The university that I attend is currently trying to dismiss me from my program due to an incident that occurred. Back in

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Customer: Hi. The university that I attend is currently trying to dismiss me from my program due to an incident that occurred. Back in September 2022, I was placed in the hospital on a section 12 due to being actively suicidal with a plan and for other mental health issues. While in the hospital recieving treatment I filled out a leave of absence form for the fall 2022 semester. At the time I was completing the form I was not in a good state of mind and I was extremely scared and anxious about needing time off from school. However, I did complete the form and included the name of a faculty member and said that I had talked with him when I had not yet. Then, for some reason that I still don't know, I falsified an email to him saing that I had tried to email him when again, I had not. Once I was discharged from the hospital we had a few mettings regarding the situation which is when the recommendation for dismissal happened. I did complete the appeal for this but the outcome did not change. During the time of the appeal, I was now dealing with a reaction to a medication that caused me to fall into a 2 week psychosis. During this state of psychosis I was so far from reality, I was extremely paranoid, could not recall events that had taken place the day before, and I was having severe auditory and visual hallucinations which caused me to do things that I know I would not have done if I were in reality. I did explain all of this to the school but they are still leaning towards dismissal. I have one final hearing next week so I wanted to figure out what kind of things I should be saying or focusing on, and what my rights are as a student and as a person with severe mental health issues.
JA: Because education law varies from place to place, can you tell me what state this is in?
Customer: Massachusetts
JA: Have you spoken to a local attorney or school administrator? What is your ideal outcome for this situation?
Customer: I have not been able to speak to a local attorney and I have spoken to the school administrators. My ideal outcome would be for me to be able to stay at the school to finish my last 3 classes.
JA: Is there anything else the Lawyer should know before I connect you? Rest assured that they'll be able to help you.
Customer: That is pretty much everthing, thank you
Answered by Dr. Monroe Mann in 1 min 5 months ago
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Dr. Monroe Mann
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Dr. Monroe Mann
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Dr. Monroe Mann
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1860 Satisfied customers

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Dr. Monroe Mann, Expert

Hello. I am reviewing and answering your question now.  One moment.
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Dr. Monroe Mann, Expert

Hello! My name is ***** ***** attorney. Thank you for reaching out to Just Answer, and thank you for giving me the opportunity to assist you today. The paragraph of text below is a standard disclaimer/reminder I share with all customers. You will find my actual response below this reminder. Finally, if you get a phone call request, that's not me making the request. You can simply disregard that, and we can chat by typing.

REMINDER: This is not legal advice. While I am a licensed NY attorney, I may not be licensed in your state, and therefore I am only entitled to share general legal information, rather than precise legal counsel for your particular situation. Therefore, this is not an attorney-client relationship, and you understand that I take no responsibility for any misinterpretations given that I have not seen any of the documents in question, and do not know the specifics of your particular state's law. I merely am giving you some general legal information that may or may not apply in your particular situation. I heartily suggest that--to gain absolutely clarity and to ensure you do indeed understand your situation--you should hire a local attorney in your state to ensure proper legal analysis is conducted. These answers I provide are merely an informative service to help you better understand the context around legal situations similar to your legal situation, but not necessarily particular to your legal situation.

I am terribly sorry to hear you are going through this difficulty. I can imagine how frustrating it must be, and I'm here to try to help!

First, I'm glad you're okay.

Second, you have an uphill battle because of all of the falsifying of correspondence.  The key is going to be to try to show that you were not in your right state of mind and that you are being treated now, and such behavior will not continue.

I'm happy to hear that you have one last hearing.  Do not go into the hearing alone.  Hire a local attorney who can help you.  If you only have one more chance (and it sounds like this is your final appeal), then you want to make it count.

Now, technically, if after this hearing, you are still not happy, you can consider filing a lawsuit against the school.  But... this is why you should hire an attorney now, so that you can set up your final appeal in such a way that it will help any future lawsuit.

To find a good local attorney, I recommend you check out http://www.martindale.com This is the biggest lawyer search company in the USA, and the search is free. Just type in relevant words such as your city, state, and the type of lawyer needed, for example: "Miami Criminal Defense" or "Juno Alaska Real Estate" or "Kansas City Contract Attorney". You will get a list of many competent attorneys. Get in touch with 5, 10, or even 50 until you find one you like, who you trust, and who is eager to take on your case. Sometimes it takes a lot of emails and phone calls to find the perfect attorney for your particular situation. And if you are persistent, you can usually always find a good attorney who you can afford. I honestly recommend you contact 50 of them or more, because those individuals who do reach out to about 50 prospective attorneys are consistently more likely to find the perfect lawyer. Those individuals who only interview a few attorneys sometimes do not choose the best person for the job. I know it seems like a big chore to reach out to so many, but if this legal matter is really important to you, you will spend the extra time on the front end to ensure you get the best person for your unique circumstances.

I hope this is helpful!

Note that I am not on my computer 24/7, so thank you too in advance for your patience with my responses. If ever you do not hear back from me within 24 hours, please don't hesitate to send a friendly follow up!

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