundary violations: You have to maintain a professional relationship with your patients. Getting involved romantically with a patient is always forbidden.
• Poor ethics: What you do in your private life will reflect on your professional life. Drinking and driving, charges of financial fraud, a violent fight with an intimate partner and other questionable behavior can absolutely endanger your career.

Whether you practice here in California or in some other state, you must follow certain rules as an attorney. When you fail to do so, you could end up under fire and facing disciplinary action.

Even though you had to learn those rules at some point, that does not mean that mistakes aren't made. Sometimes, lawyers forget the rules and don't realize they may have crossed the line. In other cases, the allegations simply aren't true. Regardless, it might be a good idea to review what the American Bar Association lists as misconduct.

Michael Avenatti, the attorney famous for representing Stormy Daniels, has survived a challenge to his legal license over supposedly unethical and fraudulent behavior. The California Bar has finished its investigation and determined that no further action is warranted.

The investigation began due to a complaint from another attorney. That attorney represents a variety of creditors who have claims against Tully's, a now-defunct coffee chain out of Seattle. Avenatti once ran the parent company under which the coffee stores operated. The attorney who filed the complaint alleged that Avenatti stole tax money from employee paychecks and took an illegal transfer from the business to pay for his law firm's bankruptcy.

One of the biggest nightmares a physician can face is allegations of inappropriate contact with a patient. Even the accusation, if it becomes widely known, can be enough to damage your personal and professional reputation for years to come.

So, how do you protect yourself from such accusations?