DU Sturm College of Law Student Defense Lawyer

Sturm College of Law students reach me at three moments: when an Honor Code complaint is filed, when a University of Denver conduct matter arrives from Student Rights & Responsibilities, and — later than it should be — after a decision about academic standing, probation or continued enrollment has already been made. In law school all three carry a consequence other students do not face, because the file follows you into bar character and fitness review.

How do student discipline and dismissal cases work at DU Sturm College of Law?

The University of Denver is private, which changes the starting point. There is no Fourteenth Amendment claim against a private university, so the constitutional due process framework that governs public campuses does not apply directly. What applies instead is the school’s own published rules, enforced principally as a matter of contract and the covenant of good faith, together with the federal statutes that reach private institutions receiving federal funds — Title IX and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, alongside the ADA. In practice that makes the written policy more important here, not less: the promise the university made in its own documents is the measure of what it owes you.

Where do DU Sturm College of Law cases come from?

There are two codes, and law students are bound by both. The Sturm College of Law Honor Code governs academic integrity and professional conduct within the law school, and summaries of its decisions are made available to the law school community through the university portal — a detail worth understanding early, because it means a resolution is not simply a private matter between you and the dean. The University of Denver Honor Code applies on top of it, administered through Student Rights & Responsibilities, along with other university policies. Conduct that occurs outside the Ricketson Law Building can land under the university code even when the consequences land on your law school record.

Academic standing is a third track. Progression, probation and dismissal decisions are handled through the law school’s own academic structure and the Office of Student Affairs rather than through either honor code, and support programs such as the Academic Achievement Program and the Bar Success Program often sit near those decisions. That proximity cuts both ways: participation can be evidence of engagement, and it can also be the record a committee later reads.

Which process are you in, and why does that matter?

The label on your letter controls the deadline, the decision-maker, and how much process you are owed. A law school Honor Code charge, a university conduct matter, and a decision about academic standing or dismissal are three different tracks, and a Title IX or protected-class matter is a fourth. Running through all of them is ABA Standard 504, which requires law schools to tell students that every U.S. jurisdiction imposes character, fitness and other qualifications for admission beyond the bar examination, and to apprise entering students of the importance of determining those requirements.

What should you do first?

Pull the current law school Honor Code, the University of Denver Honor Code and the academic standards that apply to your class from DU’s own sites rather than from a summary, including this one. Read the exam instructions and the course policy on collaboration and AI use alongside them. Calendar the deadline, request the file the school is relying on, and preserve drafts, version history, timestamps and messages before they age out. Do not sit for an interview until you understand the evidence. If accommodations are part of the story, the Disability Services Program record belongs in front of the decision-maker early rather than first on appeal.

What does DU Sturm’s own policy actually say?

At DU Sturm academic cases go to a Faculty Honor Board convened and chaired by the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, with the Dean of the law school hearing appeals; non-academic student conduct is referred out to the University’s Office of Student Rights & Responsibilities. The Honor Code was originally adopted August 9, 2022 and amended May 9, 2023, May 14, 2024 and May 12, 2026, effective August 15, 2026. An appeal is due within ten business days of notification of the Board’s determination, and the Code closes the door firmly: “If no appeal is submitted by Respondent within ten (10) business days, the Dean will take no further action and there will be no further routes of appeal.” The standard is a preponderance of the evidence. A Support Person of the Respondent’s choosing, expressly including an attorney, may attend the investigatory meeting but “may not speak on behalf of the Respondent or otherwise actively participate.”

• Conduct office: Faculty Honor Board, chaired by the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs; the Dean of the law school hears appeals, and non-academic conduct goes to the University’s Office of Student Rights & Responsibilities
• Governing policy: Sturm College of Law Honor Code, AY 2026-2027 — no policy number; adopted August 9, 2022, amended May 9, 2023, May 14, 2024 and May 12, 2026, effective August 15, 2026. An older edition effective August 17, 2024 is still reachable on the site.
• Academic integrity: The SCOL Honor Code is the academic integrity code; law students are also subject to the University of Denver Honor Code: Student Rights & Responsibilities
• Appeal window: Ten (10) business days of notification of the Faculty Honor Board’s determination, in writing to the Dean, with no further route of appeal if the window passes; the Dean issues a final determination within twenty (20) business days
• Standard of proof: Preponderance of the evidence — the Respondent is found responsible only if a preponderance supports a finding of one or more violations
• Advisor: A Support Person of the Respondent’s choosing at the investigatory meeting, expressly including an attorney but excluding anyone who is a party or witness; the Support Person may not speak for the Respondent or actively participate, and may not attend if the Respondent is not present. Under DU’s parent policy the student must personally write and submit any appeal.
• Title IX / equal opportunity: Office of Equal Opportunity & Title IX, University of Denver; the Honor Code requires the Board to refer in-scope allegations there
• Disability accommodations: Student Disability Services (SDS), University of Denver

