Defending Healthcare Practitioners Facing Legal Challenges With Richard West

December 11, 2024 | Written by Gladiator Law Marketing

Richard West is a Partner at Goodgold West Diaz Bennett & Klein, a law firm specializing in administrative law and litigation. With over 30 years of legal experience, Richard focuses on defending healthcare practitioners and other licensed professionals against disciplinary actions and advising businesses on New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act violations. He gained experience at the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, where he directed investigations and enforced regulatory compliance, shaping his expertise in licensing and professional discipline cases.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

[02:13] Why Richard West wanted to become an attorney
[03:39] Richard’s career path from law school to becoming a partner
[05:39] Defending healthcare practitioners facing legal challenges
[14:41] When to choose litigation instead of a settlement
[17:29] Key strategies Richard uses to win court cases
[19:28] Richard’s advice for professionals facing disciplinary actions from licensing boards
[21:17] Common misconceptions about disciplinary actions and legal proceedings
[27:57] Why it’s crucial for young attorneys to have a helpful mentor

In this episode…

When healthcare practitioners receive a disciplinary notice from their licensing board, it often feels like the end of the road. Panic sets in, questions pile up, and the future seems uncertain. But is every disciplinary action a career-ending event?

According to Richard West, a seasoned attorney specializing in professional discipline cases, disciplinary issues can be dealt with by slowing down and approaching the situation methodically. Licensing board actions don’t automatically signal the suspension of a professional’s license, but they do require a well-prepared response. Richard also sheds light on common misconceptions, such as the belief that personal matters, like DUI charges, won’t impact professional licensing. By addressing these misunderstandings head-on, he helps clients navigate a complex system to protect their careers.

In this episode of 15 Minutes, host Chad Franzen sits down with Richard West, Partner at Goodgold West Diaz Bennett & Klein, to discuss defending healthcare practitioners facing legal challenges. Richard shares insights into the licensing process, the importance of early resolution, and how empathy drives his approach to legal advocacy. He also talks about memorable cases, lessons learned, and the key advice he gives to professionals and aspiring attorneys.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Quotable Moments

“I always kind of enjoyed helping people. I saw lawyers as people who earned a living helping others out of situations.”
“There’s not a ton of lawyers who do this licensing work. It’s a little off the beaten track from doing criminal law or litigation.”
“Most boards don’t want to waste time on things they don’t have good evidence for; they’ve usually got a nice package.”
“You want the nurse that’s taking care of your family member to not have significant disciplinary issues.”
“Get yourself a mentor, someone who’s willing to share their experience with you. Listening to war stories is the best advice I ever got.”

Action Steps

Seek legal mentorship: Find a mentor in the legal field to guide you through your career, as learning from experienced professionals can provide invaluable insights and real-world knowledge.
Develop empathy and listening skills: This approach helps in building trust and delivering personalized legal solutions, which is essential in representing and defending clients effectively.
Understand the regulatory environment: This knowledge helps address the challenge of navigating bureaucratic systems and ensures you can effectively advocate for your clients.
Maintain professional composure: Practice patience and respect in all your interactions, especially when dealing with government officials or during frustrating situations.
Emphasize continuous learning and adaptation: Stay updated with legal trends and technological advancements, like using AI in law firm marketing, to keep your practice competitive.

Sponsor for this episode…

This episode is brought to you by Gladiator Law Marketing, where we deliver tailor-made services to help you accomplish your objectives and maximize your growth potential.

To have a successful marketing campaign and make sure you’re getting the best ROI, your firm needs to have a better website and better content. At Gladiator Law Marketing, we use artificial intelligence, machine learning, and decades of experience to outperform the competition.

To learn more, go to gladiatorlawmarketing.com or schedule a free marketing consultation. You can also send an email to ad**@gl*******************.com .

Episode Transcript

Intro 00:01

You’re listening to 15 Minutes, where we feature community leaders sharing what the rest of us should know, but likely don’t.

