Let’s review. 

You were charged with a serious offense at Loyola University-Chicago (LUC). You endured an investigation. You went through the aggravation of a hearing. You could have consulted an attorney, but you chose not to. Now you’re facing a harsh sanction, such as suspension or dismissal.

Where do you go from here?

The good news is that you can still appeal the outcome of your hearing. Should that fail, you also have the option to approach the LUC administration directly and ask officials to intervene in your case. Neither of these paths is easy, though, and this time around, you definitely don’t want to try to handle things alone.

You don’t have to. The LLF National Law Firm is always on our side. We’re not interested in how you got to this point. We’re interested in protecting your rights and getting you the best possible resolution to your case. Our Student Defense Team understands what you’re up against, and we’re familiar with all LUC processes and procedures.

It’s important you contact us quickly, though. You have just five 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.

Filing Your Appeal

In some ways, filing an appeal is far simpler than talking with investigators or preparing a complex hearing presentation and coming up with questions for witnesses. In fact, there are basically only a handful of steps.

  • Of course, you must write the appeal itself, setting forth your strongest arguments and your most compelling evidence.

  • Once you’ve written your appeal, you file it via the link included in your decision letter.

  • An appeal officer, often the Dean of Students, then reviews your request and renders a final decision. This process can take two weeks or longer to complete. 

While the steps themselves may be simple, though, a successful appeal requires nothing less than a completely new approach to your case, and many students find that quite difficult.

The Purpose of an Appeal

Often, students assume an appeal is a second chance to argue for their innocence. After all, what’s most important to you is that someone at LUC, someone in a position of authority, recognize that you’re innocent.

Unfortunately, that’s not what appeals are for. Appeals don’t question the hearing decision. Instead, appeals serve as a check on the investigation and adjudication processes. The question is, were you treated fairly by those processes? Were you given a reasonable opportunity to defend yourself? If the answer is yes, your case is over. If it’s not–and that happens more often than you might think–you deserve a new hearing, a new, fair chance to argue your innocence.

In this context, only three arguments will do, and none of them have to do with your innocence.

  • You can point out that new evidence has come to light in your case. This evidence isn’t used to prove your innocence—at least, not at this point. But you can use it to argue that you deserve a chance to present it at a new hearing.

  • The university made some procedural error that violated your basic rights as the respondent in the case. Maybe the Hearing Board refused to hear a crucial piece of evidence. Maybe you weren’t given enough time to prepare your case.

  • Finally, you can also argue that the sanction imposed in the case is disproportionate to the nature of the offense. This won’t lead to a new hearing, but it could lead to a lesser sanction.

There are no hearings in appeals cases. The Appeal Officer can invite you to a conference, but in most cases, they make their decisions without input from either party. This means you won’t get to cross-examine witnesses, make your arguments in person, or explain what your evidence shows. Everything must be contained in your appeal, and that document must be absolutely clear.

In addition, it’s important you recognize that you bear the burden of evidence in the case. You probably presented some evidence of your innocence, but you didn’t need to. You were already presumed innocent. It was the university’s job to overcome that presumption. Now the situation is reversed. The presumption is that you are responsible (guilty). You’re leveling an allegation against the university, and it has the presumption of innocence on its side.

None of this means you should give up your fight for justice. The fact is that universities make lots of mistakes when they dispense justice. Faculty and students just don’t make for great prosecutors and judges. For one thing, they have only minimal training in judicial ethics and procedure. Their mistakes are your opportunity for a new hearing and a new outcome.

It’s also true that you’re not alone this time around. The LLF National Law Firm is on your side, and we’ll bring whatever pressure we can to bear on the university, ensuring you’re treated fairly, start to finish.

Negotiating Your Case

In fact, we can work with you even if your appeal fails. The Appeal Officer’s decision is final, within the context of the disciplinary misconduct system. You can still ask the university’s administration to intervene on your behalf, and this can result in reduced sanctions or even the entire dismissal of your case.

First, though, you have to convince the administration to talk with you about your case. Luckily, the LLF National Law Firm has a way in. We maintain relationships with OGC around the country. The Office of General Counsel, or OGC, is made up of attorneys hired by schools to provide them with legal advice. If we can convince an OGC to reconsider your case, that can lead to negotiations with a university president, vice president, or dean—someone who can help.

Keep in mind, though, that other attorneys just can’t offer these types of services. We can do it only because we work so extensively in the field of student defense.

What Can the LLF National Law Firm Do for You?

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

Illinois

Tell About Your Case

Can Your Search History Bring You Down? How Schools Can Use Search Histories as Evidence of Misconduct

Students at Princeton University are drawing attention to the school’s policies and access related to students’ search histories on their devices. An article in the Daily Princetonian points out the ways that the university can use students’ search histories as evidence of cheating or other misconduct. Students are worried that […]

When the School Becomes the Problem: What UNC’s Botched Investigation Teaches Every Student

A University of North Carolina (UNC) student lost his scholarship and was permanently expelled from the entire UNC system after the school found him responsible for sexual misconduct. Years of federal litigation followed. And then, quietly, UNC settled. The former student, identified in court records as Jacob Doe, argued that […]

How a Cell Phone Policy Violation Can Escalate Into a Serious Disciplinary Issue

The cell phone bans sweeping the country’s K-12 schools in the last few years may sound good on paper—and educators overwhelmingly support them—but what do you do if what began as confiscation of your child’s phone has escalated into significant disciplinary action? The Student Defense Team at the LLF National […]

Taking a School District in WA to Court to Protect Students’ Title IX Rights

The LLF National Law Firm’s Education Law Team will be suing a school district in Washington state for its failure to meet its Title IX reporting obligations in the case of an elementary school student who claims they were bullied and sexually assaulted. The student, a third grader, now suffers […]