Practice Overview

Our attorneys represent various professionals, firms, and businesses in licensing, disciplinary, and related matters before numerous North Carolina professional and occupational licensing boards or agencies, including:

We assist clients at various stages of such proceedings, including responding to complaints, attending informal conferences, interviews and hearings, defending formal disciplinary proceedings, and appealing license revocations and other disciplinary actions.  Representation may also include pursuing remedies under the Administrative Procedures Act or collateral challenges in both state and federal courts. See About the Disciplinary Process

The firm’s professional clients include attorneys, judges, physicians, physician assistants, pharmacists, chiropractors, other medical professionals, real estate brokers and appraisers, mortgage brokers, certified public accountants, engineers, land surveyors, licensed clinical social workers, licensed professional counselors, substance-abuse professionals, insurance agents and bail bondsmen, general contractors, home inspectors, among others.  In addition to those already licensed, we also represent clients obtaining professional licenses, seeking reinstatement of such licenses, seeking reciprocity or comity, and defending charges of unauthorized practice without a license.

The firm also assists professional clients in other related areas including:

  • Providing prospective ethics counseling to professionals
  • Acting as an expert witness in matters related to professional services
  • Assisting in law firm and other professional disputes, breakups, or dissolutions
  • Drafting private ethics decisions or opinion letters
  • Providing professional employment and other contracts or agreements to professional firms
  • Handling other administrative law matters and some related litigation in both state and federal courts

Although the majority of the practice involves representing individuals and firms, we have represented and advised a number of professional licensing boards and agencies, such as the North Carolina Board of Dental Examiners and the State Bar, in select matters. For example, in 2007 Doug Brocker was retained as special prosecutor in the disciplinary case against Michael Nifong, the former Durham County District Attorney who handled the Duke Lacrosse case. To read a copy of the final order of disbarment in the Nifong case, click here.

In another high profile case garnering significant local, national and international media attention, Mr. Brocker prosecuted disciplinary charges against a dentist from Mecklenburg County in 2004 for bizarre sexual assaults on his patients. He also defended the Dental Board in a federal lawsuit on a first amendment challenge concerning the use of silver amalgam fillings.

We also have served as counsel to other professional organizations.  For example, Doug Brocker  previously served from 2003 through 2009 as counsel to the North Carolina Caring Dental Professionals Program (CDP). CDP is an impaired professionals program for dentists and dental hygienists. Additionally, Doug was previously a hearing officer for the North Carolina Board of Dental Examiners.

We are dedicated to providing quality legal services and helping clients meet their legal needs in a cost-effective way.  Typically, professional clients are given the choice of two types of fees: (1) an hourly-based fee at competitive rates, or (2) whenever practical, a fixed fee for clients who want to know at the outset what the representation will cost.

Learn more about our attorneys.