If you’re trying to decide whether or not to file an appeal of your disciplinary case at Brown, let us help you with the decision: you should. The thing is, you have nothing to lose at this point. If the university has dismissed you, of course, you’re facing the end of your time at Brown, maybe the end of your academic career entirely. If no one has mentioned it to you yet, serious sanctions like dismissal and suspension get noted on your transcript. That means it’s unlikely you’ll find another school willing to accept you. And the fact is, even lesser sanctions like probation can hinder your ability to get into graduate school or to get a top-tier job after graduation.  

Let us be clear, though: there are no guarantees when it comes to appeals. You’ve already lost your case. It’s not easy to get Brown to even consider an appeal, let alone grant one. You’re going to need all the help you can get with the process. 

You might not have hired an attorney to handle your original investigation and hearing. Or you may have hired a local or family attorney to help you. At this point, though, you need someone from the LLF National Law Firm on your side. The LLF National Law Firm’s Student Defense Team is focused on defending students. It’s all we do. As a result, you can count on us to know all the ins and outs of education law and to be familiar with Brown’s administrative and judicial processes. Your back is against the wall at this point, and everything is at stake. You need an LLF National Law Firm attorney in your corner. 

To find out more about how we can help, call 888-535-3686 or use our online questionnaire to tell us more about your case. Don’t wait, though. Brown gives you just five days to file your appeal. 

The Appeals Process at Brown University 

You’ve already been through an investigation and a hearing, so you know: Brown does want justice to be done. That’s why you’ve been given so many due process rights. From the start of your case, the university presumed you were “Not Responsible” (innocent). You were notified of the charges against you before you were investigated, and you had an opportunity to review all the evidence in the case. 

Unfortunately, you’ve used up many of those rights at this point. The one important right you have left is the right to appeal the hearing outcome. That’s a valuable right. It means there’s still hope that you might win your case. Plenty of students do manage to overturn their hearing verdicts. 

The process is not an easy one, though. The appeals process doesn’t exist so you can complain about your verdict. It exists as a check on the system. It’s one last chance for Brown to verify that you’ve been treated fairly. In order to get Brown to consider your appeal, you first have to demonstrate that you have been treated unfairly.  

When it comes to appeals, you must think in terms of “grounds.” Grounds are reasons why you deserve to have your case reviewed. At Brown, there are only two legitimate grounds for appeal. 

  • You have discovered some new evidence that wasn’t available at the time of your hearing and that could have a direct bearing on the outcome of your case. 
  • Some procedural error occurred during the investigation or hearing that may have impacted the outcome of your case. 

It isn’t just the burden of establishing grounds that you have to worry about, though. The appeals process isn’t like your original hearing. 

  • You no longer have a presumption of innocence. In fact, you’ve been found guilty. That makes it harder to convince decision-makers that you deserve special consideration. 
  • Appeals don’t involve hearings. You don’t get the chance to make arguments in person, to submit evidence, or to call witnesses. Everything happens on paper. That limits the kinds of persuasive appeals you can make. 
  • Unless you have new evidence, decisions in appeals cases are based entirely on the written record of your case. You must be able to point to something in that record that proves you were mistreated.   
  • You aren’t making your case to a panel made up of individuals with different perspectives on justice. One single Appeals Officer will decide your fate. 

None of this information is to suggest that you shouldn’t file an appeal. Universities can and do make mistakes. Investigators sometimes take a biased approach despite the fact that they are supposed to remain objective. Hearing officers sometimes exclude evidence or witnesses that should have been allowed. And keep in mind that your case wasn’t decided by a judge with years of experience on the bench. It was decided by physics professors and sociology T.A.s. You have a right to challenge the decision in your case, and there’s every possibility that can get that decision overturned. 

You are going to need help, though. Your entire case rests on the strength of your appeal document and the quality of your evidence. You need compelling arguments, and you need them to be well-organized and clearly presented. The attorneys at the LLF National Law Firm have filed hundreds of disciplinary appeals. We know what Appeals Officers look for in these cases, and we know how to make you look your best on paper. 

Fight For Your Future 

We won’t promise you something we can’t deliver. We cannot guarantee you that we’ll win your case. No one can. At this point, you are in a difficult situation with limited options. Here’s what we can promise you, though. No one gives you a better chance of winning than the LLF National Law Firm’s Student Defense Team. No one knows the system the way we do, and no one is better positioned to leverage that system for your benefit. 

You cannot afford to wait, though. The window for filing your appeal at Brown is brief. Call the LLF National Law Firm today at 888-535-3686 or use our online form.  

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