Most students think an appeal is a chance to retry their case, to complain about the outcome of their hearing, or to explain why the university got things wrong. If you're planning to file an appeal at the University of Connecticut, and this is what you think is involved, it's time to shift your thinking.
An appeal is a very particular legal procedure, and it requires a very particular approach. Whatever may have happened in your investigation and your hearing, you need brand new arguments now and brand new evidence. This is your very last opportunity. Appeals decisions are final, and everything about your future is at stake. Put simply, you can't afford to file your appeal on your own.
Luckily, you don't have to. The Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team stands ready to guide you through the appeals process at UConn and make sure your rights are protected. Why us? No one in the country knows more about student defense than we do. We've helped hundreds of students respond to every conceivable type of charge. We know the UConn judicial system, including what the university expects from appeals. We give you your absolute best chance at salvaging your college career.
Unfortunately, you have just five days to file your appeal. That's not a lot of time to get all of your materials together. Don't wait. Call the Lento Law Firm today at 888-535-3686, or use our online questionnaire to tell us more about your situation.
The Appeals Process at the University of Connecticut
Despite everything that's on the line, many of our clients don't initially take appeals seriously. To be fair, the process sounds pretty straightforward. You come up with arguments, you write everything up in a document, and you submit it to the appropriate "appellate body." Then, you wait for them to decide your fate. Nerve-wracking, but not hard, right?
The fact is, a good appeal, a successful appeal, takes an enormous amount of work, and that work must be completed in a very short timeframe. It also presents some unique challenges.
- First, you are not arguing about your innocence anymore. Most students have trouble accepting their guilty (“Not Responsible”) verdict, especially if they know they're innocent. From the university's perspective, though, you have been found Responsible for an offense, and repeating that you are innocent, over and over, won't accomplish much.
- Because you've been “officially” found Responsible for an offense, the playing field has shifted significantly. Up to now, the burden of proof rested on the university. You were presumed innocent, and UConn had to produce evidence that convinced decision-makers you “more likely than not” committed an offense. Now, you have the burden. You must convince an appellate official that the decision-makers mistreated you in some way, and you'll need convincing evidence to do that.
- You can use virtually any argument to defend your innocence. In contrast, appeals arguments are very specific. You're looking for "grounds," reasons why you deserve a second chance to make your case. UConn recognizes just three possible grounds.
- Some procedural error prevented you from receiving a fair hearing.
- New evidence has arisen, and not reviewing that evidence would unfairly penalize you.
- You've been given a sanction that is unfair or disproportionate to the offense.
- You will not have an opportunity to present your case in person. This may seem like an advantage. Putting together a hearing presentation can be stressful. Now, however, your entire case must be made in a written document, and that can be far more difficult to pull off.
- You are also restricted in terms of what evidence you can present to back your arguments. You can offer new evidence if you've discovered it in the ten days since the conclusion of the hearing. Otherwise, all of your proof must come from the record of the original hearing.
- Even if you should win your appeal, you will still have a great deal of work to do. Appellate bodies at UConn can only respond to your appeal in one of three ways. They can reaffirm the original decision in your case, they can reduce the severity of your sanction, or they can order a new hearing. At that point, you'd be back to arguing for your innocence once again.
Most students have seen their fair share of police procedurals and legal dramas on TV. It's never advisable to try and handle a university investigation and hearing on your own, but at least you have some sense of what's involved. Appeals, on the other hand, are a completely different animal. You need someone on your side who understands exactly what's required and who has experience filing appeals. You need someone from the Lento Law Firm.
What's at Stake
If winning an appeal sounds challenging, that's because it is. That doesn't mean you should simply give up and walk away. Here's why.
First, you just can't afford to walk away. If you're facing dismissal, that almost certainly means you'll wind up on the job market—and paying back any student loans—with no college degree on your resume. Dismissals always come with a transcript notation, and other schools won't usually consider you with that kind of history. You can recover from a suspension, but it's never easy. Once you leave school, it can be extremely difficult to get back into the academic routine. Plus, your transcript will also have a notation about your offense, and that will damage your job prospects.
Second, you can win your appeal. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't. University judicial systems make lots of mistakes. They are run by faculty and students with little to no legal training, and what might seem fair during a hearing often turns out to have been decidedly unfair in retrospect. Your Lento Law Firm attorney will go over every aspect of your case, looking for such mistakes. They'll put together a written document that is both compelling and clear. They'll monitor everything that happens to make sure you're treated fairly.
Fight For Your Future
You always deserve justice. If your university has failed to give it to you, it's your right to file an appeal. The Lento Law Firm can be the difference maker in that appeal. We'll fight hard to get you that justice, we'll protect your rights, and we'll make sure you get the best possible resolution to your case.
As we said in the beginning, though, you cannot afford to wait. Five days is not long to put together a strong appeal. Get started now. Contact the Lento Law Firm at 888-535-3686 or use our online form.
