A responsible (guilty) outcome at a Palm Beach State College hearing isn't necessarily the end of your case. As part of your due process rights, PBSC allows you to appeal that outcome. You're going to want help to do that, though. This is your last opportunity to salvage your academic career, and if you should lose your appeal, it can have devastating effects on your professional future.
The Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team was created to help students defend themselves from disciplinary misconduct charges. We're licensed defense attorneys, but we focus on representing students in campus investigations and hearings. We know how PBSC's judicial system works, including how to file appeals. Whatever your situation, we're on your side and ready to fight for your rights.
You cannot wait to contact us, though. PBSC gives you just ten business days from the end of your hearing to file your appeal. That means you need to act quickly. Call the Lento Law Firm today at 888-535-3686, or use our online questionnaire to tell us more about your situation.
Palm Beach State College Appeals
First and foremost, you need to understand what an appeal is. It is not a chance to retry your case. You don't get to appeal just because you're unhappy with the outcome. An appeal is a very specific legal procedure, and if you don't fully grasp the purpose, your chances of success are essentially zero.
- While it may seem obvious, you've been found responsible for (guilty of) an offense at PBSC. Your case has been decided. An appeal is simply a check on the system, one last chance for the school to verify that justice was done. You cannot think of it as a do-over.
- You aren't arguing about your innocence anymore. At least for the moment, that has been decided. Instead, you're arguing that you were denied a fair chance to present your case. In that context, there are only four arguments, or grounds, the college will accept.
- A procedural error occurred that could have affected the hearing outcome.
- New evidence has arisen that might have altered the hearing outcome.
- The sanction the college has imposed is clearly disproportionate to the nature of the offense.
- The case was compromised by bias or prejudice on the part of a process official.
- · You now bear the burden in the case. Initially, it was up to the college to prove your responsibility through a "preponderance of evidence." You didn't actually have to offer evidence at the hearing. All you needed to do was challenge the school's evidence. Now, however, it is PBSC that has the presumption of innocence. In order to overcome that presumption, you must have a preponderance of evidence demonstrating you were treated unfairly.
- Your case was likely heard by a Conduct Hearing Committee. Now, a single administrative official—the Vice President of Student Services and Enrollment Management—has total authority to decide your future.
- There are no hearings in appeals cases. You aren't allowed to make your case in person, and your arguments and evidence must be entirely contained in a written document.
- You may not offer evidence of your innocence. All of your arguments must be supported by material from the original hearing. The one exception is if you have recently uncovered new evidence. Even in that case, though, that evidence isn't used to prove your innocence but rather to prove you deserve a new hearing.
- As all of this implies, the Vice President cannot overturn your responsible verdict. They can affirm the original decision, lessen your sanction, or order a new hearing.
PBSC is relatively unique among US schools in that it allows students to have full legal representation as part of the judicial process. This means the Lento Law Firm can handle all aspects of your appeal, from identifying grounds for that appeal to drafting the document itself. Make sure you make the most of this opportunity. Local and family attorneys won't have the knowledge and experience to protect you during this process. The Lento Law Firm is the premier firm in the country when it comes to student representation. We offer you your best chance of successfully defending yourself.
What's at Stake
Make no mistake—everything about your future is on the line when you undertake a disciplinary misconduct appeal. You wouldn't be here if you weren't facing suspension or dismissal. Either sanction can completely derail your academic future and your professional career.
Obviously, dismissal means leaving PBSC. More significantly, though, both of these sanctions include transcript notations—a permanent record of your offense. If you've been dismissed, you're unlikely to find another school that will take you. That means heading out onto the job market without a degree. If you've been suspended, you can return to PBSC. Many students don't, though. It's hard to go back to school once you've been away, and you may very well lose your financial aid as a result of your offense. Even if you do manage to complete your degree, though, you'll still have to deal with that transcript notation in job interviews.
The bottom line is that you cannot afford simply to walk away at this point.
It's just as important, though, to remember that you can win on appeal. The field is slanted against you, but the appeals process exists for a reason: to correct judicial errors. And colleges make a lot of them. When faculty, administrators, and students are put in charge of a justice system, mistakes are going to happen. As bright as all of these people may be, they're not trained in legal procedure, and there's every possibility that they treated you unfairly in some way. If they did, you deserve the opportunity to correct that mistake. The Lento Law Firm is here to help.
One Last Option
There is one additional way that your Lento Law Firm may be able to help you. We maintain relationships with Offices of General Counsel across the country. These are lawyers retained by colleges and universities to provide legal advice. Our relationships inform our approaches to student defense. We know how college judicial systems work because we know the people who designed them.
We may also be able to use these same relationships to handle your particular case. Even if you should lose your hearing, we can sometimes negotiate a fair settlement with a school through its OGC. This is a service we provide that you won't find with other attorneys.
Fight For Your Future
Whether you're entirely innocent or simply looking to get fair treatment from Palm Beach State College, 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 Lento Law Firm at 888-535-3686 or use our online form.