The bar-reporting language here is the most explicit in this dataset, and it does not stop at graduation. The Code contemplates release of Honor Code information “in conjunction with certification for one or more bar authorities,” and provides that where violations surface after graduation, “the SCOL may amend any prior certifications submitted to bar authorities, and the University may initiate the degree revocation process.” Conferral can also be withheld while a proceeding runs. Contesting a finding here is a character-and-fitness question, not only a school one.

What can a student defense lawyer do here?

A federal claim arising at DU Sturm College of Law — Title IX or Section 504 and the ADA — is filed in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, where I am admitted to the bar. That court grants no pro hac vice admission at all: a lawyer is either a member of its bar or cannot appear there.

• Reading the governing policy against the charge or decision letter
• Helping you prepare your account, your documents, and your questions
• Testing whether the law school followed its own published procedures
• Scrutinizing software-based evidence, including AI-detection and similarity reports
• Assisting with the written response and appeal, to the extent the policy permits
• Serving as your advisor where the process allows it
• Negotiating sanction terms, notations, and disclosure language with bar admission in view

What a lawyer may actually do in your case depends on that school’s policy. Some tracks permit an advisor of choice who may be an attorney, some permit a non-participating advisor, and some permit no outside person at all. Reading the current policy is the first step, because it determines what form the assistance can take.

Other Colorado schools

Every school writes its own dismissal, appeal and conduct rules, and the filing deadlines are rarely the same from one campus to the next. These pages set out the procedure at other Colorado schools:

• University of Colorado Law School
• Arizona College of Nursing Aurora
• Denver College of Nursing

Common questions about DU Sturm College of Law student cases

DU is private. Does that mean I have no rights?

No. It means the source of the obligation is different. A private university is generally held to the rules it published, and Title IX and Section 504 apply to it as a recipient of federal funds. The practical effect is that the policy text, the notice you received, and the steps actually taken carry more weight than a constitutional argument would.

Will an Honor Code finding keep me from being admitted to the bar?

Not automatically. In Colorado, character and fitness is enforced by a Character and Fitness Committee of the Colorado Supreme Court under C.R.C.P. 208, and every other jurisdiction has its own body and its own questions. What usually causes trouble is the disclosure rather than the incident: an answer that does not match the school’s file, or an omission that surfaces later. That is why the wording of a finding matters now.

Can I resolve this quietly?

Sometimes, but ask what the record will look like before you agree to anything. Honor Code outcomes at the law school are summarized for the community, and licensing and employment applications ask their own questions. A resolution worth taking is one whose professionalism and fitness footprint you can describe accurately and briefly for the next ten years.

The full list of Colorado campuses is on the Colorado student defense page.

This is general information about the matters I handle and the law that applies to them. It is not legal advice about your situation, and the law in this area can change. For advice on your matter, start with the Full Read + Game Plan — your entire file read, straight answers, and exactly what to do next, in what order.

This page is informational and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the institution named on it.

Attorney advertising. Zachary Gaynor is licensed to practice law in Florida and is admitted to the bars of the United States District Courts for the Southern, Middle, and Northern Districts of Florida, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and the United States District Courts for the District of Colorado, the Northern and Southern Districts of Illinois, the District of Nebraska, the District of New Mexico, and the Western District of Wisconsin. Federal court admission is not a license to practice the law of the state in which the court sits; he is not licensed in Colorado and does not advise on Colorado state law. Colorado matters are handled through the framework described on the nationwide practice page — federal-law assessment, campus-process support where the school’s policy permits an advisor, federal litigation in the District of Colorado, and association with Colorado counsel where a state-court proceeding is required.

One Colorado-specific point worth knowing before you hire anyone: the District of Colorado grants no pro hac vice admission, so a lawyer is either already a member of that court’s bar or cannot file your case there at all. Here is what that means in practice.