Students Accused of Violating University Conduct Codes, Academic Dishonesty, Plagiarism, or Title IX

ONCE A UNIVERSITY STUDENT RECEIVES NOTICE OR OTHERWISE LEARNS THAT THEY ARE BEING ACCUSED OF A STUDENT CONDUCT CODE VIOLATION, ACADEMIC DISHONESTY, OR PLAGIARISM:

• Students don’t have much time before they will need to schedule a meeting or hearing and start making some extremely important decisions as to how they will defend the charges against them.
• Students should get started right away by calling a university discipline attorney.  At our office, students can speak to an attorney and the initial 30 minute consultation by phone is free.  The same is true for many attorneys.
• Students should talk to an attorney before they talk to anyone else about the matter.
• If a student has already started talking to college administrators, witnesses, classmates, or the police, they should discontinue all communications about their case until they speak with an attorney.
• If the student has already been found responsible, it may not be too late to file an appeal or expunge their student record.

STUDENTS SHOULD KNOW:

• Students should use an initial consultation with an attorney to become informed as to how serious the violation is and what sanctions they could face if found responsible.
• A knowledgeable attorney can help a student determine whether retaining an attorney is necessary.
• An attorney can explain a student's college or university’s process and what to expect.
• An attorney can work with a student to develop and implement a defense strategy through investigation, preparing talking points, an opening statement, a closing statement, and even presentations when necessary.
• An attorney can help a student determine whether to defend and /or to mitigate.
• Depending on the specific university or college policy, attorneys can generally attend hearings.
• Attorneys can prepare appeals on a student's behalf.
• A student may even benefit from speaking with an attorney to help them through post-appeals work as guilty determinations have been successfully overturned notwithstanding an appeal that was supposed to be final.

STUDENTS SHOULD CONSIDER:

• Experienced university discipline attorneys generally will have assisted hundreds of students through various university discipline systems.  They are familiar with the judicial processes, the questions students can expect, likely outcomes, strategies that can work and those that never have.
• Students are often surprised when they first learn of how severe the sanctions that they face can be.  A number of factors will generally dictate severity including such things as the type of violation, previous violations, the student's demeanor, public interest, the student's ties to the community, and the student's interactions with university administrators and adjudicators.
• The sooner a student contacts an experienced university discipline attorney, the better.  Many students wait to contact an attorney until after they have been found responsible.  By that time, a student's options are much more limited. That being said, the student may still have some options available to them.  Experienced university discipline attorneys frequently assist students with preparing appeals and post-appeal work.

CONSEQUENCES OF VIOLATING UNIVERSITY CONDUCT CODES OR ACADEMIC CODES:
No matter how insignificant the alleged violation may seem, if a student is found responsible and fails to effectively advocate for reduced sanctions, a determination of “responsible” or “guilty” could:

• Become a part of a student's permanent academic record accessible to future graduate schools and potential employers
• Bar or reduce chances of admission to graduate schools
• Bar or reduce chances of licensing by professional organizations such as state bars and medical boards
• Bar or reduce chances of employment by government and private employers
• Lose financial aid
• Lose athletic and/or academic scholarships

COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS:

• “The university administrator I spoke with told me that it wasn’t serious and I don’t think they would lie to me.”  Although this can be true for some students charged with very minor violations, it can also be a strategic attempt to disarm the student and encourage a confession. 
• “The university told me that I don’t need an attorney because this is an educational environment and disciplinary process, and anyways, an attorney can’t speak at my hearing.”  Although possibly true in the past, many universities and colleges, unfortunately, have moved away from restorative and rehabilitative sanctions.  Furthermore, the "educational" nature of the process does not take away from the severity of some sanctions. 
• “I should just get this over with and everything will be fine.”  As discussed herein, punishments can be severe and their effect can be felt long after a student graduates.
• “If I don’t respond to the notice of violation, everything will go away.”  Universities and colleges have a number of ways of making students address the notice of violation, the most frequent and effective of which is barring a student from enrolling in classes and/or receiving a degree.
• “This is a joke and I am going to let them hear it.”  This is likely the worst strategy a student can follow.  It will not accomplish anything other than to increase the severity of any punishment the student receives.
• “They will have to find me not responsible because I am innocent.”  As with any adjudicative process, the adjudicators sometimes get it wrong.  It is always a good idea to put your best case forward the first time around (i.e. pre-appeal).
• “They can’t find me guilty because the search was illegal.”  This is almost always not true for students at private universities and usually not true for public universities.
• “The only witnesses are my friends and fraternity brothers; they won’t testify against me.”  Even if true, friends are of little help unless properly prepared.
• “If I just contact the victim and apologize, the victim and the university will agree to just drop it.”  Although admirable, contacting the victim can only hurt your case and the university will not allow a victim to dictate their prosecution of you.  Even worse, contacting a victim of sexual assault could very well re-traumatize the victim.
• “My violation occurred off campus and wasn’t even related to the university; I can't be punished for something like that.” This is generally incorrect.  Most universities have the authority, with the caveat that most universities limit the types of off-campus violations that a student can be punished for.
• “I already have a criminal defense attorney that will be able to represent me in the university discipline process.”  There are vast differences between university discipline systems and criminal courts.  Guiding students through the university's discipline system is usually better handled by an attorney with experience doing so.  Students will have a very limited period of time to prepare a defense so there is no time to waste waiting on an inexperienced criminal defense attorney to figure out university discipline. 
• “My university has student advocates that can represent me so I should be fine.”  Student advocates can be a great way to get informed on the university’s discipline processes and what to expect.  They may even be able to handle minor offenses.  Remember though, a university discipline attorney develops arguments as a career.  Attorneys also have ethical obligations to their client to zealously advocate on their behalf and keep all matters confidential, no matter the offense.  Also, an attorney will generally be more vested in the outcome of the student’s case and have more available resources and experience to investigate your case, prepare a defense, and formulate the strategy and talking points that will give you the best opportunity for a successful defense.
• “I would rather deal with the university myself than tell my parents what’s going on.”  Consider that they may find out anyways.  Students may have signed a waiver when enrolling that permits the university to inform parents and it may be difficult to hide if the student ceases receiving financial aid or is suspended or expelled.  Either way, the choice is ultimately the student’s and an attorney should not pressure a student to disclose unless it is truly in the student's best interest.  Either way, attorneys are prohibited from contacting the student's parents without permission.
• “They can’t find me responsible unless I am guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”  This is not the criminal justice system and this is not the correct standard of proof.  The university only needs to determine by a preponderance of the evidence that you are responsible.  In other words, they only need to determine that it is more likely than not that you are responsible.  This is a much lower burden to meet than "guilty beyond a reasonable doubt."