Your disciplinary misconduct case isn’t over just yet. Lots of students give up at this point, and you can understand why. You’ve been through a difficult investigation. You worked hard to prepare for your hearing, only to see things come unraveled. You lost your case, and now you’re facing a serious sanction like suspension or dismissal. It all feels a little hopeless at this point.
It isn’t. The University of Missouri-St. Louis affords you the right to appeal the hearing outcome. That can lead to a reduced sanction or even a new hearing. And a new hearing can lead to a completely different result.
The trick is in understanding exactly what an appeal is. Most students don’t. That’s where we come in. The LLF National Law Firm’s Student Defense Team was founded to protect student rights. We have the background and experience to guide you through the appeals process. We know what makes for the strongest arguments in these cases and what generally counts as the most compelling evidence. No one gives you a better chance of salvaging your career than we do.
You need to contact us as soon as possible, though. You have just ten days from receiving your hearing outcome letter to file your appeal. That’s not much time, and there’s a lot to do. Call the LLF National Law Firm today at 888-535-3686, or use our online questionnaire to tell us more about your situation.
The Appeals Process
If you can manage to write a strong appeal—much easier said than done—the actual process of filing an appeal at UMSL is relatively simple.
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Your first job is to write the appeal. There are no forms to fill out and no concrete guidelines to follow. Basically, though, you’re offering your best arguments for why you deserve an appeal and supporting those arguments with concrete evidence. We’ll get into all of that in a bit.
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You file your appeal with the university’s Chancellor.
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The Chancellor’s office must then provide the other side in the case a copy of your appeal and allow them ten days to respond.
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Once the Chancellor has both sides’ arguments, you must simply wait until they have rendered a final decision. They can affirm the original decision, reduce the terms of your sanction, or order a new hearing.
Writing Your Appeal
So let’s get into the real meat of your appeal. What exactly are you supposed to say? What kinds of arguments do you need to put forward, and what kind of evidence do you need to include?
First and foremost, you must understand that an appeal is not a redo of your hearing. You’re not simply making the same arguments for your innocence, only this time to a new judge. You’ve been found responsible for (guilty of) an offense, and an appeal, in and of itself, won’t change that.
The purpose of an appeal is to raise questions about the disciplinary process itself. Specifically, were you treated appropriately during that process? In that context, there are only four possibilities, and none of them have to do with your guilt or innocence.
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The university failed to follow its own procedures in your case. If, for example, you weren’t given enough notice before your hearing, you didn’t have enough time to prepare, and you deserve a new hearing.
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Some key piece of evidence hadn’t yet come to light at the time of your hearing. As a result, you didn’t have all the facts when presenting your defense. Now that you have more information, you deserve another chance to make your case.
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A decision-maker in your case had a conflict of interest that prevented them from making a fair judgment.
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The sanction applied in the case is too severe for the nature of the offense. In these instances, you won’t get a new hearing, but you can get a reduced sanction.
Your position in the disciplinary system has changed as well. In the beginning, you were treated as innocent until you were proven guilty with a “preponderance of evidence.” You may have offered evidence at your hearing, but you didn’t have to. You were already innocent. All you had to do was raise questions about the evidence against you.
But you were found guilty. Now, you’re the one making the accusation—that the university mistreated you in some way. The university, as the respondent, is the one with the presumption of innocence. You’re the one with the “burden” of overcoming that presumption.
Can you do this? Absolutely. While you’re in a weaker position, you’re not in an impossible position. Appeals exist for a reason: to correct mistakes in the process. As it turns out, colleges and universities make lots of mistakes. They’re set up to educate, not to dispense justice. No one involved in your case had a law degree. Even one mistake is grounds for a new hearing. Don’t be shy about demanding it.
Just as importantly, you have the LLF National Law Firm on your side this time around. We’ll help you organize your materials and draft your appeal. More importantly, we’ll make sure you’re treated fairly and that UMSL respects all of your due process rights.
Negotiating With The UMSL Administration
Should you lose your appeal, you still have one last option: negotiating directly with the UMSL administration. That can be every bit as tricky as filing an appeal, though.
Before you can negotiate with an administrator, you must convince that administrator to talk with you. Most university presidents and provosts don’t like to do that. It sets a bad precedent to make decisions outside of the normal disciplinary system channels.
Remember, though, that you’re not doing this on your own. The LLF National Law Firm can sometimes help you get your foot in the door. We maintain relationships with OGC around the country. Offices of General Counsel are made up of attorneys hired by schools to provide them with legal advice. We have, in the past, managed to leverage our relationships to get one last hearing for our clients.
If we can get an administrator to talk with us, we may be able to convince them to reduce your sanction or even overturn your hearing outcome altogether. If nothing else, we can try to get your offense removed from your transcript so you have a better shot at transferring to a new school.
How Can We Help With Your Case?
Whether you’re entirely innocent or simply looking to get fair treatment from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, you owe it to yourself to continue the fight. 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 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.