Unlock Legal founder and lead attorney Miranda McCroskey joined Kathy Dawson of Dawson and Dawson to share how her team of professional license defense attorneys protect the livelihoods of California professionals.

Kathy: Hello everyone! Please welcome our guest Miranda McCroskey to our On Deck with Dawson and Dawson series. Hey Miranda, how are you doing?

Miranda: Hey Kathy, so happy to be here!

Kathy: Oh, me too. It’s been a great time getting to know you and the business you’ve built is fascinating to me. I can’t wait to share it with our listeners. Miranda is the founder and lead attorney of Unlock Legal. So, what does Unlock Legal do?

What Does Unlock Legal Do?

Miranda: Unlock Legal is a law firm and we help people with criminal defense matters and professional license defense matters. 

Kathy: Aw, very intriguing. So you say license defense, hmm. What kind of licenses are you talking about?

Miranda: Good question. A lot of people think I mean driver’s licenses when I reference it, but I’m really talking about people who are licensed in the state of California for various professions. We help people get their licenses, keep their licenses, and get their licenses back.

Related Article: What Does a Professional Licensing Attorney Do?

Kathy: Nice. It sounds so simple but I’m sure it’s not. Do you represent people in front of all the boards or just a specific few boards?

What Boards Does Unlock Legal Work With?

Miranda: We represent people in front of any and all professional licensing boards in California. In the beginning, I thought we had to focus on a few specific ones, but what we found is that the law translates across all boards. We’ve been able to represent people in front of any boards that come to us and we help people get their license. 

What I mean by that is we help them with their applications, we help them defend their application when it’s rejected, we help them defend their licenses if a new matter comes up that causes the board to make allegations against them. We help people get their licenses back by filing a petition for reinstatement and letting them have another opportunity at the career of their choice.

Kathy: Wow, that’s so rewarding for you I’m sure and so important, right. Because we all know that things happen in life. When you’re either going to continue with a career or not to pursue a career, having access to someone like you that can help them get that career back is really essential. It makes the world a better place because then we’re doing what we should be doing. I’m sure you have lots of stories to tell because I’ve heard so many great things about the work you’ve done. So, can you tell us a little about one of the stories that you have that might help us understand it even more?

How Do You Help Professionals?

Miranda: Yeah. One of my very favorites involves a nurse. When she came to me, she wanted to get her license back. She’d been a nurse for over 20 years and she really loved her career. Everything had gone very well for her until she had gastric bypass surgery. When she took her time off to heal, she got attached to her pain killers and she was in the throes of this addiction when she went back to work. As a result, she made a mishap at work. She did what we call diverting drugs, which means it was supposed to go into a client’s mouth and it went in her pocket instead. When that became known, she was let go and ultimately she chose not to rigorously defend her license and ended up losing it. 

She came to me about seven years later and she’d been selling real estate in the interim. She did really miss nursing and knew it was time for the second part of her career path. She just wanted to spend it being a nurse because that’s where her heart was. So, we filed a petition for reinstatement with the BRN. We had to attend a live hearing in front of an administrative law judge. We told him all about her rehabilitative efforts in the last seven or eight years by showing him proof that she had been to all the alcohol classes and AA meetings. We were able to show that she’s managing her sobriety and her substance abuse was over. So the board granted her license on a probationary status. Now she’s back in business and taking care of people in the career of her choice.

Kathy: Wow, that’s a great success story. So you worked with someone who has a little bit of a challenge, overcame it and then worked their way back to being a whole person who could get back into their career. That’s really amazing and the work that you do to show that to the court system is, I’m sure, very rewarding too.

So what makes you different from other attorneys that do what you do?

What Makes Unlock Legal Different from Other Firms?

Miranda: I practiced criminal defense for 20 years before I started Unlock Legal. I know that bringing specialized knowledge to the table makes a difference. 

A lot of times, my clients face issues that arise from criminal matters. So if it’s an open criminal matter that hasn’t been resolved yet, we can represent them in the state courts and get them their disposition. If it’s a closed criminal matter, we can clean that up. With an expungement, we can motion to get off of probation early. Things like that are important in order to help them with their application and their petition for reinstatement and of course defending their license.

Related Article: How Can A License Defense Attorney Expunge My Past Convictions?

Kathy: Wow, so 20 years of criminal defense tells you a lot of information. Anytime you have 20 years into anything the reality is you’re going to be an expert. So the fact is you’re taking that experience into this role and there isn’t anything you probably haven’t seen.

Miranda: We’ve seen a wide variety and doing license defense along with the criminal as well. The full focus rebrand shift happened about four years ago but it’s been great to put my full focus on this firm and all the clients we serve.

Kathy: That sounds so exciting and again such a rewarding thing that you’re doing to help people get their lives back for all the right reasons. So why do you do what you do? I’ve known you for a while now and you’re so well respected in the community that professionals and people just can’t say enough great things about you, Miranda. So what motivates you?

What is Your Motivation?

Miranda: My personal mission statement that my family and I share. We say liberty, generosity and legacy, and the idea is liberty means you do what you want when you want, and how you want. All that generosity, others, and liberty is the legacy I’m building for my children. And so those factors drive us and them. Here at Unlock Legal our core values are integrity, professionalism, and being invested in our clients and our team. Those are the things that drive me. I want liberty for my clients, for my team, and for my family. I want all of us to have the life of our dreams.

Kathy: Wow, I mean that’s so honorable again this is why everyone loves you and really likes working with you. You care about not just your own staff and your own people and your own clients, but you care about the world being a better place which is incredibly honorable.

I’m so happy you were able to join us for On Deck with Dawson and Dawson and you’re able to share this amazing resource with all of our listeners.

Unlock Legal provides focused representation in criminal defense and defense for California licensed professionals. Contact Unlock Legal today or give us a call at 949-268-2857 to speak with a professional about your case and your unique needs. You’ll find we are compassionate, easy to talk to, and willing to help in any capacity we can.

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