Case library / What happens after discipline
Four ways to violate probation, and one of them is not paying
In short
License revoked
$4,530Including failure to pay the cost recovery from the original order.
One of the four ways to violate probation is simply not paying the bill from the first order.
What happened
The original discipline rested on a conviction under §4982(a), a dishonest act under §4982(j) — concealing damage to a rental car with body filler — and §4982(e) with 16 CCR §1845 for never answering a Board inquiry.
The petition to revoke probation alleged four separate failures: not completing the ordered psychological evaluation; not obeying all laws; not submitting quarterly reports; and not paying the cost recovery.
On the obey-all-laws condition, police responded to his office, where he was screaming. He had been living in the office, had confronted his landlord with an axe, and refused officers' orders.
What it was charged as
Failure to complete the ordered psychological evaluation.
Failure to obey all laws.
Failure to submit quarterly reports.
Failure to pay cost recovery.
The outcome
License revoked.
OAH No. 2020120643
$4,530ordered in cost recovery under B&P §125.3What the rule actually says
Cost recovery is a probation condition, which means not paying it is a violation of probation and an independent ground to revoke. B&P §125.3 lets an administrative law judge order a licensee to pay the reasonable costs of investigating and enforcing the case, including the Attorney General's charges. The judge may reduce or eliminate the amount but cannot increase it beyond the certified cost statement.
Discussion
Analysis, not part of the decision
The petition to revoke probation alleged four failures: not completing the ordered psychological evaluation, not obeying all laws, not submitting quarterly reports, and not paying the cost recovery. Only the second of those involves anything anyone would recognize as misconduct. The other three are administrative, and any one of them is enough.
Cost recovery is a probation condition. That single structural fact changes what it is: not a debt that can be carried and negotiated in the ordinary way, but an obligation whose breach is independent grounds to revoke the license. Section 125.3 lets the administrative law judge order the reasonable costs of investigation and enforcement including the Attorney General's charges; the judge may reduce or eliminate the amount but cannot increase it beyond the certified cost statement.
The obey-all-laws condition is what it sounds like. Police responded to his office, where he was screaming; he had been living there, had confronted his landlord with an axe, and refused officers' orders. The condition converts conduct that might otherwise never reach the Board into a probation violation immediately.
Where insurance reaches, and where it does not
Cost recovery is not a defense cost and no sublimit pays it. This is the number to plan for: in this dataset it runs from $882 for a single settled DUI to $15,883 for a contested sexual misconduct case, and it is separate from your own lawyer.
What would have changed it
- If you cannot pay the cost recovery, negotiate a payment schedule into the order at the settlement stage. It is far easier than responding to a petition to revoke.
- File the quarterly reports even in quarters where nothing happened. Missing them is the most common single probation violation in the data.
Questions
For a law and ethics seminar, or for yourself
- Read the fifteen standard probation conditions. Which three would be hardest for a solo practitioner to satisfy, and why?
- Cost recovery is a condition rather than a debt. What practical difference does that make to someone who cannot pay?
- Should inability to pay be a defense to this kind of violation? Argue it.
Source. This write-up is drawn from the signed public decision in the case number above. Names, cities and employers have been removed — why. To pull the original, open the Board's quarterly newsletter archive, find the issue covering December 19, 2024, and match the case number in the Formal Disciplinary Actions section. Not legal advice.
