If you’ve lost your disciplinary misconduct case at Chaffey College, you’re in a tough spot, no question. You’ve already been through an investigation and had a chance to defend yourself at a formal hearing before a full panel of decision-makers. You may be facing a sanction like suspension or dismissal, and a sanction like that can devastate your academic and professional careers.
Your case isn’t over quite yet, though. You still have the right to file an appeal, and that could provide you with a new opportunity to make your case again at a new hearing.
Before you head into this process, though, it’s important that you contact the attorneys at the LLF National Law Firm. Our Student Defense Team is familiar with all Chaffey College procedures, including how to file appeals. We also have the experience of having defended hundreds of students from all types of charges. We’re on your side and ready to help, no matter what the specifics of your situation.
You must contact us quickly, though. The window for filing your appeal is brief, and once it has closed, you must live with your penalty. Call the LLF National Law Firm today at 888-535-3686, or use our online questionnaire to tell us more about your situation.
Appealing Your Case at Chaffey College
Filing an appeal at Chaffey College is reasonably straightforward. In fact, it’s a much simpler process than preparing for a hearing. Basically, you
- Write your appeal, offering your very strongest arguments and your most compelling evidence.
- You submit this appeal to the college Superintendent/ President.
- You wait.
- The Superintendent/ President issues a final determination in the case.
From the outside, the whole thing looks pretty simple. It’s only when you dig into the specifics of the appeal itself that it becomes clear just how difficult an appeal can actually be.
The Arguments of the Appeal
Most people are under the mistaken impression that an appeal is a chance to reargue their case. You simply offer up all the evidence again, make your points more forcefully, and hope that a new decision-maker will recognize your innocence in a way the previous decision-maker didn’t.
Nope, nope, and nope. You’ve already been found responsible for (guilty of) an offense. The issue of your innocence has been decided, and if you continue to argue about it, your appeal is going nowhere. You need an entirely new approach with an entirely new argument. You need new evidence to support that argument.
If you’re not arguing for your innocence, though, what are you arguing? There are generally only three possibilities.
- Some procedural error occurred, significant enough to have altered the outcome of the hearing.
- Some new piece of evidence has been uncovered that could potentially have an impact on the outcome of the hearing.
- You were issued an offense that is disproportionate to the nature of your offense.
As if coming up with a brand-new argument wasn’t enough, you face some additional hurdles as well. First, your entire fate now rests in the hands of one administrator. Where, before, a majority of the hearing panel had to agree you were responsible in order to find you as such, now the Superintendent/ President’s decision is law.
You won’t get a chance to make your case in person. There are no hearings in appeals cases. That means you won’t have a chance to explain your evidence or cross-examine witnesses. Your appeal must do all of this for you.
Finally, the “burden” in the case has shifted. In the beginning, you were “innocent until proven guilty” (“not responsible until proven responsible”). That’s always the best position, since it means you have the presumption of innocence. Only a preponderance of evidence can overcome this presumption. In contrast, you’re now the one making the allegations—that Chaffey College mistreated you in some way. All the college needs to do is poke holes in your evidence.
In fact, there’s no getting around it: an appeal is a tall order. That said, you can win a new hearing. Students do so all the time. You weren’t tried by a seasoned prosecutor before a learned judge. You faced a handful of faculty and students with little to no training in judicial procedure. Frankly, it would be surprising if they didn’t make mistakes. When they do, you have the right to demand fair treatment and a new opportunity to defend yourself.
You’re also not alone this time around. The LLF National Law Firm is here to help you with every aspect of the appeals process. That starts with examining the record of the original hearing and developing evidence. It includes drafting the appeal itself and ensuring it is submitted in a timely manner. Most importantly, the LLF National Law Firm will closely monitor everything that happens and ensure you’re treated fairly, start to finish.
Negotiating an Alternative Solution
In fact, your LLF National Law Firm attorney will keep fighting for you even if you exhaust your chance at an appeal.
It turns out there are other ways to negotiate a fair and just resolution to a case.
Chaffey College maintains something called an Office of General Counsel. These are attorneys hired by the school to provide legal advice. They ensure the college has a robust disciplinary system; they stay up to date on new government regulations; they ensure the college doesn’t make some mistake that opens it up to a serious lawsuit.
LLF National Law Firm attorneys are well-connected with OGC attorneys around the country. We can sometimes call on these relationships to convince a school’s administration to negotiate better settlements with our clients. We may be able to get dismissal reduced to suspension, or even probation. We can petition the college to drop the records of your offense from your transcript. On occasion, we’ve even been able to convince schools to drop charges entirely.
We’re the only law firm out there that can offer this service, though, because we’re the only one out there founded to protect student rights.
What Can We Do For You?
Whether you’re entirely innocent or simply looking to get fair treatment from Chaffey College, you owe it to yourself to continue the fight. We’re here and ready to help. We’ll guide you through the entire appeals process, make sure you put forward your very strongest arguments, and guarantee the university respects your rights.
As we said in the beginning, though, you cannot afford to wait. There are deadlines for filing your appeal. Get started now. Contact the LLF National Law Firm at 888-535-3686 or use our online form.