Title IX provides simply that “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance…” 20 U.S.C. §1681. This means that Title IX, with all of its requirements related to athletics and regulations about sexual harassment, does not apply to schools that do not receive any form of federal financial assistance. But what does “federal financial assistance” mean? Certainly, when a university receives direct federal assista ..read more

By: Shawn Flynn The attorney-client privilege protects the confidentiality of communications between lawyers and their clients. Under this privilege, along with the corresponding ethical rule requiring a lawyer to maintain the confidences of their clients, attorneys may not divulge the secrets of their clients, nor may others force them to do so by any legal means, except if the privilege is waived. The purpose of this expansive privilege is to ensure that clients may openly share information with their lawyers to ensure that the lawyer is not hampered in representing the client and their inte ..read more

Defamation. It means something different to everyone, usually involving high profile celebrities, but what is defamation? Put simply; defamation is a false statement that harms a person or their reputation. Defamation is a tort, a type of civil injury recognized in American law.   Defamation law allows someone injured by a false statement to hold the speaker (or writer) accountable for their words by recovering money damages. While the legal elements of defamation vary slightly state by state, in general, a person can recover in defamation if they show by greater weight of the eviden ..read more

 By: Ben North It is now common knowledge that on June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court outlawed affirmative action in college admissions, insofar as it held that race preferencing for the purposes of increasing “diversity” violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Right Act. Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard Coll., 143 S. Ct. 2141 (2023). The Court ruled that colleges and universities could not sufficiently justify preferencing certain races over others, by any interest in increasing the “diversity” of the ..read more

If you’ve been falsely accused of a crime or any morally reprehensible behavior, it is incredibly isolating. In almost any other tragedy that occurs in your life, you can talk about it with family and friends, knowing that ultimately, your family and friends will want to support you. But being falsely accused is different – it feels like anyone you tell will respond with skepticism and suspicion rather than the support that you need. At this time in your life you need to think carefully about to whom you disclose your situation to, something you’ll likely feel instinctively. Although you […] T ..read more

By: Ben North  Whether a school is public or private, on its own, has no bearing on the jurisdiction of Title IX. Title IX cases can occur at any public or private academic institution that receives funding from the federal government, including both universities and K-12 schools. So, if you’re reading this and already a party to a Title IX case, you likely do not need to worry or consider whether the school has jurisdiction under Title IX; if the school was not subject to Title IX, it would likely not enforce a Title IX policy.   Although the public-private […] The post Public vs. P ..read more

  It is now common knowledge that on June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court outlawed affirmative action in college admissions, insofar as it held that race preferencing for the purposes of increasing “diversity” violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Right Act. Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard Coll., 143 S. Ct. 2141 (2023). The Court ruled that colleges and universities could not sufficiently justify preferencing certain races over others, by any interest in increasing the “diversity” of the student body ..read more

It should surprise no one that across America there are far more university programs for women than there are for men. What may surprise people, however, is that there are more women on campus than men and that each year more and more women go to college than men. This may cause some to wonder – is this continued unequal support for women rather than men equitable?   Addressing this issue, in 2019, Kursat Pekgoz and James Moore filed a complaint against Stanford University with the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR). The complaint alleges Stanford violated Title I ..read more

When separate and often unrelated parties to any sort of court action—especially if it involves criminal allegations—act in concert as they build their defense, they must be careful not to either run afoul of collusion or obstruction of justice rules or waive attorney-client privilege. But there is a perfectly legitimate—and lawful—way for co-defendants in a civil or criminal action to work together without finding themselves in even more trouble than they might be at the moment.  Typically called a common interest agreement or a joint defense agreement, it allows attorneys for co-parties ..read more

By: Jared Roberts For too long, the left has felt emboldened to tell lies about America First Republicans. Emboldened by the lack of consequences they have suffered for such lies, emboldened by the power these lies have had in upending the lives of their political adversaries, these lies have grown commonplace. Examples include lies such as calling someone a white supremacist, a Nazi, a domestic terrorist, and more. It’s time the courts do something about that. Everyone knows how reckless left-wing media has been in their storytelling about high-profile America First Republicans, but the probl ..read more