You may have lost your disciplinary hearing at Notre Dame. You may be facing a serious sanction, like suspension or even outright dismissal. Your case isn't over just yet, though. You still have the right to appeal the hearing outcome, and that could gain you a lighter sanction or a new hearing and a new chance to prove your innocence.
You may not have hired an attorney to help you with your investigation and hearing. Or, you may have hired a local attorney, thinking that a university hearing wouldn't be all that serious or the punishment if you lost your case wouldn't be all that severe. You know better now. Campus judicial procedures can be every bit as complicated as criminal court cases, and often, just as much is on the line. You need the best help you can get. You need an attorney from the Lento Law Firm.
The Lento Law Firm isn't your average law firm. Our Student Defense Team was formed to protect student rights, and we've helped hundreds of students just like you fight all types of charges and salvage their academic careers. We know the law, we know how Notre Dame operates, and we're always on your side.
We're also just a phone call away. Dial 888-535-3686, or use our online questionnaire right now to tell us more about your case. You want to move quickly, though. You have just seven calendar days from the end of your hearing to file your appeal.
It's Your Right – Use It
Students are sometimes hesitant to file appeals. We get it: you've just been through a traumatic experience. You found yourself accused of misconduct, you suffered through an investigation, you endured an appeal, and you kept going to class through all of it. You're exhausted, and it can be tempting at this point to just walk away.
Don't.
In the first place, the stakes are simply too high to walk away from UND now. Dismissal, of course, means all your hard work at UND will have been for nothing. Even suspension can ruin your academic progress since it can be incredibly hard to get back into the academic swing of things once you've been away from college for a semester or two. In addition, though, your transcript will forever contain a record of your offense, and that will almost certainly keep you out of other colleges and universities. Walk away now, and your studies might be at an end.
It's also true, though, that you deserve the right to appeal your case. It may not seem like it at this point, but UND does want to make sure justice is done. That's why you were treated as Not Responsible (innocent) up until the point when you were proven Responsible (guilty). It's why you were allowed to review evidence in your case and to choose an attorney to advise you as you prepared for your hearing.
You may not have used all of your rights effectively up to this point. That's understandable: you're not an attorney. Make sure you don't mess up this final opportunity to get justice.
The Appeals Process at UND
You do have the right to appeal, and you should use it. It's important you recognize, though, that you have already used up a number of your rights as the Respondent (accused). Crucially, for instance, you're no longer "Not Responsible." You've been proven "Responsible" at a hearing. That means the burden is now on you to prove you deserve a new hearing, and that's no simple matter.
If you're looking to file a “case review” at UND, your first job is to establish "grounds" for that review. You're not arguing for your innocence at this point. You're arguing that you were treated unfairly by the judicial process. Notre Dame recognizes just two possible grounds for a review:
- Some procedural error occurred substantial enough to have potentially altered the outcome of the case.
- Some new evidence has come to light that was not available at the time of the original hearing and that, again, could potentially change the outcome of the case.
You submit your review to the Conduct Case Review Board. The Office of Community Standards, which coordinated your original investigation and hearing, has an opportunity to respond. The Board then reviews your material and renders a decision. Here again, the process is not like what you've been through before, and in most ways, you're at a greater disadvantage now.
- The Conduct Case Review Board does not hold hearings. That's important because it means decision-makers won't have the opportunity to meet you in person, and you won't have the opportunity to use your own voice to argue for your innocence. Your written appeal and supporting documents must communicate effectively on your behalf.
- With the exception of new evidence, you cannot present evidence or witness testimony to the Board. A review is not an opportunity to re-try your case. The Board is solely interested in whether or not you were given a fair investigation and hearing.
- Should you win your review, you haven't won your case. A win simply means you get the opportunity to present your case at a new hearing under fair circumstances.
Fight for Your Future
As we mentioned, the stakes are high, and a review is your right. It's also the case that students can and do win appeals. Keep in mind that you aren't dealing with the U.S. court system. You didn't face a seasoned prosecutor and a learned judge. In all likelihood, your original hearing took place in a classroom, and the decision was rendered by a handful of faculty and students with minimal training in judicial procedures. Given those circumstances, it's entirely likely that you were mistreated in some important way. You have to prove it, though. You have to fight.
The Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team is here to help you with that fight. We can help you examine the hearing record, identify problems in that record, and develop grounds for appeal. We can work with you to draft a strong document, one that makes your case clear and strong and puts you in the best possible light.
No one can promise to win your case. You've already been found responsible, and at this point, you face an uphill battle. Here's what we can promise, though: no one gives you a better chance of winning your appeal than the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team. No one knows the UND system like we do, and no one is better positioned to leverage that system to your benefit.
You cannot afford to wait, though. The window for filing your appeal at Notre Dame is just seven calendar days, and there's a lot to be done. Contact the Lento Law Firm today at 888-535-3686 or use our online form.
