Student life can be very challenging, with the pressure to get good grades, pursue additional professional development programs and courses, manage one's social life, and much more. Owing to this pressure, many students find can themselves tangled in legal or disciplinary issues that they have never faced before and have no idea how to deal with.
Educational institutions have lengthy and complicated rules, policies, and codes of conduct, which students may sometimes find themselves in violation of. It can be very difficult and taxing to deal with a legal or disciplinary issue without the support of a seasoned legal professional or team, and trying to solve these problems on one's own can cause a lot of harm.
Schools and colleges are sometimes overzealous in punishing students they believe have violated their policies to set an example. They can also sometimes be mistaken and pursue false or unwarranted charges against a student. Undergoing punishment, which can include a failing grade, suspension, or expulsion, can be very damaging to a student's career and can have long-lasting implications for the future.
It is best to seek out professional legal representation to protect your interests. Attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento specializes in student defense and has many years of successful experience representing students in cases of academic, behavioral or sexual misconduct, and other legal concerns.
The Los Angeles Metropolitan Area
The Los Angeles metropolitan area, or Metro LA, is the second largest metropolitan region in the United States by population. It covers an area of 4,850 square miles.
With an economy exceeding $1 trillion in output, it is also the third largest metropolitan area by nominal GDP (gross domestic product) in the world. It covers Los Angeles and Orange counties and is made up of two metropolitan divisions: Los Angeles–Long Beach-Glendale, CA Metropolitan Division, and Anaheim–Santa Ana–Irvine, CA Metropolitan Division.
Some attorneys provide legal representation only in Los Angeles or in a single county, but attorney-advisor Joseph Lento knows the LA Metro Area extremely well and has over twenty years of experience representing students in the area and in other parts of the United States. He is extremely well-versed with and specializes in issues of student defense, including Title IX regulations, university codes of conduct, and misconduct allegations.
You can rely on the Lento Law Firm and Mr. Lento to provide a powerful defense strategy, represent your interests, and protect your career from unfair or unwarranted allegations.
Metropolitan Los Angeles Area Student Concerns
Students studying in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area can have unique and complex legal concerns. California is home to some of the United States' most premier schools and colleges and has more public universities and colleges than any other American state.
But this can bring with it a whole set of challenges as students attempt to navigate the complex codes of conduct and behavior of educational institutions in the LA Metro area. Los Angeles is known as the entertainment capital of the world and is defined by its rich culture, strongly shaped by the arts and entertainment industry. Students get the chance to experience different cultures and get the benefit of varied internship and networking opportunities.
But the cultural differences and logistical challenges of living in the LA metropolitan area, such as expensive housing costs, bring with it a new set of challenges and can impact student behavior, attendance, and performance.
Most schools and colleges in the LA Metro area have similar codes of conduct and follow California's laws regulating academic issues and misconduct. It can be very difficult to attempt to decode and understand these policies on one's own, and retaining an experienced student defense team like the Lento Law Firm can make the process much smoother and easier for you or your student. Attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm's student defense team specialize in addressing these unique and thorny concerns of students in the Los Angeles metro area.
Metro LA Area Schools
The metropolitan area of Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim is home to some of the United States' premier schools, colleges, universities, and specialty programs. Regardless of where your school or college is located or what programs it offers, attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm are available to provide stellar legal representation to students in the LA Metro Area. With years of experience representing students in complex legal cases, Mr. Lento can provide you or your student with an effective defense and is available to students at all colleges and universities in the LA Metro Area, including the following:
- California State University, Long Beach
- University of Southern California (USC)
- California State University-Fullerton
- Loyola Marymount University
- Azusa Pacific University
- Biola University
- Whittier College
- Mount Saint Mary's University
- Otis College of Art and Design
- California State University-Dominguez Hills
- Art Center College of Design
Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm's student defense team can also provide representation to students in technical, law, medicine, engineering, design, military colleges and universities, and specialty programs in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim metropolitan area. A few examples of institutions whose students the Lento Law Firm is available to represent include:
- California State Polytechnic University-Pomona
- California Institute of Technology – Pasadena
- West Coast University
- California Institute of Arts and Technology
- Gnomon — School of Visual Effects, Games & Animation
- Keller Graduate School of Management - Long Beach Center
- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
- American University of Health Sciences
- Pacific Coast University, School Of Law
- California University of Management & Sciences
- Newbridge College
- Bethesda University
- Pepperdine University - West Los Angeles Graduate Campus
Mr. Lento and the Lento Law Firm's student defense team are also available to provide a strong defense to students in kindergarten through grade twelve programs in public school districts across the LA Metro Area, including:
- Lynwood Unified
- Manhattan Beach Unified
- Monrovia Unified
- Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified
- San Marino Unified
- Santa Monica-Malibu Unified
- Saugus Union
- Los Angeles County Office of Education
- Acton-Agua Dulce Unified
- South Pasadena Unified
- Temple City Unified
- Walnut Valley Unified
- West Covina Unified
- Westside Union
- Whittier City
- William S. Hart Union High
- Wilsona Elementary
- Wiseburn Unified
- Centinela Valley Union High
- Charter Oak Unified
The Lento Law Firm also provides stellar legal representation to students in private elementary and secondary schools in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. To name just a few, these include:
- Berkeley Hall School
- Marlborough School
- International School of Los Angeles / Lycée International
- Fusion Academy Los Angeles
- Marymount High School
- Pilgrim School
- Brentwood School, East Campus
- Mirman School
- Page Academy Private School
- New Roads School
- Wilshire Private School
- Loyola High School
- Westridge School
- Mayfield Senior School
- Harvard-Westlake School
- Wildwood School
- West Hollywood College Preparatory School
- Le Lycee Francais De Los Angeles: Century City Campus
Disciplinary Defense in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area
Students can get into trouble for various disciplinary issues, and this can have a long-term impact on their career, often derailing it completely. You can be charged with academic performance issues like cheating allegations, or even weapons and drug charges, property damage issues, computer misuse issues, bullying, and sexual assault or harassment allegations. A powerful student defense team, like the one at the Lento Law Firm, can help protect your interests and rights and prevent your career from being harmed.
