If you came here looking for information on how to appeal your Princeton case, you don't have a lot of time. The university gives you just one week from the day you're notified of your hearing outcome to file your appeal. There's no time to waste, so let's get to it.
The first thing you need to know is that, yes, the situation is serious. You were charged with misconduct, you went through a full investigation, and you had the opportunity to defend yourself at a formal hearing. You lost that hearing, though, and now you're likely facing a severe penalty – maybe suspension, but probably dismissal. And dismissal doesn't just mean dismissal. Permanent separation from Princeton is harsh enough, but it comes with a transcript notation about the nature of your offense (suspensions are noted on your transcript as well). As you might imagine, there aren't a lot of schools out there anxious to admit students who've already been dismissed. In short, you're facing the end of your academic career. That means heading out onto the job market without a degree, and you know what the job market looks like in those circumstances.
The next thing you need to know is that the situation is far from hopeless. You do still have options. You can appeal the hearing outcome. You can appeal the sanction. In certain cases, you may be able to convince the university to negotiate with you directly.
The other good news is that you don't have to go through this situation alone. The Lento Law Firm is here to help. We're dedicated to protecting student rights and to getting students the justice they deserve. We know education law, we know how the Princeton judicial system works, and we're ready to put what we know to work for you.
It's important you act now, though. We've already said it, but it bears repeating: one week isn't a lot of time to get your materials together. Call the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team today at 888-535-3686, or fill out our online questionnaire and tell us a little about your case.
The Appeals Process at Princeton University
Your best option at this point is to file an appeal.
Princeton gives all accused students some important due process rights, such as the right to a presumption of innocence, the right to review evidence in the case, and the right to advanced notification of all meetings and proceedings. You've used most of those rights up, but there's still one important one that remains: the right to appeal. You might as well take full advantage of it.
You should know, as a starting point, that this right isn't absolute. You can't, for instance, simply appeal because you don't like the outcome of the original hearing. You must have specific “grounds” for your appeal, one or more reasons why your original hearing wasn't fair. Princeton lists three possible grounds for appeal:
- The procedures were not fair and reasonable
- New evidence exists that could have a significant bearing on the hearing outcome
- The applied sanction is disproportionate to the nature of the offense
You face additional hurdles as well.
- The Appellate Body doesn't include students. It is made up of four administrators and one faculty member, three of whom are chosen to make up the appeal panel.
- You are not entitled to a hearing. The appeal panel will only consider the record of the original hearing and the content of your written appeal.
- You are not allowed to address the appeal panel in person.
- You don't begin with a presumption of “innocence.” In fact, you've been found “guilty,” and the panel will presume you to be such unless you can convince them otherwise.
None of these factors means you shouldn't appeal. If you've been suspended or dismissed, you really have nothing to lose at this point. And students can and do win cases on appeal.
You're going to need help, though. You need an attorney, and you don't just want any attorney. You want someone who recognizes the importance of your appeal document, someone who has worked with faculty and administrators enough to know what they expect from these documents, and someone who has experience not just representing clients but representing student clients in campus judicial matters. You want someone from the Lento Law Firm.
Ultimately, the appeal panel can choose one of three options:
- Uphold the original decision
- Reduce the sanction
- Return the case to the original hearing body for a new hearing
One final note about appeals: the appeal panel cannot increase your sanction. Again, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by appealing your case.
One Final Option: Direct Negotiation
If your appeal should fail, you do have one final option: you can try negotiating with Princeton's administration. Negotiations like these are outside the university's judicial system, and it is no easy task convincing a school's administrators that it is worthwhile for them to undertake such negotiations. However, the fact that you're working with a Lento Law Firm attorney gives you certain advantages other students don't have.
We work specifically in the field of student rights. That means we spend part of every day talking with faculty and administrators at colleges and universities. We also visit regularly with the school's Office of General Counsel. The Office of General Counsel is an attorney or a law firm that schools retain for the purpose of legal advice. When problems come up, the Office of General Counsel tells administrators what legal ramifications they face. One reason we're adept at appeals is that our relationships with both administrators and General Counsel attorneys inform our approaches.
We can also sometimes use these relationships to broker a deal above and beyond the university's judicial system. In such cases, it may be possible to get a school to allow a student to graduate or, failing that, to remove disciplinary notations from their transcripts.
Fight For Your Future
We need to be absolutely clear: we cannot guarantee 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 Lento 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.
Don't wait, though. Again, Princeton University gives you just five days to file your appeal. Contact the Lento Law Firm today at 888-535-3686 or use our online form.