Chad Franzen 00:12

Hi, Chad Franzen here, one of the hosts of Share Your Voice, where we talk with top notch law firms and lawyers about what it takes to grow a successful law practice. This episode is brought to you by Gladiator Law Marketing, delivering tailor made services to help you accomplish your objectives and maximize your growth potential. To have a successful marketing campaign and make sure you’re getting the best ROI, your firm needs to have a better website and better content. Gladiator Law Marketing uses artificial intelligence, machine learning, and decades of experience to outperform the competition. To learn more, go to gladiatorlawmarketing.com where you can schedule a free marketing consultation. My guest today is Richard West, a partner at Goodgold West Diaz Bennett & Klein. With over 30 years of experience practicing law in New Jersey, Richard’s expertise lies in administrative law and litigation, particularly defending health care practitioners against disciplinary sanctions. He also advises businesses on New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act violations and provides counsel to various professional service firms. Richards’ strategic insights, gained from prior experience at the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, make him a sought after representative for clients facing legal actions under the Consumer Fraud Act. Richard, thanks so much for joining me today. How are you?

Richard West 01:20

I’m great. Chad, thanks for having me.

Chad Franzen 01:23

Hey, tell me how and when did you know you wanted to become an attorney?

Richard West 01:28

So my my father was an attorney for many years, and I went to college. I was a liberal arts major in college, political science and English, and most of my buddies at that time were all going to work on Wall Street. And I wasn’t particularly good at math. So I it was kind of either become a teacher or go to law school, Basically.

Chad Franzen 02:00

Okay. What what was it about? Maybe law school or the idea of becoming an attorney? Besides. Besides, just, you know, that’s an option. What was that? What was attractive about that to you?

Richard West 02:13

To me? You know, I always kind of enjoyed helping people. I saw that, and I. And I still like doing that today. I saw that, as, you know, I saw lawyers as as people who earned a living, you know, helping out other people, getting people out of situations. And, you know, it seemed like a pretty decent career path to me.

Chad Franzen 02:38

Sure. You went to law school? Kind of. Where did you go from there?

Richard West 02:42

So I went to law school at night, which is, you know, I went to night school, which is it puts an extra year on your on your law school time. And so I worked during the day as a paralegal for a couple different law firms and one corporation. At the end of my law school, I was working for a law firm in new Jersey, one of the bigger firms in new Jersey. And the some of the people there liked me. And I was fortunate enough to, you know, to get an offer as a, as a full time attorney so that that was the path. And, you know, the, the law firm that I worked for, you know, again, was a big firm, good reputation. So that kind of that kind of started my path the right way.

Chad Franzen 03:32

So you how did you become a partner then at Goodgold West Diaz & Bennett? How did that come about?

Richard West 03:39

So that that was a that’s a little bit of a longer path. So I finished law school in 1990 and worked for a couple of different firms. In about 1996, one of my law school classmates became the division director at the Division of Consumer Affairs in New Jersey. The Division of Consumer Affairs is part of the Attorney General’s Office. They enforce various laws, including the licensing stuff that I do now. I took a job. It wasn’t a lawyer job. It was more of like a management job. I directed investigations and so forth. I did that for I had a couple of different jobs there until about 2002. Then I went back into private practice. I opened my own practice at that time, and I did that for about 15 years. Then I went to work for a firm, work at a firm that was actually founded by people who had been at my first law firm. It was like a spin off. Got together with some guys that I knew. I did that for about five years, actually four years. And in 2021, I joined this current firm. It wasn’t called. It had another name at the time, a couple of partners retired, and about a year ago we changed the name to its current iteration of Goodgold West Diaz & Bennett. So that’s you know, that’s that’s the path moving around a little bit, you know, looking for different opportunities. And I end up here. So that’s that’s what I’m doing right now.

