Since the Richardson decision came out, we’ve been going through old cases and filing Petitions to appeal IRPs that should have been revoked by the OSMV at the original hearing. The good news is that if you’re currently prohibited from driving, we’re going to get your BC driver’s license back to you lickety-split. The reason is that we’re filing the appeals quickly, serving them at something close to light speed, and the consent orders for the first batch are on their way. That means it’s only a matter of days until our clients are back on the road.
This applies to people we’ve contacted and who have given us instructions to appeal the review decision. Our clients will have their licenses back in short order. The question for others is whether they should sit on the sideline. Is there any value to waiting to see where the appeals of Richardson and Wilson take us?
Before we answer that question, we think you should go back over some of the blog posts we’ve put up over the years. We have an impressive record when it comes to predicting the future of the IRP scheme. The reason is that we are so deeply involved with this special BC DUI law, and as lawyers we’ve so heavily personally involved that we have a good idea of where the evolution of the law will take us. We can’t predict the ultimate outcome, but from what we see, the legal underpinnings and the structure of this law will ultimately cause it to fail. In the grand scope of things, what we see is a short-lived dinosaur.
As an observer, it’s all well and good that the Immediate Roadside Prohibition DUI scheme dies off before evolving much further or procreating. The question is, what does this mean to the IRP sufferers – the victims of the IRP scheme?
Sticking with the evolution theme, one constant in the science of evolution is that those who act tend to survive. Beings with a strong fight-or-flight instinct tend to live to see another day. Those who sit around hoping things work out, tend to get eaten.
And so it is with 90-day Immediate Roadside Prohibitions. In this particular situation where we can appeal IRPs because of the Richardson and Wilson arguments, the clients who give us instructions to act will be the ones who may get a remedy. If you do nothing, i.e. sit around hoping that things will work out, you will get nothing. The only remedy here is for people who take action and appeal their IRP review decision.
As indicated, we’re already getting back the orders that will lift the driving prohibitions for our clients who are now prohibited. We’ve also got the word that a number of the wrongly decided IRP review cases that we’ve appealed are being sent back without having to conduct a hearing in BC Supreme Court.
We figure that lawyers should do work for a reason, i.e. that the work yields results. We succeed almost every business day in having an IRP revoked. We also figure that someone has to take the lead to challenge IRPs in BC and we’re the lawyers to do it. That’s why it’s our mission.
Finally, we know that the strategy of simply hoping things will work out is a mistake. We don’t want our clients to get eaten because they failed to take steps to protect themselves. This is why we’re encouraging everyone to at least look at whether they could now succeed on an appeal of their IRP decision.
Window of opportunity
The recent BC Supreme Court rulings are a window of opportunity to get your IRP removed from your record. If you do nothing, hoping that things will just work out, you can expect nothing. When there’s a window of opportunity in a burning house, you get out. We think that for most people with 90-day IRPs for blowing Fail, this may be your window. Now is the time to appeal your IRP review decision.
Other lawyers
We’re proud of the work we’ve done over the last few years taking on the Government and their IRP scheme. We’re happy to help as many people as possible to get some form of justice when it comes to the IRP process. That said, if there’s a lawyer you’re accustomed to dealing with and you’re confident with them, just tell them about the argument and ask their opinion regarding an appeal. They may be happy to take it on and capable.
There are things that we do that other lawyers don’t. That isn’t so say that our method is perfect. Every day we’re changing things, evolving to try and do a better job. Which means that we’re far from perfect. Lots of people read our blog who are not our clients. We’re just happy that people come to us as the source for IRP news.
The message we want to get across is that this is your time to act if you want to protect yourself. There may be no better time to get that IRP off your record (and get some of your money back). If survival is part of your life strategy, contact us or another lawyer in whom you have confidence to decide whether now is the time to launch the appeal of the IRP review decision in your case.