Team Bertolino Spotlight

London de la Teja

Happy 12 Years Bertolino LLP

London de la Teja is our Accounts Receivable Manager, a title that barely captures her impact. With sharp diligence and a remarkable ability to connect with clients, she keeps the firm thriving. Whether onboarding new matters or closing out completed ones, London is always there for both clients and our team. Her eye for detail, talent for spotting opportunities, and unwavering growth mindset set the bar high for everyone at Bertolino Law Firm. London truly is the glue that holds us together.

As our very first employee, London is a living archive of firm history and wisdom. She’s been the stellar voice of accounts payable since the very close to the beginning. Beyond numbers, she masterfully organizes everything from our annual food bank volunteering and Lake Travis outings to team celebrations.

Her upbeat spirit ensures every event is memorable. London brings her vibrant energy into daily life too, keeping meetings lively and accounting on track. As a leadership team member, she’s an idea generator, a natural speaker, and a pro at recapping milestones. At our December party, she bring out the joy of all she does especially during the ugly sweater contest.

Thank you, London, for everything you do, and here’s to another amazing year ahead! Happy Work Anniversary!

Texas Board of Nursing v. DW 

Facts: DW hired Bertolino LLP to defend her against a complaint filed with Texas Board of Nursing by her former employer.  The complainant made accusations that DW had violated state law, and Board rules in connection with her work as a registered nurse.  These allegations threatened DW’s professional reputation, and she was facing potential discipline from the Board based on the groundless accusations of a biased former employer. 

Outcome: Bertolino LLP evaluated DW’s facts and circumstances, assessed the applicable law and we compiled the necessary documents, arguments and evidence to fight against the accusations and showed the Board that the allegations levied by DW’s former employer lacked merit and needed to be dismissed.  Bertolino LLP’s legal team developed a well-written response demonstrating the complaint accusations were not supportable and did not provide a basis for disciplinary action.  The Board investigated, considered our submission and agreed to dismiss the complaint in full, taking no action against our client’s license as a registered nurse.  This allowed DW to return her focus to her passion for taking care of her patients and not worry about harm to her professional reputation and license. 

Many times, license holders make mistakes in their careers or professional lives.

Sometimes professional malpractice may be involved. Perhaps billing was performed incorrectly. Someone may have forgotten to renew their license and continued practicing despite it being expired or failed to complete continuing education requirements timely and submit them to the licensing agency. Sometimes personal, financial or mental health issues impact our lives, leading to poor judgment, mistaken circumstances, or wrong decisions and we face criminal charges because of those circumstances (drugs, domestic violence, driving while intoxicated or fraud / theft, burglary or forgery accusations). The point is, we’re all human, make mistakes or find ourselves in unusual circumstances and we are not perfect. But that doesn’t mean the government just gets to run roughshod over you without any semblance of fairness and justice. 

What I want to share in today’s article is the important point that despite these many examples of human fallibility, mistakes or poor circumstances that may cause someone to have legal issues with their licensing agency, the government must still treat all of its license holders evenly, fairly, consistently and equally. This must occur with a fair process in assessing violations and any disciplinary consequences for those violations. And those decisions must be based on the facts, the evidence and witness testimony. The government may not make decisions arbitrarily, inconsistently and without evidence to support the regulatory agency’s decision to take disciplinary action in a complaint. 

In this article we will discuss four key things to remember about government agency fairness obligations even when there may be license holder violations of the law that could support imposing discipline. It’s important to understand these so you can protect your rights and defend the license you worked hard to earn. 

I. The Government Cannot Act Arbitrarily or Abuse Its Discretion When Assessing Your Case and Any Sanctions. 

The first thing to remember is that the government may not act arbitrarily or abuse the discretion it has been given by the legislature to operate as your industry’s regulator. This is a legislative requirement imposed under the Texas Administrative Procedures Act (Texas Government Code section 2001.174). It can serve as a basis for a judicial court to later overturn any disciplinary action imposed by the regulatory / licensing agency if the court finds this prohibition was violated. This can happen even though there may be legitimate violations of the law that would otherwise support the agency imposing discipline. 