Chad Franzen 05:28

Yeah. Great. So have you always even when you did even when you had your own firm. Was this a lot on the same thing that you’re focused on now? You know, defending health care practitioners and things like that?

Richard West 05:39

Pretty much. So what happened was when I was at the Division of Consumer Affairs, I interacted with the attorneys who are called deputy attorneys general, who represent the the state in various things. And I became friendly with one of those attorneys. And, you know, we just became friends. And and when he knew that I was going to be leaving and I was leaving because although my job wasn’t a political job, my boss was leaving. So it was it wasn’t going to last forever. And I said, yeah, I’m going to go back into private practice. And he actually suggested to me, you should try to do this licensing work, because there’s not a ton of lawyers who do it. It’s a little bit off the beaten track from, you know, doing criminal law or doing litigation. There’s there’s elements of both. And so that’s what I did. I was, you know, trying to pick up work here, here and there. And eventually I started getting more of it. And I would say it’s probably close to, you know, maybe 70, 80% of the work that I do right now is just licensing work.

Chad Franzen 06:54

So what kind of what types of professionals do you primarily work with then?

Richard West 06:59

It’s mostly healthcare related. In in new Jersey, the Division of Consumer Affairs, that’s where most of the licensing boards are housed. So it’s you know, it could be anything from an accountant to a real estate appraiser to an electrician to a plumber. But most of the work that I do relates to medical professionals nurses, doctors, dentists, physical therapists, pharmacists. That’s where that’s where I get most of the calls from. I mean, there, there. I’ve represented just about all of them over the years. But the, the, the focus from an enforcement standpoint tends to be on the medical related things because, I mean, there’s no specific reason. But I think that these boards want to give the impression to the public that they are policing their licensees. That’s not to say that people want to have a bad electrician or an accountant, but when you think about your doctor, your nurse, they don’t want to ever be seen as being lax because they’re going to get complaints because people want. You want to send mom to a doctor that doesn’t have problems, or you want the nurse that’s taking care of your family member to not have significant disciplinary issues. So therefore, when people are calling me, it’s it’s usually going to be from a health related field.

Chad Franzen 08:34

So you defend them against disciplinary actions. Can you give us maybe an example of, of like a typical kind of case?

Richard West 08:43

Sure, sure. So there’s there’s a couple different flavors I guess is the way that I would describe it. One is related to the professional field. So for example, a I get a lot of calls from nurses who might get a letter in the mail from the Board of Nursing, and it would say, you know, dear Nurse Smith, you were recently terminated from your position at this hospital, and the hospital reported that you did certain things wrong. It might have been an interaction with a patient. It might have been an allegation that a record was falsified. There might have been an injury or death involved. And usually what happens is they. The board letter will contain a brief description of what was reported to them. And then they they ask for a response from the nurse, and I would work with the nurse to gather the facts as the nurse understands them and come up with a response. In addition to the response, they also asked for other what I call demographic information. Are you? Have you ever been disciplined before? Are you licensed in other states? Have you been convicted of a crime? Have you done your continuing education requirement? That sort of thing. And we put together a package, you know, and and then that package goes into the board of nursing. The board of nursing reviews the information that they’ve received from the the reporting, if it’s a hospital or a medical practice, and then they match it up with what we’ve said, and then we’re kind of in a waiting period. At that point, the board could decide to take no action, that they’ve accepted the information that we’ve provided. They might want to ask the the nurse questions under oath, like a deposition. They call them investigative inquiries in which we right now, we do them all on zoom. And I would appear with my client and answer questions under oath. And then after that, the board would usually contact me and say, hey, we think the nurse did x, Y, and Z wrong. We think we could discipline them. Here’s what we’re proposing. And if you don’t agree to that, we may file an action and an administrative action against the against the nurse. And then I get with the client. And kind of talk it through as to, you know, what their exposure is. Why a settlement even if it was a somewhat painful settlement. Why that settlement might be preferable to getting yourself into litigation. And and one of the considerations very often is cost. Because, you know, they’re they’re paying me a quicker resolution. Might might be better. The other thing is and this is where professionals can really get jammed up is if a board has to come and get it, meaning they want to litigate, they’re going to they’re going to fight about this. If they prevail at a hearing, they’re entitled to their attorney’s fees. So it could be a double hit. And if you don’t settle, they’re inclined to maybe make the punishment worse than, you know, there’s there’s usually a big incentive for me to, to try to resolve these, you know, with, with, without a full hearing, a, because of the costs and B, because it, you know, it could end up being worse than the initial settlement offer. So that’s, that’s a typical like a professional practice type situation. The other area that I see a lot of work is if a client is arrested or convicted of a crime, the very fact of a conviction could subject them to discipline. And what happens is, in new Jersey, I suspect in many other states, there’s something called a criminal flagging system where if you’re arrested in new Jersey, the board gets an electronic flag, basically saying one of your licensees was arrested for a charge, you know, and they, you know, the the criminal justice people say do with it what you will, but that usually results in is a letter that is sent to the client saying, hey, Nurse Smith, you were arrested for this charge. Very often those people are represented by criminal defense counsel. Those criminal, not all of them, but many of those people don’t want to do that because they they do their criminal thing and they suggest that you should, you know, retain somebody who knows a little bit about the licensing world. Over the last few years, some of my best sources of business have, in fact, been criminal lawyers who I’ve developed a relationship with. And, and they don’t want to touch it. And I know how to do it. And, you know, depending on what the crime is and what the result is, that can also subject, you know, so, for example, a felony conviction for something could result in a suspension or even a revocation of a license. So those are the those are kind of the two main areas that I see the most business in.

