The Title IX Process

Title IX investigations are fraught with pitfalls and dangers. Navigating one on your own and without the assistance of a Title IX advisor is the fastest way to shackle yourself with regret for the balance of your academic life and well beyond. When a college or university initiates an investigation, whether based on a complaint involving sexual assault, dating violence, stalking, or sexual contact without affirmative consent, the consequences can be life-altering. A single accusation can disrupt a student’s education, threaten a faculty member’s career, or tarnish an entire future before it even gets a chance to take off. At Saland Law, former prosecutor Jeremy Saland, criminal defense attorney, and Title IX advisor, brings his years of trial experience to bear in representing both complainants and respondents across the nation. Although headquartered in New York City, Saland Law understands the gravity and nuance of Title IX proceedings at academic institutions throughout the United States. Navigating the Title IX process requires more than legal knowledge, it demands strategy, diligence, and the ability to protect one’s rights at every phase.

Understanding how the Title IX process unfolds is essential for anyone facing an allegation or bringing forth a complaint. Below, we examine the major components of this complex procedure: investigations, hearings, appeals, informal resolutions, interim measures, and how these proceedings intersect with the criminal justice system.

Title IX Investigation Process

How Investigations Begin

A Title IX investigation is typically initiated when a student, faculty member, or staff member files a formal complaint alleging a violation. This might involve non-consensual sexual contact, harassment, or violence within a dating or intimate relationship. Once the Title IX Coordinator is notified, the school must assess whether the allegations fall under the jurisdiction of Title IX. If they do, a formal investigation is launched.

The Investigator’s Role

An assigned investigator, often a university employee or contracted external attorney, former police officer, or other trained “professional”, interviews the complainant, the respondent, and any witnesses. Both parties are allowed to present evidence, identify witnesses, and provide their version of events. During this phase, it is crucial to preserve text messages, emails, social media posts, or other digital and physical evidence that may corroborate or refute allegations. Similarly, it is essential to identify and secure witnesses to preserve and ultimately share what will be their testimony. Failing to do so can limit the ability to mount a full defense or establish the credibility, or lack of credibility, of a complaint.

The investigator will eventually compile a report summarizing the evidence. Before it is completedly, you will have an opportunity to edit, review and even provide additional evidence. In many institutions, this report becomes the foundation for deciding whether the matter proceeds to a live hearing. 

Rights During the Investigation

Under Title IX regulations, both the complainant and respondent have the right to an advisor. This right should not be squandered. At Saland Law, we serve in this capacity, guiding clients through interviews, preparing for statements, and ensuring their procedural rights are upheld. Equally important is the right to review and respond to the evidence before the report is finalized. That review period is not just a formality; it’s a critical window in which effective advocacy can shift the outcome of a case.

Importance of Preserving Evidence

What to Save and When

From the moment a Title IX allegation surfaces, evidence preservation becomes critical. Screenshots of messages, call logs, social media content, photographs, and eyewitness accounts should all be gathered promptly. These materials may support or undermine claims about affirmative consent, timelines, or motivations.

Time is not on your side in these cases. Digital content can be deleted or altered. Witness memories fade. The sooner evidence is collected and secured, the stronger your position becomes.

Institutional Failures and Your Defense

Schools do not always preserve evidence adequately. Surveillance footage may be erased. Key witness interviews may be overlooked. When institutions fail in this regard, it can be used to argue procedural unfairness or to seek dismissal of findings. Saland Law aggressively pursues discovery and evidence requests to ensure that clients are not disadvantaged by institutional negligence or indifference.

Hearing Procedures

The Structure of the Hearing

If the case advances beyond the investigation phase, it typically proceeds to a live hearing. This is where key factual disputes are examined and where credibility, and all the evidence your secured, becomes paramount. At this stage, the stakes increase dramatically. A finding of responsibility can result in suspension, expulsion, or, for faculty and staff, termination of employment.

During the hearing, both parties are allowed to question each other through their advisors. While the parties themselves may not cross-examine one another directly, advisors are permitted to ask questions, challenge inconsistencies, and highlight evidentiary gaps. This adversarial component introduces courtroom-like dynamics into what is still an administrative process.

The hearing is usually presided over by a panel or a hearing officer. They assess the facts, evaluate credibility, and apply the institution’s preponderance-of-the-evidence standard (more likely than not). It is not the same burden as in a criminal trial, but the ramifications are no less serious. Though different from a court proceeding, this is why it is an accepted truth, and one might argue an undisputable “fact”, that your advisor should have a trial attorney’s skillset and a prosecutor and criminal defense attorney’s experience.

Preparing for the Hearing

Effective hearing preparation often includes rehearsing direct and cross-examination questions, organizing exhibits, and anticipating arguments from the opposing side. Saland Law works closely with clients to craft a narrative that is not only legally sound but factually persuasive. In cases involving sexual assault or lack of affirmative consent, we explore whether incapacitation was truly present, whether communication was misunderstood, or whether the interaction has been mischaracterized. These factual nuances can make or break a case. 

Though the rules may vary from school to school, you should have the opportunity to present or read a written “opening” and “closing”. Sometimes word count is limited, but no matter its form, you and your advisor must use this opportunity to the fullest extent possible. Failure to do so may doom a respondent’s case.

