ECPI isn’t a public university. That means it has the right to develop its own processes and procedures for dealing with disciplinary misconduct. At this point, you probably already know what that means. The university doesn’t have to conduct a full investigation and hearing to decide you’re responsible for (guilty of) an offense. In fact, the school has probably already imposed a sanction on you, even though you haven’t had a proper chance to defend yourself.
The good news is that you are entitled to a hearing. You have to ask for it, though, and there’s a process for getting to it. In other words, getting justice at ECPI can be a bit complicated. No one is going to give you the benefit of the doubt. You’ll have to fight for justice.
The LLF National Law Firm is here to help you with that fight. Before you file, make sure you contact our Student Defense Team. We’ve been working with students for a number of years, and we understand what you’re up against in ways other attorneys don’t. We’re familiar with ECPI process and procedures, including what’s involved in filing an appeal, and we can show you how to make the most of this opportunity.
We’re always on your side and ready to help, but it’s important you act quickly. There are time limits to filing, and if you miss deadlines, you won’t get another chance. Don’t wait. Call the LLF National Law Firm today at 888-535-3686 to find out what we can do for your case, or use our online questionnaire to tell us more about your situation.
Your First Appeal
To this point, you haven’t had a real chance to present a defense. You were accused, and the university made an initial decision about what to do with your case. Some official decided you were guilty and came up with a sanction to punish you.
You can appeal that initial decision, though, and you’re almost always better off doing so.
At ECPI, a “first” appeal involves submitting a written statement to the university president. There are no forms or guidelines to help you complete this document, but you want to put forward your strongest arguments as to your innocence or why the university’s initial decision is flawed. In addition to these arguments, it’s important to provide concrete evidence to support all of your points.
Once you have submitted this material, the university president is then tasked with investigating the incident further and rendering a final decision. The entire process typically takes no more than seven days.
Filing a Second Appeal
Should the president deny your appeal, you still have the option to file a “second” appeal, this time to the ECPI’s Judicial Review Board. At this point, and only at this point, is your case finally subject to a formal hearing.
Note that this second request for a hearing must be made in writing within thirty days if you’ve been punished with suspension, or three months if you’ve been punished with dismissal.
As with your appeal to the president, your request to the Judicial Review Board should put forth arguments relating either to your innocence or to your mistreatment by the judicial process itself. And again, you must submit evidence to back these arguments.
This time, though, you have the opportunity to make your case in person before the Board. As part of the process, you are entitled to offer arguments and to introduce physical evidence. In addition, you may call witnesses.
It is important to note that at this point, you should still be treated as “innocent until proven guilty” (“not responsible until proven responsible”). Despite the fact that the university and the university president have already weighed in on the issue of your guilt, you have not had a chance to defend yourself. That means the Board should provide you with a clean slate before you begin. And the presumption of innocence means you don’t actually have to “prove” your innocence. You’re already innocent. It is the university’s “burden” to provide evidence to overcome that presumption. In other words, your strongest defense will likely be raising questions about the nature of the evidence being used against you.
The Judicial Board consists of five members, including three faculty members and two staff members. Their final decision in your case should be based on a majority vote. In addition, that decision, and all the university’s decisions in your case, should be based on the legal standard, “the preponderance of the evidence.” According to this standard, you are responsible for an offense only if it seems “more likely than not” that you committed that offense.
The LLF National Law Firm can help you with all aspects of either of your appeals. We can work with you to gather evidence of your innocence, coach you in how to talk with university officials, help you prepare hearing exhibits, and even draft your hearing presentation. Along the way, though, our most important job is ensuring that you’re treated fairly. The ECPI disciplinary system is different from that of other schools, but you are still entitled to due process and a just resolution to your case.
One Last Option
The Board’s decision is final within the context of the ECPI disciplinary misconduct system. However, you do still have the option of approaching the university’s administration directly and asking it to intervene in your case, even if all of your appeals have been denied.
Here’s the thing: administrators don’t like to get involved in disciplinary matters. They feel that doing so undermines the integrity of the system. Put another way, they worry that if they intervene in one case, everyone else will try the same tactic.
So what do you do?
Once again, you rely on the LLF National Law Firm to help. We’ve defended hundreds of students over the years, and along the way, we’ve developed some important relationships with key players on campus. In particular, we know a number of Offices of General Counsel. These are attorneys hired by schools to provide them with legal advice, and as you might imagine, their opinions carry a good deal of weight. We don’t mind leveraging these relationships if it could help a client.
If we can initiate negotiations, we can ask the university to lessen your sanction or even dismiss your case entirely. At a minimum, we’ll petition to have your offense removed from your transcript so that you can transfer to another school without penalty. It’s only because of our extensive experience that we can offer this option, though. It’s not something you should expect from other attorneys.
Trust the LLF National Law Firm With Your Case
Whether you’re entirely innocent or you’ve simply been mistreated by the disciplinary system at ECPI University, you owe it to yourself to fight for your future. The LLF National Law Firm’s Student Defense Team is here and ready to help. We’ll guide you through the entire appeals process, make sure your case is airtight, and guarantee the college respects your rights.
As we said in the beginning, though, you cannot afford to wait. There are deadlines for filing your first appeal. Get started now. Contact the LLF National Law Firm at 888-535-3686 or use our online form.