Title IX Defense Lawyer New York

A Title IX or campus sexual misconduct case is not a criminal case, and treating it like one is a mistake in both directions. It is an institutional proceeding. The school opens it, the school runs it, and the school decides it, under the policy that school has adopted. The rules that govern it are the rules that institution has in force for that matter. They are not uniform across New York campuses, and they are not something this page can state on your behalf.

That is not evasion. The federal regulations behind campus sexual misconduct procedure have been amended, litigated, and enjoined repeatedly, and what applies to a given matter depends on the institution and on which version of the rules governs it. Anything written here as a general procedural rule would be unreliable by the time it was read. The documents that control a case are the school’s own policy and the written notice of allegations the school provided.

A campus matter can also run alongside a criminal investigation arising from the same allegation, and what is said in one forum does not stay in that forum. Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C., founded in 1997, represents students and employees in New York campus proceedings and in the criminal matters that sometimes accompany them. Call (888) 437-7747 to request a consultation.

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What a New York Campus Sexual Misconduct Case Actually Is

A campus matter is an institution’s own process for deciding whether its policy was violated. No prosecuting authority brings it, no court presides over it, and the sanction at the end of it is an institutional sanction. What the process looks like, who investigates, who decides, what a hearing consists of, what a party may submit, and what review follows a decision, is set by that institution’s policy as that policy stands for the matter in question.

This page does not state those procedures, and the reason is straightforward. The federal rules in this area have changed more than once, have been challenged in court, and have been enjoined in part in some places and not in others. A sentence of the form “the standard is this” or “you have that long to respond” would be a sentence about a moving target. The reliable version of those answers sits in the specific documents the school has already handed over: the policy in force for the matter and the written notice of the allegations.

Running alongside the campus process there may be a criminal case, and the criminal case is governed by the Penal Law rather than by any school policy. Depending on the conduct alleged, a parallel New York charge might be brought under N.Y. Penal Law § 130.35, rape in the first degree, a class B felony; N.Y. Penal Law § 130.65, sexual abuse in the first degree, a class D felony; or N.Y. Penal Law § 130.52, forcible touching, a class A misdemeanor. Those are separate proceedings. A written statement, an interview answer, or a recorded account given in a campus process continues to exist after the campus process ends, and it can be sought in the criminal one. That connection is why the two tracks have to be handled with each other in view.

How Mr. Sris and the Firm’s Of Counsel Attorneys Handle These Cases

Mr. Sris, Owner and Founder of Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C., is a former prosecutor, and work on a campus matter starts where a charging attorney would start: with the document that states the allegation. Mr. Sris and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys ask for the written notice and the policy that governs the matter before advising a student on what to say, because those documents define the process the student is actually in.

From there the review is factual. What is alleged, in what words, on what occasions as the school has described them, and what the student is said to have done. Messages, application data, and the order in which accounts were given tend to carry weight in campus matters as they do in criminal ones, and they are gathered while they still exist rather than after a device has been replaced or an account closed.

The parallel criminal risk is assessed at the same time. A student may be asked to give an account on campus while a police investigation is open. What is said on campus does not become confidential because the campus process is not a court. Mr. Sris and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys address that exposure directly rather than treating the two tracks as unrelated.

Where the policy provides a step, a response, a meeting, a submission, or a review, the work is preparing for that step as the policy defines it. This page does not describe what those steps are, because they belong to the institution and not to a general account of campus procedure.

Who Handles These Matters

Mr. Sris is the Owner and Founder of the firm and a former prosecutor. He founded the practice in 1997, and it has concentrated in criminal defense since then. He is admitted in Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and New York.

A campus matter and a criminal matter are different proceedings, but they draw on the same underlying facts, and the work they demand overlaps: reading a written allegation closely and understanding how a record will read to someone who reviews it later. Time spent on the charging side is useful here because a campus file and a charging file share a tendency. Both are often assembled quickly, from a single perspective, before anyone has checked the surrounding material.

Mr. Sris and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys handle New York campus matters and the criminal cases that sometimes run beside them, with the assignment depending on the posture of the matter and on what the institution’s policy calls for at that stage.

Students and their families frequently make contact after a notice has already arrived and a response is due under the policy. The firm maintains 24/7 phone intake at (888) 437-7747, and consultations are by appointment. Request a consultation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a Title IX or campus misconduct case a criminal case?

No. The school opens it, the school investigates it, and the school decides it under the policy it has adopted, and the outcome is an institutional outcome rather than a criminal one. A criminal case, where there is one, is a separate matter brought under the Penal Law in a court. They can arise from the same allegation and run at the same time, but neither controls the other, and each has to be handled with the other in view.

Where do the rules for my campus case come from?

From your institution, and from the rules in force for your matter. This page does not state campus procedure, and that is deliberate rather than evasive. The federal regulations in this area have been amended, litigated, and enjoined repeatedly, and what applies to a given case depends on the institution and on which version governs it. The documents that actually control are the school’s own policy and the written notice of allegations the school gave you. Anyone in a campus matter should obtain both and read them with counsel before responding.

Can what I say in a campus process be used in a criminal case?

It can be sought. A campus proceeding is not a court, and participating in one does not make an account confidential. Written statements, interview answers, and submissions continue to exist after the process ends, and they can be requested by others later. What is said in one place has been said, and it does not stop being said because the forum was institutional rather than criminal.

What criminal charges can accompany a campus allegation in New York?

Depending on the conduct described, a parallel New York charge might be brought under N.Y. Penal Law § 130.35, rape in the first degree, a class B felony; N.Y. Penal Law § 130.65, sexual abuse in the first degree, a class D felony; or N.Y. Penal Law § 130.52, forcible touching, a class A misdemeanor. Whether a charge is brought at all is a decision for a prosecuting authority, and a campus finding is not a criminal charge.

What should I do before responding to a notice from my school?

Collect the documents and get advice. The notice itself and the policy it refers to define the process you are in, and reading them together is the starting point. Preserve messages, application data, and anything else bearing on the timeline before devices are replaced or accounts are closed. Then speak with counsel about responding within the process as your institution defines it. Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C. maintains 24/7 phone intake at (888) 437-7747. Request a consultation.

This page provides general information and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Case results depend on a variety of factors unique to each case. Results may vary.

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