A lost university misconduct case can feel like a punch in the gut, especially if you’re innocent. Your case isn’t over just yet, though. You still have the right to appeal the hearing outcome, and that can change everything.
However, any chance at a successful appeal means you face your situation head-on. You cannot continue to argue for your innocence, for instance. You need brand-new arguments, brand-new evidence, and a brand-new approach to your defense.
Don’t try to take on an appeal by yourself. You’re facing the full weight of the University of Texas, El Paso, and appeals are a dicey proposition. Put your fate in the hands of the LLF National Law Firm. Why us? Our Student Defense Team has helped hundreds of students defend themselves from all types of charges. We know the stakes, and we’re familiar with UTEP’s disciplinary procedures, including how appeals are filed.
We can help salvage your future, but you need to act quickly. You have just fourteen days 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.
Filing an Appeal
Read the description of UTEP’s appeals process, and you might be tempted to try defending yourself. It seems pretty basic. You write the appeal. You file the appeal. You wait up to thirty days for a response to the appeal.
Remember, though, that you tried representing yourself during the investigation and hearing. That didn’t work out so great. An appeal requires a large shift in your thinking, and unless you know how to make that shift on your own, your chances of success are slim to none.
- First, you must recognize that you are no longer innocent of the offense UTEP charged you with. You may actually be innocent, but that doesn’t matter. You’ve been found responsible (guilty), and under school policy, that’s what you are. That means you cannot continue to argue for your innocence. That issue has already been decided, and continuing to argue is entirely futile.
- What are you arguing, then? Your only option at this point is to try to convince an Appeals Official that you were denied a fair opportunity to defend yourself. There are basically four options:
- You can argue that the sanctions imposed in the case are disproportionate to the offense.
- You can argue that the university made some type of procedural error that might have impacted the case outcome.
- If you can find new evidence after the hearing, you can argue that this new evidence warrants a new hearing.
- You can argue that a university investigator or decision-maker had some unfair bias against you.
- You must have evidence to support your allegations. Originally, you were the respondent in the case (the accused). You had the presumption of innocence. While you may have offered evidence at your hearing, you didn’t have to. You only had to disprove the university’s evidence. This time around, you’re the accuser, and the university is the respondent.
- There are no hearings in appeals cases. The Appeals Official reviews your documents and makes their decision. That means the appeal itself and all your evidence must be clear and compelling. You won’t have a chance to explain yourself in person.
- You can’t rely on the evidence you relied on during the hearing. The hearing itself is the evidence. You want proof from that hearing that you were treated unfairly.
- There is no chance the Appeals Official will overturn your case. They have three options: affirm the original findings, lessen your sanction, or order a new hearing.
As soon as you contact an LLF National Law Firm attorney, they’ll begin reviewing your case, paying special attention to the record of the hearing. They’ll comb through this record, looking for grounds to support your appeal. Once they’ve identified those grounds, they’ll write the appeal itself. They’ll also make sure it is filed properly and before the university’s deadline.
Keep Fighting
If there’s any doubt in your mind that you should continue to fight, let us dispel it right now.
Unfortunately, if your responsible verdict stands, you’re facing a bleak future. If you’ve been dismissed, that means leaving UTEP altogether. You can’t transfer somewhere else, either. Most schools won’t accept students who have been dismissed elsewhere.
You can return from a suspension once you’ve served it. However, that can be difficult. Once you’ve been away from school, you’ll find it hard going back to classes. You may have lost your financial aid as well. Plus, you’ll also have a misconduct offense on your record, and that will have an effect on your job applications.
More importantly, you can win your appeal. Students do so all the time. You weren’t prosecuted by a seasoned district attorney with a law degree. You didn’t appear before a learned judge with years of experience on the bench. The investigation and hearing were conducted by faculty, students, and administrators. All smart people, but not especially well-versed in legal ethics. It would actually be surprising if officials didn’t make mistakes in your case. When they make mistakes, you have the right to a new hearing.
The Office of General Counsel
There is one more option should you lose your appeal at UTEP. You can try negotiating directly with the university’s administration. This isn’t a process you can just undertake on your own. You’re definitely going to need an LLF National Law Firm attorney on your side.
Here’s how things work. UTEP maintains something called the Office of General Counsel (OGC). An OGC is a collection of attorneys who provide the university with advice on all legal issues. As you might imagine, the OGC has enormous influence on the decisions a university like UTEP makes.
Because we work so extensively in the field of student defense, the LLF National Law Firm has developed a number of relationships with OGC around the country. We can sometimes rely on these relationships to get an administrator’s attention and work out a settlement beyond a school’s disciplinary system. On occasion, we have even convinced schools to dismiss cases altogether.
How Can the LLF National Law Firm Help?
Whether you’re entirely innocent or simply looking to get fair treatment from the University of Texas at El Paso, you owe it to yourself to continue the fight. We’re 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.