In April of 2024, the Department of Education approved New Title IX rules, which are scheduled to take effect on August 1, 2024. Our firm is closely monitoring ongoing challenges to these new rules in court, and is working hard to provide you the most up-to-date information. Click here to learn about the current state of Title IX and how we can help if you are facing accusations.
If you're a student at a college or university in Hawaii and you're facing a Title IX hearing, it's critical to take the necessary steps well in advance of the hearing. Prior to the hearing itself, the school will present an investigation report. Prior to it being finalized, the report has to be responded to as comprehensively as possible. It would have to include all necessary documentation, evidence, information, whether it includes, say, a toxicology report, a forensic evaluation, text messages involved in the matter. It would have to be responded to and presented it to the school, because that investigation report itself is presented to the panel in advance of the hearing. So the hearing panel, they would review it in advance of the hearing. They would have a strong sense of the case before the hearing even takes place.
For the hearing itself, an opening and closing statement would have to be prepared. Questions for all witnesses would have to be prepared. A party would need to be prepped to be able to bear in mind potential missteps or what can arise during the course of the hearing. The hearing panel itself would have to be considered for any potential bias or conflict of interest. Many steps have to be taken to ensure the prospect of a fair and favorable Title IX hearing.