Attorney-advisor Lento has over 20 years experience in student defense and has successfully represented students from coast to coast against charges like:
Academic Progression Issues
Schools and colleges have certain academic standards to meet and are required to ensure that students meet the school's minimum standards with respect to performance, attendance, grades, and behavior, in order to pass.
This can cause educational institutions to take disciplinary action against students who don't meet these standards, often in the form of official warnings, probation, suspension, or even expulsion.
But these standards are not always applied uniformly or correctly, and school authorities may make errors while grading students or calculating their scores.
Sometimes, students can also have mitigating circumstances that justify poor performance, such as illness or death in the family. Attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm's student defense team can help students defend themselves against academic dismissal and other consequences.
Academic Misconduct Issues
Schools, colleges, and universities are expected to uphold a standard of integrity and ethics and take allegations of academic misconduct very seriously. Educational institutions often have an honor code or specific policies around academic integrity, like the East Los Angeles College (ELAC) Policy on Academic Honesty and the California Code of Regulations.
Academic integrity policies and honor codes prohibit unethical academic acts such as plagiarizing someone else's or one's own work, cheating on exams and assignments, paying someone else to complete assignments, faking information or data for reports, taking an exam for another person, failure to properly cite sources, using cheating materials, or taking credit for someone else's work.
Punishment for violating these rules can often be severe, from suspension to being asked to repeat a semester or year and even expulsion. This is because academic dishonesty negatively impacts a school's quality of education and standards and results in grades that do not reflect a student's true capability.
However, schools and colleges can make mistakes and sometimes end up mistakenly pursuing allegations of academic misconduct against students who are not at fault. In order to protect your rights and make sure you aren't wrongfully implicated in a case of plagiarism or cheating, you need a strong student defense team to represent you. Attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm have a long history of successfully representing students who are facing charges of academic misconduct.
Don't let an unwarranted or unfair charge ruin your career. Get legal representation to protect your reputation and career against false charges.
Behavioral Misconduct Issues
Schools and colleges are expected to maintain an environment that is safe for all students and conducive to learning. Students are typically required to follow elaborate codes of conduct and uphold standards for behavior. Some examples of educational institutions' policies on behavior include the Los Angeles Southwest College's Student Code of Conduct and Pepperdine University's Standards of Conduct.
These codes typically prohibit acts of bullying, drug abuse, violence or the use of weapons, willful disobedience and insubordination, unauthorized entry, threats, theft or damage to property, disruptive behavior, plagiarism and piracy, cyberbullying, and computer misuse.
But schools and colleges can misidentify perpetrators or make mistakes in pursuing charges against students. These charges are taken very seriously and result in severe disciplinary action, often leading to suspension or expulsion.
If you find yourself facing false and unwarranted charges, or have mitigating circumstances for your behavior, get in touch with a qualified student defense attorney-advisor like Joseph D. Lento, who has many years of experience defending students against charges of behavioral misconduct.
Title IX Sexual Misconduct Issues
Title IX regulations cover sexual misconduct and discrimination cases and require schools and colleges, especially those that receive federal funding, to strictly enforce these guidelines. Schools and colleges often have Title IX guidelines and policies that go beyond the scope of Title IX and include other forms of sexual misconduct, including sexual exploitation.
Getting incriminated in a Title IX case could have serious and potentially irreversible consequences on a student's career. Being charged with a Title IX violation could lead to suspension, expulsion, or even criminal charges.
Title IX policies in schools and colleges in the Metro LA Area, like the Los Angeles College of Music's Policies and Procedures, or the East Los Angeles College (ELAC) policy on Title IX, prohibit sexual discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual violence, stalking and intimate or domestic partner violence.
Many policies also extend to cover instances of solicitation or prostitution, sexual blackmail, cyberbullying, and threats.
Once again, school authorities can make mistakes and falsely accuse a student of a Title IX violation, which could be unwarranted and unsupported, but result in severe consequences.
A premier student defense attorney-advisor like Mr. Lento can protect your rights and help you put up a powerful defense against sexual misconduct charges.
School Discipline Defense Attorney-Advisor Value
Being charged with academic, behavioral, or sexual misconduct can have a severe impact on a student's career, record, and mental health and can put your professional future at risk. Even relatively minor charges of academic misconduct can result in a failing grade or temporary suspension, creating a gap in your academic transcripts.
Unexplained gaps can create problems while applying for employment or higher educational programs and can be a career hindrance.
It is in your best interests to retain experienced and premier legal representation like the Lento Law Firm to prevent an undesirable outcome in a misconduct case. Inexperienced or unqualified legal representation can damage your career and academic record.
The Lento Law Firm specializes in student defense and has in-depth knowledge of student defense issues, including Title IX policies, academic behavioral policies, and student codes of conduct and honor.
Contact Mr. Lento and the Lento Law Firm's student defense team today. Call 888.535.3686 or contact us online.
