Why You Need an Experienced Student Defense Attorney for On-Campus Issues
People usually stick with who they know. If you or your student is facing a legal crisis on campus or a contentious IEP meeting, your first instinct might be to reach out to the attorney who wrote your grandmother’s will. Maybe you think of your wife’s college roommate who works at a corporate firm, or the local lawyer who handled your uncle’s divorce. You might even consider the aggressive attorney who talked you right out of a DUI charge last summer.
These professionals are likely very good at what they do. But putting your academic future in their hands is a bad idea. Education law and student defense are unique areas of practice. Bringing the wrong kind of lawyer into a school dispute often makes a bad situation much worse.
If you or your child is facing a school-related issue, you need a team that understands the education system. Call the LLF National Law Firm Student Defense Team at 888-535-3686 or contact us online.
Schools Do Not Play by the Courtroom’s Rules
A traditional courtroom features a neutral judge and highly detailed, strict rules of procedure and evidence. The defendant cannot be found guilty unless there is evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. This is the general rule across the country, regardless of whether someone is accused of a misdemeanor in Massachusetts or charged with several felonies in Hawaii.
Schools are the exact opposite. For example, if a college student is accused of academic misconduct, the school may only provide them with a few minutes to explain their side of the story to the professor who accused them. Yet at a university across town, the student may have to file several documents under tight deadlines and then face a tribunal composed of administrators. A small college upstate may have entirely different procedures altogether. Whether your student is K-12 or in college, the only consistency between schools is that there is no consistency at all.
Additionally, the burden of proof for an adverse ruling in school hearings is usually very low. Unlike criminal courts, the school only needs to find that the student “more likely than not” committed the alleged infraction. This means that even if the proof against the student is inconclusive or unreliable, the school can still rule against the student.
Protect Your Future with Highly Experienced Education Law Attorneys
You wouldn’t go to a pathologist if you needed a surgeon. Although both are doctors, they have significantly different training and skill sets. The same is true when you or your student is having issues with their school or college. Aggressive tactics that might work in a criminal courtroom or extensive knowledge of probate law rarely transfer smoothly to education disputes.
The LLF National Law Firm Student Defense Team has many years of experience defending students across the country from preschool to graduate school. Whether your first grader needs an IEP plan or you are a medical student accused of unprofessional behavior, our team is here to help.
Let us protect your rights. Call our offices today at 888-535-3686 or contact us online.