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 who attends a Vermont college or university and you're facing a Title IV hearing, it's critical to take necessary steps in advance of the Title IX hearing itself. At a point in time during the course of the Title IX case, your school will prepare an investigation report. The report before being finalized needs to be responded to as strongly and as effectively as possible. At an absolute minimum relevant text messages, social media posts, pictures, videos, phone logs, witness statements, a forensic evaluation, a polygraph examination, a toxicology report if consent is an issue. All relevant documentation, information and evidence needs to be incorporated into the final report, because once finalized it gets presented to the panel. The panel reviews it in advance of the hearing and would have a strong sense of the case before the hearing even takes place. Attacking the accuser's credibility is key.
Questions would have to be prepared for the accuser and the accuser's witnesses with that in mind. An opening and closing statement would have to be prepared for the accused. And the accused would have to be prepared for possible missteps or pitfalls to be avoided during the course of the hearing. A hearing panel would have to be considered for potential bias and conflict. An attorney adviser can help an accused through the process, but especially to achieve the best possible outcome at a Title IX hearing.
