If a California licensing board moves to deny, suspend, or revoke your license, California administrative hearings for professional licenses give you a right to contest that action, but only if you file a written Notice of Defense within 15 days of being served with the Accusation. Miss that window and the agency can take your license by default, without ever hearing your side.
The 15-Day Notice of Defense Deadline
A disciplinary case begins when the agency serves you with a charging document called an Accusation, along with a blank Notice of Defense form and copies of the statutes covering your discovery and prehearing conference rights.1California Legislative Information. California Government Code 11505 You have 15 days from the date of service to file your Notice of Defense with the agency. The clock starts when you are served, not when you open the envelope.2California Legislative Information. California Government Code 11506
Failing to file waives your right to a hearing. The agency can then enter a default and impose the discipline it asked for. The agency has discretion to grant a late hearing, but counting on that is a losing strategy.2California Legislative Information. California Government Code 11506 Send the Notice by certified mail with return receipt, or hand-deliver it and get a time-stamped copy. Either way, you want proof.
What the Notice Has to Say
The Notice of Defense is how you formally tell the agency you want a hearing. In it, you can request the hearing outright, object that the Accusation is too vague to defend against, admit some allegations while contesting others, and raise new matter in your defense. It must be in writing, signed by you or someone authorized on your behalf, and include your mailing address. The law does not require any particular format and does not require notarization.2California Legislative Information. California Government Code 11506
Building Your Case After You File
Once the Notice is in, start pulling together the professional records, correspondence, financial documents, and technical materials that respond to the specific allegations. The earlier that file comes together, the less scrambling you do later.
You also have formal discovery rights. After the proceeding begins, you can make a written request to the agency for the names and addresses of its witnesses, copies of witness statements, investigative reports, and the documents and evidence the agency plans to introduce.3California Legislative Information. California Government Code 11507-6 This is often where you get your first real look at the strength of the agency’s case. If the agency ignores or stonewalls your request, you can file a motion to compel with the assigned administrative law judge, who must hold a hearing on the motion within 15 days.4California Legislative Information. California Government Code 11507.7
Representing Yourself or Hiring Counsel
You can hire an attorney at any stage, but the state will not appoint one. The accusation materials themselves must tell you: “You are not entitled to the appointment of an attorney to represent you at public expense. You are entitled to represent yourself without legal counsel.”5California Legislative Information. California Government Code 11509 The other side will not be self-represented. The agency’s case is presented by a deputy from the state Attorney General’s office.
Settling Before the Hearing
Not every case reaches a hearing. A stipulated settlement is a negotiated agreement between you (or your attorney) and the Attorney General’s office that typically includes admissions to one or more violations and spells out the discipline you will accept.6California Board of Psychology. What Are Stipulated Settlements
Once both sides sign, the stipulation goes to the board for a vote. The board can adopt it, reject it, or offer a counterproposal. If you disagree with a counterproposal, you still have the right to request a formal hearing before an ALJ.6California Board of Psychology. What Are Stipulated Settlements The trade-off is real: settling avoids the expense and uncertainty of a hearing, but you give up further due process rights and appeals and are legally bound by whatever discipline the agreement contains.
How the Hearing Works
An administrative law judge from the Office of Administrative Hearings presides as a neutral decision-maker.7Department of General Services. General Jurisdiction The agency decides in advance whether the ALJ will hear the case alone or whether the board will sit with the judge. When the ALJ hears the case alone, the judge controls the proceeding. When the board sits with the ALJ, the judge rules on evidence and legal questions and the board exercises the rest.8California Legislative Information. California Government Code 11512
The hearing follows a structured sequence. Both sides give opening statements. The agency presents its case through exhibits and sworn witness testimony. Each side can call and examine witnesses, introduce exhibits, cross-examine the other side’s witnesses on any relevant topic, and rebut evidence against them.9California Legislative Information. California Government Code 11513 After the evidence closes, each side gives a closing argument and the ALJ takes the case under submission.
