Insights & News

If you or a loved one has been accused of Title IX sexual misconduct, then this could lead to an investigation that could lead to significant negative ramifications — not only could there be academic penalties that include expulsion, but you could be forever-gained with the label of a sex offender in your community (despite your innocence) due to the loose standards and procedures typical of a Title IX dispute. For the most part, Title IX investigations did not lead to particularly egregious outcomes until 2011, when the Obama Administration released the “Dear Colleague Letter,” which served as new guidance […]

If you or a loved one is facing an accusation of sexual misconduct pursuant to Title IX, then it’s reasonable to be concerned about the outcome — a Title IX case can lead to significant academic penalties (such as expulsion, suspension, and/or mandatory counseling) and if a guilty verdict is reached, then the accused student may be labeled as a sex offender, a stigma that could have a negative impact on their ability to integrate into normal society and even secure a thriving career into the future. Confused about the accusations and what comes next?  Contact a Title 9 attorney […]

In the past few months, three separate federal lawsuits have been brought against the Fairfax County School District (the tenth largest public school system in the country) for mishandling sexual misconduct investigations against accused students, for wrongfully punishing the accused, and for failing to ensure due process of law. By way of example, in one of the cases (that our firm is currently handling), the 18-year old male plaintiff witnessed a female student being slapped on the buttocks while in the school hallways.  The female student filed a complaint, and further accused the plaintiff of having sexually harassed her in […]

The law of “unintended consequences” – the actions of people and government have effects that are unanticipated – may well be on vividly harsh display shortly for Title IX. Among other things, the law requires schools, colleges and universities that receive federal funding to investigate claims of sexual harassment and assault against students. But depending on the outcome of a lawsuit currently on appeal in North Carolina, Title IX might end up being used to create a de facto “sex offenders” list at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill despite there being no trials or due process for […]