Chad Franzen 14:29

Okay. Have you has there ever been a time where especially with like a health care practitioner, you know, litigation is just the best option when it comes when it came right down to it? Or is it always like the nuclear.

Richard West 14:41

No, no, there are there are times I I’ll give you an example. I finished a case recently and it took forever. There was an allegation against a nurse who worked in a mental health facility, and there was a videotape which the Board of Nursing believed showing him shoving the guy was. And it’s a it’s a very short clip. And and this happened actually all the way back in 2015. And the client wasn’t my client until last year. The client had been trying to get answers and find out what was going on, and he couldn’t really get anywhere. They wouldn’t tell him what was going on. And I came in and I said, look, we we need to know what’s going on here. And they got back to me and they said, yeah, we think he abused and neglected this patient and we’ll be happy to settle the case. But we want to suspend his license for three years, and we want him to pay a fine. And I felt like I was looking at a different video and I said to the client, I said, I’m sorry. I like to settle cases, but the only way that this is going to get resolved is for a judge. And we ended up, you know, we ended said to the board, we we can’t agree. And we did a hearing and we ended up prevailing. I was very happy because now this gentleman can get on with his life. But yes. So there, there there are times I would say they’re more on the rare side because most boards, most boards don’t want to waste time on things that they don’t have good evidence for. Like they’ve usually got a nice package. And you know that that shows either because the client admitted something or there’s video or there’s documentation which tells me like, hey, look, it’s an uphill battle here. And you, you would be better off taking the pain now. Now, not every client wants to hear that, as you might expect. But you know it. Yeah, there there are some that will litigate. But it’s it’s it’s not it’s not usually going to be my first recommendation. Other lawyers might might take a different track on that. Like they think they can they can beat it. But it’s just my experience tells me they try to get the best result on the early side.

Chad Franzen 17:19

Yeah. Yeah, I could see that in that case that ended up going to trial and you ended up prevailing. You know, they had that evidence. They had that video evidence. What was the key to your success in that case?

