There’s no getting around it: you’re in a difficult position. You were charged with an offense at Fordham University. You went through the investigation process and defended yourself at a hearing, but you wound up losing your case. Now you’re facing a sanction. If you’re here, it’s probably a serious sanction, like suspension or dismissal.

Your case isn’t over just yet. Under Fordham’s Code of Conduct, you have the right to appeal the hearing outcome. That can earn you a new hearing—a new chance to prove your innocence.

Appeals can be tricky, though. Most students don’t really understand them, and that can almost certainly doom your chances of success.

The LLF National Law Firm can help. Our Student Defense Team was founded to protect student rights, and we’ve worked with hundreds of students just like you. We know how Fordham processes and procedures work, including what’s involved in filing an appeal. Most importantly, we’re always on your side, no matter what your situation might be, and we’ll use every resource at our disposal to protect your academic and professional futures.

It’s important you contact us quickly, though. You have just two business days from the end of your hearing in which to file your appeal, 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 Filing Process

Let’s start with a basic overview of the filing process. What are the steps you need to follow to ensure your appeal is submitted on time to the right person?

  • Your first job, of course, is to write the appeal itself. There are no forms or guidelines to follow, which can make the drafting process difficult. In essence, though, you need to offer compelling arguments for your appeal and support those arguments with concrete evidence.

  • If your original case was heard by a Hearing Officer, you submit your appeal to the Dean of Students. If your case was heard by the Dean, you submit your appeal to the Vice President of Student Affairs. In either case, you have just two days from learning the outcome of your hearing to file.

  • Either the Dean or the Student Conduct Review Council then reviews your appeal and makes a final decision in the case. In the meantime, you simply wait.

Writing Your Appeal

The steps to filing are pretty straightforward. The tricky part is writing the appeal, so let’s turn to that next.

An appeal is not a do-over. It’s not another chance to plead your innocence to a higher authority. The fact is that you’ve been found responsible for (guilty of) a misconduct offense. An appeal can’t change that, at least not by itself.

The purpose of an appeal is to consider whether the process worked the way it was supposed to. The question isn’t whether you are responsible for an offense but rather whether you were given a fair opportunity to defend yourself. In simple terms, you need an entirely new argument. You have two options.

  • You can argue that the university failed to follow its own procedural guidelines. Maybe the Dean failed to notify you of the charges against you. Or maybe the decision-maker in your case mistakenly refused to hear a piece of evidence. You deserve a new hearing, a new, fair chance to present your case.

  • You can argue that the sanction imposed in your case is demonstrably disproportionate to the nature of your offense. Should you win your appeal, you don’t get a new hearing. However, you should get a reduced sanction, and if you’re currently facing suspension or dismissal, that can salvage your future at Fordham.

There are no hearings in appeals cases. That means you don’t have to go through the trouble of preparing a hearing presentation. However, it puts enormous pressure on your writing abilities. You won’t have a chance to explain your evidence or clear up any confusion about your arguments.

Note, too, that your evidence needs to be clear and compelling. At your original hearing, you didn’t actually have to offer any evidence. You were innocent (not responsible) until proven guilty (responsible). All you had to do was point out the inadequacies of the school’s evidence. Now, however, you’re the one making the accusation. The university has the presumption of innocence on its side. You have the burden of coming up with the evidence.

That burden is far from insurmountable, though. Colleges and universities aren’t especially good at dispensing justice. It’s not their primary function, and while professors, students, and administrators are great at their jobs, they’re not given much training in jurisprudence. They make mistakes, and when they do, you deserve another chance to prove your innocence.

We’re in your corner as you go through this process. We can help clarify your thinking about your appeal, make sure you have sufficient grounds to file, and even work with you to draft the document itself. You’re not alone this time around, and that could make all the difference.

The Office of General Counsel

In the context of the Fordham disciplinary misconduct system, the outcome of your appeal is final. And for most students, “final” means final. Because you have the LLF National Law Firm on your side, though, there is one more avenue you can pursue.

It is sometimes possible to convince a university administrator to reconsider your case, even if you’ve lost your formal appeal. This can lead to a reduced sanction or even a new hearing. If nothing else, you may be able to get your offense removed from your transcript, which means you could potentially transfer elsewhere.

The problem is getting an administrator involved in the first place. Because we work so extensively in the field of student defense, we know all the players in ways other attorneys don’t. In particular, we’ve forged relationships with numerous OGCs around the country. The Office of General Counsel is made up of attorneys hired to provide a school with legal advice, and if we can convince one of them to talk with a university president, that president will usually take the time to talk with our client.

Trust the LLF National Law Firm With Your Appeal

Whether you’re entirely innocent or simply looking to get fair treatment from Fordham University, 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. 

​Fordham University

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