Professional Licensing

When your professional reputation is at stake, you want experienced counsel to guide you through the review or investigation. Ward and Smith can help.

North Carolina requires more than 180 occupations and professions to have some type of license or permit to prove a minimum level of competency to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of the public.

These occupations are governed by laws and administrative rules. If you are the subject of an investigation or disciplinary action by an occupational licensing board or State agency, we understand that your reputation, livelihood, and client relationships are at stake in these situations. We help clients with these types of challenges every day.

Experience That Matters

At Ward and Smith, our attorneys routinely combine their practical experience, legal skills, and specific knowledge of a certain Board or agency to defend our clients against allegations of misconduct, ethics violations, and professional incompetence, including acting beyond the scope of an occupational license. We handle occupational license cases, throughout the state, in all stages, including applications to practice, investigations, disciplinary actions, and reinstatements. The nature of our representation ranges from administrative responses that are usually handled by responding to written requests to full trials in front of public boards.

We have experience defending a wide range of professionals in administrative hearings before numerous North Carolina professional licensing boards and agencies, including:

Construction and Real Estate

Financial Services

Healthcare

Legal and Government

- North Carolina Board of Elections & Ethics Enforcement
- North Carolina State Bar

Transportation and Travel

- North Carolina DMV
- North Carolina Department of Transportation

Other Regulatory Bodies

- North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission
- College and University Student Conduct Boards

When to Call

For people who have a North Carolina occupational license or professional license, an investigation or disciplinary action can have a significant influence on their standing. When facing the threat of rebuke, penalties, fines, probation, suspension, or even a lifetime ban, we strongly urge you to engage experienced legal counsel prior to responding to or appearing before your licensing board.