Richard West 17:29

So the key to my success was that although he was interviewed by both the facility that he worked at and the the there were investigators for the Board of nursing. I don’t think that he ever really properly told his story. And the other thing for me was that it’s kind of hard to explain. The video was about maybe 8 or 9 minutes long of video in different rooms in this facility where this patient that that had was ill, had been walking around in different rooms, and the actual physical contact consisted of about four seconds. And so what what we had to do was really show the whole video to explain the context of, hey, what, what what was going on. This was, you know, this was a person who was a resident in a mental health facility, had issues. And what my client was able to explain, and ultimately, the administrative law judge believed him, was that the whole context was him trying to calm things down. And when there was contact, that contact was based on my client’s concern that the resident was actually there was a there was a radio in this day room of this facility. He was concerned that he might grab the radio and either injure himself or injure my client, or if there was anybody else in the room. So it was it was really just telling the story that that made the difference for, for for this case.

Chad Franzen 19:19

What advice would you give to professionals facing disciplinary actions from licensing boards, maybe before they’ve contacted an attorney?

Richard West 19:28

I well before they’ve contacted an attorney. Just be open minded about what’s going on here. Not necessarily hit the panic button. You know if if they’re if they’re not getting to the point where they’re contacting an attorney. I would say that they want to go over this with a trusted maybe a family member, their spouse or somebody and say, hey, you know, the Board of Nursing is they’ve written me this letter. And try to collect your thoughts about, you know, because chances are they’re going to remember the incident, right? They they may have put it to the back of their mind. And that’s the thing, a lot of times they get this letter like several months after something happened, right? They got fired from the hospital. They pick up another job. They think they’ve gotten on with their lives, and they get this letter and it’s like, you know, it comes via certified mail. So people are like freaking out about that. And also just to understand that you get a letter asking for information, it doesn’t mean that your license is suspended. It doesn’t mean that your life is any different from a professional standpoint today than it was before you got this letter, right? Just to sort of, like, slow down, let’s figure it out. And then really, the most important thing is to try to remember. And usually I recommend that you either write yourself an email or write yourself some notes. Hey, what do you remember about that shift? What are you, you know, like, who else might remember things like that’s sort of like the pre litigation planning just to just to slow things down.

Chad Franzen 21:10

Are there any common misconceptions that clients have about discipline, disciplinary actions and legal proceedings?

Richard West 21:17

Well, one of the one of them is what I just referred to is people. People very often ask me, can I go to work tomorrow? Yes. By all means, look up your license. You’ll see it’s active. There’s no issue. The other misconception, and we see this more in the non-professional inquiry. So a criminal action And I deal with a lot of people who are alleged to have impairment issues, you know, with alcohol or drugs. And so there’s a misconception like, like in the example of alcohol or drugs. Somebody will say to me, but I never drink at work. I never do drugs at work. And they were maybe arrested for a DUI or arrested for possession of narcotics. And they say that doesn’t have anything to do with my work world. And what I usually have to explain to them is, number one, the law allows a board to at least make an inquiry to determine whether you’re fit to practice. And number two, and it’s more of a common sense thing, like, you know, like, well, why should they trust you? You know, like, so. So in other words, when when I deal with impairment cases, what boards are usually looking for is that the practitioner Petitioner can demonstrate, usually by seeing an alcohol or drug counselor, that you know that they don’t have an issue, but you know so or with non impairment cases like in criminal charges, like if you were arrested for let’s say you were arrested for domestic violence and charged with simple assault. And that does happen. It happens to non-medical professionals. It happens to lawyers. You know you and they say that has nothing to do with work. I’ve never been violent with a patient. I’ve never had an incident with another employee. And it’s kind of the same analysis like, well, how do we know? You know, because the board, whether it’s the board of medical examiners, whether it’s dentists, whether it’s nurses, you know, somebody arrested for domestic violence, they can’t unlearn what they know, right? They need something to show. And very often it’s just usually if the case was dismissed, we’re giving them proof that the case was dismissed. Sometimes as part of that, there may be a court ordered requirement that you take anger management courses or something like that. And we would say, you know, we would say there has never been an overlap with work. And PS he or she did anger management courses. He has no history of violence. So it’s that it’s that clients want to isolate their work life from anything that’s going outside. And and that can sometimes lead to a misconception. And, you know, like, why are they asking me about this? And I have to explain, you know, the short answer is because they can. But, you know, you want to you want to make the you know, you want you look, you’re doing a job for a client. You want the client to know that you’re protecting them, but you have to give them the background because boards, at least in new Jersey, are very sensitive to the idea that they are protecting the public. That is part of their job. If you’re an appointed board member, your job is to make sure that all of these licensees are upstanding citizens and so forth. And the last thing that a board wants is to read something about one of their licensees in the newspaper, especially if they knew about something. Right. So, in other words, if they had a record of an arrest, you know, for, for, you know, there was a case I had a few years ago where a young doctor was basically on the front page of a pretty major newspaper for a cocaine arrest. And, you know, like you’re if a doctor gets in the newspaper, chances are they’re calling the governor’s office, they’re calling the attorney general. And so the board can’t just sit there and say, oh, you promised you won’t do it again. You know, like it’s not enough. They’ve got to do their due diligence.

