To Sign or Not to Sign: When A Consent Agreement Makes Sense, and When it Doesn’t

You might go your whole career without your licensing board asking you to sign a consent agreement. On the other hand, you might not. If a consent agreement is headed your way, you’ve got a decision to make: do you agree to its terms and sign, or reject the proposal and go to administrative hearings instead?

If your board is offering you a consent agreement, it’s because the board believes it needs to take some kind of corrective action. In fact, licensing boards often prefer consent agreements to formal administrative hearings because they resolve issues faster and eliminate the uncertainty that hearings always entail. Accepting the agreement might be in your best interest — or it could impose unfair and undue hardship, or even ruin your career.

The consent agreement question is a difficult one, and the stakes are high. The Professional License Defense Team at the LLF National Law Firm can help you figure out your best move and protect what matters most. Call us at 888.535.3686 or send us a message online.

Whose Offered Consent Agreements?

Anyone who holds a professional license and is answerable to their state’s licensing board could, if there’s a complaint against them, be on the receiving end of a consent agreement:

• An RV dealer who doesn’t keep their surety bond up to date could be asked to consent to a probationary license period, regular financial reporting, and fines.
• A geologist who signs a report they didn’t actually prepare might be asked to agree to ethics training and temporary restrictions on sealing reports.
• An athletic trainer who clears a soccer player to return to the field after a suspected concussion might be asked to consent to probationary monitoring and continuing education in concussion management.
• These professionals could sign their agreements and follow through on their terms. But should they?

When to Say Yes, And When to Say No Way

Consent agreements are not an admission of guilt. Instead, they allow both parties — the professional license holder and their licensing board — to sidestep that question and get right to resolution. A licensee might want to sign their consent agreement if:

• They don’t want the hassle and expense of administrative hearings before their board.
• They think the board might rule against them in a hearing and impose harsher sanctions than those listed in the consent agreement.

Conversely, there are cases where a professional license holder might prefer to proceed with an administrative hearing. Refusing the consent agreement could be the right course when:

• The board’s evidence is weak and unlikely to stand up to scrutiny in a hearing.
• The language of the agreement includes admissions that could later be used against the license holder in a lawsuit or insurance dispute.
• The licensee has an obligation to report the agreement to their employer, insurer, or other states where they also hold a license.
• The terms of the agreement are too burdensome or harsh: an overly long probationary period, an expensive monitoring program, steep fines, limitations on the ability to practice.

Navigate Your Consent Agreement with the LLF National Law Firm

Everybody’s case is different, and there’s no universally right answer when it comes to signing a consent agreement. Call the LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team and let us help you with that decision. We know what a fair agreement should look like and when it’s in a license holder’s best interest to sign — or not. Send us a message online and tell us about your case, or call us directly at 888.535.3686.