Evidence and Burden of Proof
Administrative hearings are less formal than civil trials. The ALJ can admit any relevant evidence that a reasonable person would rely on in a serious decision, even if a court would exclude it. Hearsay can come in to explain or supplement other evidence, but on timely objection it cannot by itself support a factual finding unless it would also be admissible in a civil trial.9California Legislative Information. California Government Code 11513
The agency carries the burden of proving the allegations. For most administrative actions, the standard is preponderance of the evidence. For actions seeking to revoke a license you already hold, California courts have historically treated that license as a vested property interest, which raises the stakes of how evidence is weighed and affects the standard a court uses on review.
The Proposed Decision and What the Board Does With It
When the ALJ hears the case alone, the judge prepares a proposed decision within 30 days after submission. It contains factual findings and legal conclusions, but it is a recommendation to the board, not the final word.10California Legislative Information. California Government Code 11517
The agency then has 100 days from receiving the proposed decision to act. If it does nothing within that window, the proposed decision is automatically adopted. During the 100 days the agency can:10California Legislative Information. California Government Code 11517
- Adopt the proposed decision as written.
- Reduce the recommended penalty while adopting the rest.
- Make minor technical or clarifying changes.
- Reject the decision and remand the case to the same ALJ (or another, if the original is unavailable) to take further evidence and prepare a revised proposed decision.
- Reject the decision and decide the case itself on the record, with or without additional evidence. If the board goes this route it must give both sides a chance to argue in writing or orally, and it must issue its final decision within 100 days of the rejection.
That last option catches people off guard. The board can reject an ALJ’s recommendation of a light penalty and impose something harsher, as long as it decides on the record and lets you be heard. Final authority rests with the agency, not with the judge who heard the testimony.
When the Decision Takes Effect
A final decision becomes effective 30 days after it is delivered or mailed to you, unless the agency orders an earlier effective date or orders reconsideration within that window. The decision may include a stay, sometimes conditioned on probationary terms you must follow in the meantime. Once the effective date passes, every term of the order binds you. Practicing on a revoked or suspended license can trigger separate criminal liability.
Reconsideration and Judicial Review
Asking the Agency to Reconsider
Before going to court, you can ask the agency itself to reconsider. The agency’s power to order reconsideration expires 30 days after the decision is delivered or mailed to you. The agency can grant a stay of up to 30 days to evaluate a petition, plus an additional 10 days if needed. If the agency takes no action within those deadlines, the petition is denied by operation of law.11California Legislative Information. California Government Code 11521 Reconsideration is not a second hearing. The agency reviews the record, though it may allow additional evidence and argument, and it can assign the matter to a different ALJ. Reconsideration is not required before going to court, but the court filing deadline is tied to it.
Going to Superior Court
You challenge a final agency decision by filing a petition for a writ of administrative mandamus in superior court. The petition must be filed within 30 days after the last day the agency could have ordered reconsideration. If you ask the agency to prepare the hearing record within 10 days of that reconsideration deadline, the filing window extends to 30 days after you receive the record.12California Legislative Information. California Government Code 11523
The standard of review depends on what the decision did. When the agency’s decision affects a fundamental vested right, such as revoking a license you already hold, the court exercises its own independent judgment and reweighs the record to decide whether the findings are supported by the weight of the evidence. When the decision does not affect a fundamental vested right, such as denying an initial license application, the court applies a deferential standard and asks only whether the findings are supported by substantial evidence in light of the whole record. The independent judgment standard gives you a meaningfully better chance of reversal, which is one reason revocation cases are treated differently from denials.
Continuances: The 10-Working-Day Trap
If something comes up and you need to postpone the hearing, you request a continuance from the assigned ALJ. You must apply within 10 working days of discovering the reason you need the delay. The ALJ grants continuances only for good cause. If your request is denied and you believe the denial was wrong, you have 10 working days to seek relief in superior court or you lose the right to challenge the denial.13California Legislative Information. California Government Code 11524 It is a quiet procedural trap that has wrecked otherwise strong cases.