Appeals Process

Grounds for Appeal

Following a hearing and a decision, either party has the right to appeal. In fact, if the respondent appeals, for example, the complainant generally has a chance to respond. The grounds are strict and limited and include procedural errors, new evidence that was previously unavailable, or evidence of bias or conflict of interest among the investigators or adjudicators. Some institutions may allow for broader appeal rights, while others narrowly constrain the basis on which a finding can be challenged, but the severity of a sanction, or lack thereof, is also a basis.

Strategy on Appeal

Have no misgivings: appeals must be handled with care. This is your last “bite” at exonerating yourself or challenging a wrongful finding whether you are a complainant or respondent. This is not a time to simply re-argue the case. Instead, appeals must target specific procedural defects or highlight crucial facts that were overlooked or misunderstood. At Saland Law, we evaluate each case individually to determine whether an appeal is likely to succeed or whether alternate post-resolution remedies may be available. Once we have identified the right angle, we draft your appeal in the most compelling means possible.

In some cases, even where the appeal fails, legal options outside the school—such as civil litigation or injunctive relief—may be appropriate. In New York State, for example, you may chose to pursue an Article 78 whereby you challenge a college or university’s decision as “arbitrary and capricious”. These are rare but not unheard of, particularly in cases where due process or basic fairness appears to have been violated.

Informal Resolutions

What They Are and When They Apply

Many schools offer an informal resolution process. These alternatives do not involve a formal hearing and may include facilitated discussions, mediation, or restorative justice practices. Informal resolution can be useful when both parties are open to mutual agreement and when the allegations, while serious, generally do not involve outright physical violence or threats to campus safety.

Informal resolution is entirely voluntary. Both parties must agree, and either party can withdraw from the process at any time before reaching a resolution. While this path lacks the formality of a full investigation and hearing, the outcome can still have long-lasting implications, including restrictions on campus access, probation, or mandatory counseling.

Risks and Benefits

Although informal resolution can preserve privacy and avoid the trauma of a hearing, it must be approached carefully. A rushed or uninformed decision can leave one party disadvantaged. With legal guidance from Saland Law, participants can negotiate agreements that protect their future while acknowledging the seriousness of the matter at hand.

Interim Measures

Types of Interim Actions

Even before an investigation concludes, schools often impose interim measures to protect the community and maintain educational access. These can include no-contact orders, changes to housing or class schedules, restrictions on campus access, or administrative suspensions.

In high-stakes cases involving allegations of sexual assault or dating violence, interim suspensions are common. While these are not formal findings of guilt, their impact can be immediate and severe. A student may be barred from classes, a faculty member placed on leave, or an employee prohibited from communicating with certain individuals.

Legal Challenges and Strategy

Interim measures must be tailored to avoid becoming punitive. Yet in practice, they often feel like punishment before due process has occurred. Challenging the scope or necessity of these measures is possible, but rarely easy. We assist clients in crafting written responses, requesting review hearings, and where necessary, initiating external advocacy to ensure fairness.

Parallel Criminal Proceedings

Dual-Track Exposure

Title IX proceedings exist independently of the criminal justice system. That means a person accused of sexual contact without consent, stalking, or intimate partner violence may simultaneously face both a campus hearing and a criminal investigation. The outcomes of these processes do not necessarily align. A finding of “not responsible” in a Title IX hearing does not guarantee immunity from prosecution, and vice versa.

This dual-track exposure introduces complex legal dynamics. What a student says in a campus interview might later be used against them in a criminal proceeding. Conversely, invoking the Fifth Amendment can be misunderstood by a campus adjudicator unfamiliar with constitutional protections.

Coordinated Representation

One of the most important services Saland Law offers is managing the intersection of campus and criminal liability. With a background as a former Manhattan prosecutor and criminal defense lawyer for multiple decades, Jeremy Saland understands how criminal investigations unfold and how evidence crosses from one forum to another. We coordinate messaging, limit exposure, and ensure that one proceeding does not inadvertently prejudice another.

Administrative Hearings vs. Criminal Trials

Key Differences

Administrative hearings under Title IX differ substantially from criminal trials. There are no formal rules of evidence. Hearsay is admissible. The burden of proof is lower. The trier of fact is routinely not legally trained even if the college or university claims they have gone through some training. And yet, the consequences, expulsion, loss of scholarships, damaged reputations, can rival those in the courtroom. This is why your Title IX advisor needs not just hands on courtroom experience, but the same real life experience in Title IX hearings.

The informality of Title IX hearings is a double-edged sword. While they are designed to be more accessible, that lack of structure can disadvantage those unfamiliar with legal strategy. A skilled advisor can bring much-needed order and advocacy to what might otherwise feel like a runaway process.

Why Legal Experience Matters

Because the stakes are so high and the procedures so distinct, experience matters. Saland Law brings courtroom discipline to these informal settings, balancing legal know-how with the practical realities of university bureaucracy.

Trusted Representation for a Complicated Process

The Title IX process is not just a policy; it is a legal battlefield where reputations, careers, and futures hang in the balance. Whether you are a student, faculty member, or administrator facing accusations or making a complaint, every decision you make can influence the outcome. With top-rated counsel from Saland Law, you will have a former prosecutor and criminal defense attorney in your corner serving as your advisor; one who knows how to navigate the pitfalls, fight for fairness, and advocate for your rights with clarity and conviction.

Saland Law is based in New York City but accepts Title IX cases nationwide. Whether the matter involves an Ivy League institution, a public university, or a private liberal arts college, we are ready to provide the advocacy you need.