We get it: Johns Hopkins doesn't allow you to bring an attorney with you to investigative meetings and hearings if you've been charged with misconduct. That encourages the impression that an attorney can't help you at all. No wonder, then, that you tried to go it alone.
At this point, though, as you're facing your very last chance—a disciplinary appeal of your hearing outcome—you need to know that nothing prevents you from hiring an attorney to help you navigate the complexities of this appeal. Nothing ever did. University judicial systems are complicated. As part of your original case, you faced investigators and decision-makers with Ph.D. You can be certain that Johns Hopkins has its own attorneys who offer advice to the university. You deserve protection as well. And while they can prohibit attorneys from hearings, they cannot prohibit attorneys from helping you prepare.
The Lento Law Firm was founded to help students get justice. We're focused on education law, and we know your rights. We also know the Johns Hopkins system and how it works. And while you aren't allowed to bring an attorney with you to a hearing, we know—and you should too—that someone from the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team can provide you with far more than simply moral support at a proceeding. We've helped hundreds of students defend themselves from all types of charges. We know the appeals process, and we'll do everything in our power to make sure you have a fair shot at getting your academic career back on track.
There's something else you need to know, though. Johns Hopkins gives you just five days from the end of your original hearing to file an appeal. That's not a lot of time to prepare. Don't wait. Call the Lento Law Firm today at 888-535-3686, or use our online questionnaire to tell us a little about your case.
The Appeals Process at Johns Hopkins
Universities like Johns Hopkins are under no particular obligation to provide students with due process protections. And to be sure, you don't have all the rights an accused person would have in a criminal court case. For example, the university doesn't have to find you guilty "beyond a reasonable doubt." Judicial decisions at Johns Hopkins are based on the principle "more likely than not." And again, the university doesn't have to provide you with legal representation and can even bar attorneys from accompanying you to hearings.
You do have some important rights, though. Initially, you were treated as “Not Responsible” (innocent) until you were proven “Responsible” (guilty) at your hearing. You were allowed to examine all evidence in the case. The university provided you with advanced notice of all meetings and proceedings.
You have yet one more right as well: the right to appeal the outcome of your hearing. That right is not a free pass to challenge that outcome. Johns Hopkins requires you to have "grounds" for an appeal. In other words, you must have some legitimate reason for asking the university to reconsider the Conduct Board's decision. There are only three possibilities:
- Some procedural errors occurred that had an impact on the outcome of the hearing.
- Some new evidence has appeared that you didn't have at the time of the hearing, and that could have some bearing on the outcome.
- The sanction seems disproportionate to the nature of the offense.
You are at a disadvantage in other ways as well at this point.
- You no longer have the presumption of innocence. In fact, because you lost your hearing, the presumption is that you are guilty. The burden is on you to prove otherwise.
- An appeal is not a “re-hearing.” That is, you don't get to make a presentation. You don't get to call witnesses. You don't get to contact decision-makers.
- Neither will decision-makers contact witnesses themselves or look for additional evidence. Instead, they'll rely strictly on records from the hearing and whatever information you include in your written appeal.
Does any of this information mean you shouldn't fight? Of course not. At this point, there's really no reason not to fight. You're facing a serious sanction—maybe even dismissal. Serious sanctions include transcript notations describing your offense, and those kinds of notations will keep almost any other school from admitting you. You're facing the end of your university career and taking on a major liability to your job search. Just as importantly, students can and do win cases on appeal. University hearing panels make mistakes. After all, this is not a judicial system run by law school graduates and seasoned judges. You likely faced professors, teaching assistants, and maybe even a few students in your original hearing. It only makes sense to challenge their decisions.
You do need to know, though, that your back is against the wall at this point. You can't afford to handle the situation yourself. Whatever Johns Hopkins might say, you have the right to legal advice. Make the best possible use of that right. Don't simply consult a local or family attorney. The attorneys at the Lento Law Firm aren't just comfortable in a courtroom. We work every day with students. We negotiate with faculty and administrators. We know how the Johns Hopkins system works. You're not filing an appeal with the courts. You're filing an appeal with a university, and no law firm in the country has more experience doing that than the Lento Law Firm.
One Final Option: Direct Negotiation
An appeal is not your only option; it's simply your best option. Should you lose your appeal, you can try negotiating directly with the Johns Hopkins administration. It can be difficult to convince administrators to talk with a student and to consider setting aside a decision arrived at through the university's judicial system. Typically, they only consider these types of negotiations in unique circumstances and only when they have something to gain.
You do have one advantage over other students, though: your Lento Law Firm attorney. The Lento Law Firm is focused on student defense cases. As a result, we spend a part of every day talking with faculty and administrators. We've dealt with every type of student situation imaginable, from plagiarism to sexual assault allegations. We also have relationships with numerous attorneys who serve as the Office of General Counsel for universities like Johns Hopkins. Universities retain such General Counsel to provide them with legal advice. These relationships provide us with specific insight into how campus judicial systems work. This knowledge and insight is one of the reasons we have an advantage when it comes to helping students build their defenses.
We can also sometimes make use of these relationships to convince a university to talk about extrajudicial possibilities when it comes to misconduct cases. Again, this is never option one. In some cases, however, we have been able to negotiate settlements for our clients that have allowed them to finish school or to remove negative notations from their transcripts.
Fight For Your Future
Johns Hopkins wants you to believe you can't hire an attorney to help you file your appeal. And the university can bar attorneys from appearing at hearings. Your Lento Law Firm attorney can do so much more than simply sit beside you and offer advice, though. They can work with you to build your defense, help you to come up with arguments, search for new evidence, and even draft your actual appeal.
And whatever Johns Hopkins might say, to get a fair hearing, you need a Lento Law Firm attorney on your side. We can't promise to win your case. No one can do that. You're in a difficult situation with limited options. What we can promise, though, is that no one gives you a better chance of success than we do. The Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team knows the system better than anyone else, and we're positioned to help you in ways no other attorney can.
You simply cannot afford to wait, though. Johns Hopkins gives you just five days to file your appeal. Call the Lento Law Firm today at 888-535-3686 or use our online form.
