Title IX Defense Lawyer Washington DC

A campus sexual misconduct matter at a college or university in the District of Columbia is an institutional proceeding. The school runs it, school personnel decide it, and the rules that govern it are the rules the institution has written into its own policy. It is not a criminal prosecution, and the person deciding it is not a judge.

This page does not tell you what procedure applies to your matter. The federal regulations that shape campus sexual misconduct proceedings have been amended, litigated, and enjoined repeatedly, so what applies depends on the institution and on the rules in force for that particular matter. A general account of deadlines, standards, hearing formats, or review rights would be unreliable, and an unreliable account of a process that can end a student’s enrollment is worse than none at all. The documents that control are the school’s policy and the written notice the student received.

Mr. Sris, Owner and Founder of Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C., is admitted in Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and New York. The firm has practiced since 1997 and maintains 24/7 phone intake. To have the policy and the notice reviewed, call (888) 437-7747.

On this page

What a Campus Proceeding Is, and What This Page Leaves Out

A campus matter and a criminal case answer different questions for different audiences. The campus proceeding asks whether the institution’s own policy was violated and what the institution will do about it as a matter of the student’s standing with the school. A criminal case asks whether the government can prove a criminal offense, and it is filed in court rather than on campus. Neither result decides the other. A student can face both at once, one without the other, or the campus matter while the criminal question is still open.

Where a criminal charge does exist in the District, it is charged under the District code rather than under any school policy. The District has no offense named “rape.” The analogue is first degree sexual abuse under D.C. Code § 22-3002, punishable by any term of years or life plus a fine. Misdemeanor sexual abuse under D.C. Code § 22-3006 is punishable by up to 180 days plus a fine, and by up to 3 years where the person has 3 or more prior misdemeanor sexual abuse convictions. These sections are the only authorities this page cites, and they are cited only to describe a parallel criminal charge.

What this page does not state is equally deliberate. It does not state a deadline for responding to a notice, a standard of proof, whether a live hearing occurs, whether questioning of witnesses is permitted and by whom, or whether an internal review of an outcome is available. Those points are not omitted for brevity. They are omitted because the governing federal regulations have changed repeatedly, and presenting any of them as settled would mislead a reader whose institution may be operating under a different set of rules than the one described. The answer for a specific student is in that student’s policy and notice, read together, by counsel.

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

The engagement begins with the controlling documents. Mr. Sris and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys read the institution’s policy as it applies to the matter, read the written notice the student received, and compare them. The notice states what conduct is alleged and which policy provisions are said to have been violated. The policy states how the institution says it will proceed. Reading them against each other turns a frightening letter into a defined problem with a defined scope.

From there the work is factual. The student’s own record of events is assembled: messages, timestamps, location data, class and work schedules, and the names of people who can speak to what they observed. Material of this kind degrades quickly, and platforms delete it on their own schedules, so preservation comes early rather than late.

The parallel criminal question is managed at the same time. If police or prosecutors are involved, or may become involved, what a student says inside a campus process does not stay inside it. That risk is assessed before the student says anything, not afterward. A student who treats the campus process as a private conversation can hand a prosecutor a statement that was never necessary.

The role counsel may play inside the proceeding itself is set by the institution’s policy, and it varies. Whatever that role turns out to be, the preparation, the document review, and the advice happen regardless. Clients are told what the record supports and what it does not, and no outcome is promised. Request a consultation.

Mr. Sris and the Firm’s Of Counsel Attorneys

Mr. Sris is the Owner and Founder of the firm, which he founded in 1997. He is a former prosecutor, and he is admitted in Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and New York. His practice concentrates in criminal defense, which is the relevant discipline when a campus allegation also carries criminal exposure. The campus matter and the criminal question are assessed together.

Other attorneys at the firm serve as Of Counsel. Matters are staffed as Mr. Sris and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys, and no individual attorney is named here, because who appears depends on the matter and on the jurisdiction. A client is told at intake who will handle the file.

Campus matters draw on ordinary defense habits: read the charging document, which here is the notice; hold an account to the record; identify what is asserted without support; and prepare the client to speak carefully or not at all. What differs is the forum, and the forum’s rules come from the institution’s policy rather than from a statute or a court rule. That is why the firm asks for the policy and the notice before anything else.

Consultations are arranged through the firm’s 24/7 phone intake. Request a consultation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a campus Title IX matter a criminal case?

No. It is an institutional proceeding conducted by the school under the school’s own policy, and its outcome concerns the student’s standing with the institution. A criminal case is brought by the government in court under the District code. Both can run at the same time and can reach different results, because they ask different questions and are decided by different people. A student should not assume that a favorable campus outcome resolves criminal exposure, or that the absence of a criminal charge ends the campus matter.

What rules will apply to my case?

That depends on the institution and on the rules in force for your matter, which is why this page does not state them. The federal regulations governing campus sexual misconduct proceedings have been amended, challenged in court, and enjoined, and schools have revised their policies at different times in response. The reliable source is the policy your institution applies to your matter, together with the written notice you received. Bring both to counsel before responding to anything. A description written for a different school, or for an earlier version of the rules, is not a safe guide.

Can I have a lawyer with me in the process?

The role an attorney or advisor may play inside a campus proceeding is defined by the institution’s policy, and it differs from school to school. This page does not state what your policy permits, because that is a document-specific question. What does not depend on the policy is the work done outside the room: reviewing the notice, assembling and preserving evidence, assessing criminal exposure, and preparing what the student will and will not say. Counsel can do that work whatever role the policy allows.

Could I also be criminally charged?

It is possible. A report to an institution and a report to police are separate acts, and either can occur without the other. If prosecutors charge a District offense, it is charged under the District code. First degree sexual abuse appears at D.C. Code § 22-3002 and is punishable by any term of years or life plus a fine. Misdemeanor sexual abuse appears at D.C. Code § 22-3006 and is punishable by up to 180 days plus a fine, or up to 3 years where the person has 3 or more prior misdemeanor sexual abuse convictions.

I just received a notice from my school. What should I do?

Keep it in the form you received it, and do not respond before counsel has read it alongside the policy it cites. Write down your own account of events while the details are fresh, and preserve messages, photographs, and anything else carrying a timestamp. Do not contact the complaining party or ask friends to do so for you. Then have the documents reviewed. The sooner the notice is read against the policy, the more options remain. Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C. maintains 24/7 phone intake. Request a consultation, or call (888) 437-7747.

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.

Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.