Wisconsin Title IX Defense Attorneys

Defend Yourself During On-Campus Assault Investigations

Under Title IX laws, colleges and universities must perform investigations into any allegations of sexual assault and other sex crimes that occur on-campus or otherwise relate to the campus environment. These investigations may feel criminal in nature, but they are actually conducted by campus administrators, or a third party hired by the school. The Investigator is tasked with deciding whether or not they feel the school’s policies prohibiting sexual misconduct and harassment has been violated.

Some school’s procedures allow for the Investigator to recommend a punishment if they find the student responsible for violating the school’s policies. Since it is not technically a criminal law procedure, a student can be slammed with any penalty the administrators see fit, even if there is no evidence that a sex crime or similar incident ever occurred.

If you have been accused of a sex crime and now face a Title IX investigation in Wisconsin, Caplan & Tamburino Law Firm, P.A and our Title IX defense lawyers are here to protect your rights and education. You are allowed to hire a private attorney to be your advisor and guide you during a Title IX investigation. Make the most of your difficult situation by letting us be your legal counselors who can advise you of your best interests and assure your school is following not only their policies but federal mandates.

We are standing by to assist students from the following universities and colleges:

• University of Wisconsin
  • UW-La Crosse
  • UW-Superior
  • UW-Eau Claire
  • UW-Stout
  • UW-River Falls
• Chippewa Valley Technical College
  • Multiple locations
• Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College
  • Multiple locations
• Viterbo University in La Crosse, WI

Your defense needs to start right away. Call (612) 444-5020 today.

Title IX Laws & Regulations

Part of a federal civil rights law, Title IX makes it illegal for a college or university to discriminate against a student on the basis of sex. Title IX applies to all colleges and universities that receive any amount of federal funding. Therefore, Title IX applies to nearly all public and private higher education institutes.

Presently, Title IX has been used as a way to penalize those accused of sexual misconduct against another, as it is argued that failing to protect a student from a sex crime is a form of discrimination. Since a school could lose significant and necessary federal funding for failing to stop and penalize sexual misconduct affecting the campus environment, administrators feel pressured to penalize the accused, no matter the details of the situation. This puts you, an accused student or faculty member, in an unfair, one-sided situation from the beginning. You must do what you can to rebalance matters by teaming up with a reliable Title IX defense team like ours.

Title IX Investigations

When you are targeted by a Title IX investigation, you have to act quickly to defend yourself. The college will have policies in place to move along the investigation quickly. You are entitled to consult with an advisor of your choosing.

A college or university might do the following during an investigation:

• Interview you
• Interview the complaining party
• Interview alleged witnesses
• Collect apparent evidence
• Share information with local law enforcement authorities

During the course of a Title IX investigation, a decision must be reached by a preponderance of the evidence, whether or not a policy violation occurred. Not all institutions allow for a hearing where the accused may confront their accuser and cross examine their version of events. Therefore, it is essential to clearly and unequivocally provide your version of events to the investigator.

Penalties of Title IX Hearings

During a Title IX hearing, you will be given a chance to tell your side of the story and defend yourself from the accusations. Your accuser is afforded all the same opportunities as you will be. It may feel like a criminal process, but it is not. The outcome is not defined by law, but rather by the procedures outlined in the school’s policies.

If you are found responsible of a policy violation, penalization may include:

• Evicted from your dorm
• Removed from specific classes
• Attend educational classes
• Suspended for a defined period of time
• Expelled from the school
• Hold placed on your transcript
• Diploma withheld
• Dismissal from your faculty position

To prevent these penalties from happening at all, you have to thoroughly convince the Investigator that you did not commit the alleged policy violation, or that any penalty would be unjust. This is where our Wisconsin Title IX defense attorneys step in and take over for you. We can study your university’s consent policies for gray areas that may have caused the complication situation that led to accusations in the first place. We excel in protecting the rights of accused students, just as if we were protecting them from sex crime charges in criminal court.

Have you, your son, or your daughter been accused of sexually assaulting another student? Contact our Title IX defense lawyers at (612) 444-5020. We represent students in colleges and universities across Wisconsin.