University of Denver Student Defense Lawyer
University of Denver students contact me about Honor Code allegations, conduct charges, Title IX matters, and academic-standing decisions inside graduate and professional programs. DU is private, which changes the legal frame without changing the practical work: the case is still decided on the written policy and on what the university actually did.
Overview
DU is a private university, so the constitutional cases are not the frame. The relationship is contractual, and the Honor Code, the student handbook, the bulletin, and the program handbook are the contract. The question is whether DU did what its own published documents promised — the theory behind breach of contract against universities. DU republishes its Honor Code each academic year, so the edition that governs your case is the one in force when the conduct occurred, not the one currently posted. Get both if the dates are close.
Where DU cases come from
The Honor Code is DU’s student code of conduct, administered by the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities. It is organized around three stated values — integrity, respect, and responsibility — and it sets out the expectations, rights, and responsibilities of every student. Language of that kind is broad by design, which cuts both ways: it gives the university reach, and it gives a well-documented response room to argue that the conduct alleged does not actually fit the provision charged.
Cases come from across the university: the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences; the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics; the College of Professional Studies; the Daniel Felix Ritchie School of Engineering and Computer Science; the Daniels College of Business; the Josef Korbel School of Global and Public Affairs; the Morgridge College of Education; the Graduate School of Social Work; the Graduate School of Professional Psychology; and the Sturm College of Law, which opened in 1892. The professional programs are where the stakes change. Psychology and social work students face practicum and fitness review, and Sturm students face academic-standing decisions that feed directly into bar character and fitness — see law school dismissal and academic standing.
Which process you are in matters
Identify the track first. An academic integrity allegation, a Title IX or sexual misconduct matter, and an academic dismissal or program dismissal decision have different decision-makers, different appeal rights, and different rules about what an advisor may do. Graduate and professional students should watch for fitness and practicum review, which often arrives without any misconduct charge attached.
What to do first
Download the Honor Code edition in force for the relevant year from DU rather than from a summary, including this one, and download your program handbook if you are in a graduate or professional program. Read the syllabus alongside them. Calendar the deadline in writing, request the file the university is relying on, and preserve drafts, version history, and messages before they age out. Do not sit for an interview until you understand what the evidence actually is.
What I can help with
- Reading the governing policy against the charge or decision letter
- Helping you prepare your account, your documents, and your questions
- Testing whether DU 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
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.
Common questions
DU is private. Do I have fewer rights?
Different rights, not necessarily fewer. Constitutional due process does not apply, but the Honor Code and the handbooks are enforceable commitments about how the university will proceed, and private institutions are frequently more procedurally careful than public ones because that contract is the whole of their exposure.
Which version of the Honor Code applies to me?
Ordinarily the edition in force when the conduct occurred. DU publishes the Honor Code by academic year, and a decision letter that quotes the current edition against older conduct is worth checking line by line before you respond.
I am a Sturm law student. How much does this matter?
A great deal. Academic-standing and conduct outcomes in law school are reported into bar character and fitness review, where the omission is usually worse than the underlying event. The quiet early stage of these matters deserves more attention than it typically gets.
Related Colorado pages: Colorado College, Regis University, CU Denver, and CU Boulder. The full list 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 admitted in Florida and its federal courts, not in Colorado; 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, and association with local counsel or pro hac vice admission where required.