There’s no way of getting around it: you’re in a difficult situation. You’ve been found “responsible for” (guilty of) a misconduct offense at Appalachian State University. As a result, the university has imposed a sanction. If you’re here, that means the sanction is probably suspension or dismissal.

Here’s the good news: your case isn’t necessarily over just yet. Under school policy, you have the right to an appeal. Failing that, you can also try negotiating directly with the university’s administration.

You still have options. They’re not necessarily easy options to exercise, though, and you’re going to need help. That’s where we come in. The LLF National Law Firm’s Student Defense Team was founded to protect student rights. We’ve helped hundreds of students defend themselves from all types of charges, and we’re always on your side.

It’s important you contact us quickly, though. Appalachian State gives you just five business days in which to file your appeal, and there’s a lot to do in that timeframe. Call the LLF National Law Firm today at 888-535-3686, or use our online questionnaire to tell us more about your situation.

Filing Your Appeal

Let’s start with the steps in Appalachian State’s appeals process. Those are relatively straightforward.

  • Obviously, the first step is to write the appeal itself. You’ll need the right arguments, though, and the right evidence. We’ll get to that next.

  • Once you’ve written your appeal, you file it with the Director of the Office of Student Conduct. Remember that you must do this within five days of learning of the outcome of your hearing.

  • The Director forwards your appeal to the Appeals Board for consideration.

  • The Appeals Board then has fifteen days in which to render a final decision. There are no further appeals available.

Drafting Your Appeal

The real trick to writing your appeal is understanding the purpose of an appeal. Contrary to what most students think, an appeal is not a chance to reargue your innocence. While you may disagree with the outcome of your hearing, the point of the hearing was to decide whether or not you committed an offense, and that issue has now been decided.

In contrast, an appeal is designed to determine whether the university treated you fairly during the investigation and hearing. Only arguments about that issue make sense now. Can those arguments result in a new hearing? Absolutely. But there is no possibility that an appeals officer is going to overturn your “responsible” verdict.

So then, what are you arguing in an appeal, and how do you need to reshape your attack to fit the nature of appeals? The only arguments Appalachian State will accept are those related to procedure. Did the university follow appropriate procedures, and were you given a fair chance to present your defense?

Note that there are no hearings in appeals cases. The Appeals Board makes all of its decisions in closed-door sessions. That means you won’t have a chance to address Board members directly. You won’t have the opportunity to call witnesses or examine them. You won’t be allowed to clear up any confusion about your arguments. Your written appeal must include everything you want to say, and it must be absolutely clear.

In addition, there are limitations as to what evidence you can use to support your arguments. Since you’re not arguing over your innocence, you don’t want to present evidence to prove your innocence. Instead, you want to present evidence from your original hearing that demonstrates exactly how you were mistreated by the process.

And unlike at your original hearing, you do need some strong, concrete evidence. Before you were found “responsible” for your offense, the university was obliged to treat you as “not responsible.” In legal terms, it bore the “burden” of the case. You may have offered evidence of your innocence, but you didn’t need to. All you had to do was demonstrate the weaknesses of the university’s case.

The situation is now reversed. You’re accusing the university of mistreating you. The university has the presumption of innocence. It is your responsibility to overcome that presumption with evidence.

Given all of these challenges, many students decide to walk away from school rather than go to the trouble of filing an appeal. You can win your case, though. You can gain a new opportunity to defend yourself at a fair hearing. All you need is proof that the university made a mistake, and that’s not as hard to come up with as you might think. The Appalachian State disciplinary system isn’t run by distinguished law school graduates. It’s run by faculty, students, and administrators who receive only minimal training in judicial procedure. There’s every chance someone made a mistake in your case, and you have every right to capitalize on those mistakes.

Direct Negotiations

An appeal is the most straightforward response to a “responsible” outcome, but should you lose your appeal, you do have one additional option: direct negotiation with the university’s administration.

Unfortunately, that can be harder than an appeal. If you can convince an administrator to talk with you, you have a decent chance of success. It’s no easy task getting into a university president’s office, though.

How do you do it? You rely on the team at the LLF National Law Firm. We maintain relationships with Offices of General Counsel around the country. OGC are attorneys hired by schools to provide them with legal advice. We can often rely on these relationships to get extra-judicial hearings for our clients. In the past, we’ve used these opportunities to get sanctions lessened, transcripts scrubbed, and even entire cases dismissed. This is a service we offer that you just won’t find anywhere else.

Count on the LLF National Law Firm

Whether you’re entirely innocent or simply looking to get fair treatment from Appalachian State 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.

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