For example, if the licensing agency has not considered evidence, has made a decision without giving you a fair hearing or proper notice, or has not considered how it has treated other, similarly situated license holders, the agency may have violated these boundaries, which can invalidate the agency’s decision in your case. 

Because of the nuance related to these obligations, it is important to consult an attorney familiar with this area of the law to protect your rights and the license you worked hard to acquire. 

II. The Government Must Adhere to Constitutional Boundaries and Obligations When Taking Action and Determining Discipline

The government also must respect your constitutional rights such as due process, and equal treatment under the law. The federal and Texas constitutions each place limits and obligations on the government. Two important constitutional rights license holders have are the due process clause and the equal protection clause. Due process is the concept that a license holder is entitled to a fair process, with adequate notice and process controls so the legal process of the government seeking to discipline your license provides a real opportunity for you to fight back and defend your license, livelihood and professional reputation. For example, you are entitled to advanced notice of the hearing date and time, as well as a written description of the accusations levied against you by the government so you can prepare a defense. Equal protection embodies the idea that people under similar circumstances must be treated equally under the law. Unless there is a legitimate distinction between case circumstances, like situations should produce similar outcomes. This includes the nature and extent of any disciplinary consequences. For example, if you have a case matter with similar circumstances and violations of the law, the government cannot impose wildly different consequences or dismiss one but not the other for that same conduct in two otherwise similar cases. Locate and retain a skilled lawyer who knows the ins and outs of these constitutional rights to leverage these rights to protect you. 

III. The Government Must Have Evidence to Support Its Decisions in Your Case 

The government cannot act blindly and without regard to the evidence in your case. Agency decisions must be based on credible evidence and support the conclusions, factual findings, and decisions made in your matter. The record made during your evidentiary hearing before a judge is critical to showing what the truth is. The government has a burden of proof and must meet it before consequences are imposed. I encourage you to use a qualified attorney to help you introduce your own evidence and have witnesses testify to help prove you are innocent or that there is mitigation supporting a more modest sanction or a non-disciplinary outcome. A good lawyer can also sometimes help keep flimsy or bad evidence the government wants to use out if the record, which is an important tactic to consider too. Find a skilled lawyer who knows how to leverage the evidence rules to make a strong record in your favor that protects your hard-earned license and career. 

IV. The Government Must Allow You to Utilize Legal Counsel to Fight for You, So Take Advantage of that Right and Hire a Qualified License Defense Attorney to Help You Immediately 

You are entitled to have legal counsel fight for you. Make sure to use this important right by retaining legal counsel skilled in administrative law and license defense. The government has knowledgeable lawyers working for them and you must too if you are going to protect your license, livelihood and reputation. Hire a knowledgeable and competent attorney who defends license holders in administrative law, and regulatory matters or civil lawsuits where the government is coming after you and the license you have worked so hard to earn. Anything less would not be protecting your career adequately and exposes you to significant legal, professional, financial and perhaps even criminal consequences. 

V. So What Should I Remember About All of this When My License is on the Line? 

1. The Government Must Treat You Fairly Under the Law — the government must treat you fairly when taking action on a complaint or suing you. These minimum fairness obligations include constitutional rights, but also statutory rights created by the Legislature to help protect you and the hard-earned license you hold. 

2. You Are Entitled to Hire an Attorney So Get One to Fight for You — the government has lots of lawyers and experts working hard for them, and you should too. With all these fairness obligations at play, you need a license defense attorney who is knowledgeable about administrative law / regulatory ,matters and can identify issues, arguments and evidence to fight for you and protect your license. 

HAPPY 250th

Birthday America!

As the United States marks its historic 250th Birthday, we are profoundly honored to stand alongside the Texas professionals who serve our communities. When your license, livelihood, and hard-earned career are under fire, the stakes for your professional freedom couldn’t be higher.

We take immense pride in providing the steadfast advocacy and sophisticated guidance you need to navigate these challenges, as we celebrate the enduring spirit of independence together.

We hope you have a wonderful July 4th, Independence Day 2026!