Lawyers fight with words. In fact, a good lawsuit or even a dispute in what is called “Administrative Court” can really be boiled down to a war of words, with some facts and law thrown in. First, you have the issue of the facts. What happened?
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Who did what? Second, you have the issue of the law and regulations. What does the law and regulations say is allowable? And third, you have interpretation. How do they facts relate to the law / regulations? And, if something was done that was “illegal” or at least “against a regulation,” who did it, and what is the punishment for it. Lawyers, including those paid by the Bureau of Automotive Repair, fight on these aspects: the facts, the law / regulations, and who did what vis-a-vis the facts and the law / regulations. It’s a war of words, primarily.
A Letter from the Bureau of Automotive Repair
Let’s say you received a letter from the Bureau of Automotive Repair. And it’s not a friendly letter. It’s not a letter that says, “Dear Station Owner! We want to thank you first of all for working hard to keep California’s skies clean of smog, second of all for employing people in the Golden State, and third of all for paying your taxes.” That kind of letter, you don’t ever get. It’s a thankless job sometimes to be a SMOG check technician or a station owner: the customers aren’t happy to have to “pay” to have their cars smogged, and they’re really unhappy when you tell them that they didn’t pass, and perhaps expensive repairs are needed. Then, to add insult to injury, you can have at times a combative relationship with the State’s regulatory agency, the Bureau of Automotive Repair. They can a) send out “undercover cars” to attempt to “entrap you” (that could be arguable, but we’ll say that for the sake of argument’s sake), and b) letters, citations, and even accusations that can threaten to take away your license, or worse.
The first salvo in this “war of words” from the Bureau of Automotive Repair is likely to be a letter. A letter that says, “Dear Station Owner. We think you’ve committed a violation or crime. And we’re threatening to fine you, take away your license, or worse. Love, the Bureau of Automotive Repair. Please respond asap.” Lawyers love words, and lawyers love letters. In fact, lawyers are about the only people left anymore that “send letters.” The rest of us send emails, or do Facetime. But what you want to realize is that a letter from the Bureau of Automotive Repair is a salvo in a war of words (and facts, and law). Your best response is to ponder it (i.e., take a conceptual action), and then take a real action. Reach out to someone who makes his living by waging war against the Bureau of Automotive Repair in defense of the hard-working technicians and station agents who keep the skies clean in California, hire the workforce, and pay the taxes that pay the salaries of the bureaucrats at the Bureau of Automotive Repair.
You need less concepts, and more action when it comes to fighting a letter from the Bureau of Automotive Repair.
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