How to Defend a Public School Student in a Disciplinary Hearing

In the 2017-2018 school year, 2.5 million students received out-of-school suspensions, barring them from accessing their education. Another 101,000 students were expelled. Tragically, public school students often become the victims of draconian punishment measures that do not have the student's best interests in mind. In this program, attorney Mark Gutman will discuss key decisions from the Supreme Court of the United States and highlight where to find important state and local laws related to disciplinary hearings for students in public schools.

This program is for attorneys who are interested in helping public school students who are facing disciplinary hearings because of alleged misconduct. The purpose of this program is to help attorneys enter the disciplinary hearing prepared with up-to-date legal arguments and persuasive policy arguments or avoid the hearing altogether with compelling negotiation tactics.

1. Identify what rights students have on a federal level 

2. Explore potential issues to bring up in the disciplinary hearing, rather than focusing solely on the alleged misconduct

3. Determine appealable issues

4. Examine options outside of litigation