Chad Franzen 25:39

Yeah, yeah. What would you say? You know, you have all kinds of experience. You’re the first attorney that I’ve spoken to that kind of has this this specialty. What would you say sets your approach to legal representation apart from other attorneys in your field?

Richard West 25:54

I don’t know that it sets me apart, but I, I, I’m a very good listener. I love to put myself in their shoes. You know, I have a lot of empathy for people who I mean most. And I say this a lot about nurses because just based on the number of licensees, I get more nurses than any other license category. These are, by and large, people who just want to feed their families. They you know, a lot of my clients are people of color. A lot of them are immigrants from the Caribbean and Africa. They’re climbing up the healthcare ladder. And I really, I really do feel their pain. And a lot of times, especially people who either English isn’t their first language or, you know, they’re they’re relatively new to the country. A lot of this is bewildering to them. They just think, hey, I paid, I paid my money, I went to school and, you know, so. I don’t know whether it’s a personal touch, but I kind of get into it that way. So I would say that that does set me apart.

Chad Franzen 27:07

Yeah. Yeah, I would imagine. Hey, I have one more question for you. But first just tell me how people can find out more about your firm GWD aw.

Richard West 27:17

Yeah, just that’s the website. gwd-law. I’ve taken a stab. I’ve. I’ve got a few videos on TikTok as well. Just getting that process started. I’m very easy to reach usually by the, you know, by the email, by the website. And anybody can always get a hold of me.

Chad Franzen 27:39

Last question for you. If you know somebody 30 years younger came to you and said, I’ve, I think I’m, I’m, I’m an attorney is what I want to be. And there were maybe just graduating from law school or going to law school. What would you tell them with some key advice that they would never learn in law school?

Richard West 27:57

I think I think to me, the biggest thing I learned from other people and is get yourself a mentor, get yourself, you know, whether it’s the more senior partner or you know, somebody who’s willing to share their experience with you. And and I don’t mean just like, you know, oh, go look up this case. Just talking. To me, listening to war stories is the best advice I ever got. And the other thing, and this is really more specific to what I do is the best advice I can give anybody. And I don’t think this is limited to law, but be patient with dealing with other people. And you know, I deal with government workers and and people often have bad things to say about government workers. But I got to keep them happy every day. I have to be polite in my emails. I have to be polite in my phone calls, even when I’m frustrated or impatient. That that’s like the best advice I could give anybody. Just be patient. Listen. Be respectful.

Chad Franzen 29:14

Okay, great. Sounds good. Hey, Richard, it’s been great to talk to you. Thank you so much for all of your time and your insights today. I really appreciate it.

Richard West 29:21

Thanks, Chad. It was great to it’s great to speak with you. I really appreciate it.

Chad Franzen 29:25

Thank you. So long everybody.

Outro: 29:26

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