Title IX regulations give both complainants and respondents in campus proceedings the right to an advisor of their choice. That advisor can be anyone a parent, a friend, a student advocate, or an attorney. The regulations treat all advisors the same in terms of their formal role in the process. But there are significant practical differences between having a non-attorney advisor and having an attorney serve in that role, and those differences can matter a great deal to the outcome of your case.
What a Title IX Advisor Does
Under the Title IX regulations, an advisor's most critical formal function is conducting cross-examination at a live hearing. Parties in Title IX proceedings cannot question each other or witnesses directly. All cross-examination must be conducted by the advisor. This means that whoever serves as your advisor will be on their feet at the hearing, asking questions on your behalf in real time.
Beyond the hearing, an advisor can attend any meeting or proceeding, review the investigative report and evidence, help you prepare written responses, and communicate with the institution on your behalf. The scope of what an advisor actually does in practice depends heavily on who that advisor is and what they bring to the table.
What a Non-Attorney Advisor Can and Cannot Do
A non-attorney advisor might be a trained Title IX advocate, a campus official from another institution, or a professional consultant with deep knowledge of the Title IX process. Many non-attorney advisors are highly experienced, and for some situations they are an appropriate choice.
What a non-attorney advisor cannot do is provide legal advice. They cannot evaluate your situation through the lens of potential civil litigation, assess whether the institution's process is creating grounds for a future lawsuit, advise you on whether statements you make could affect employment or other legal proceedings, or represent you in any proceeding outside the campus process. The boundaries of what they can offer are real.
A non-attorney advisor can guide you through the campus process. An attorney can do that and also evaluate the legal implications of every step along the way.
What an Attorney Advisor Adds
When an attorney serves as your Title IX advisor, they bring everything a trained advocate brings, plus the ability to provide legal advice throughout the process. That matters in several concrete ways.
Spotting procedural violations
An attorney can identify when an institution is not following its own policies or the applicable regulations, and can advise you on what to do about it. Procedural errors that go unchallenged during the process are harder to raise on appeal or in litigation later.
Protecting your legal rights
Statements made during a Title IX investigation or hearing can potentially be used in subsequent civil or criminal proceedings. An attorney can help you navigate what to say and how to say it in a way that protects your interests both inside and outside the campus process.
Evaluating options beyond the campus process
If the institution mishandles your case, there may be remedies available outside the campus process, including complaints to the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights or civil litigation. A non-attorney advisor cannot evaluate those options or help you pursue them. An attorney can.
Cross-examination strategy
Effective cross-examination at a Title IX hearing requires more than familiarity with the facts. It requires the ability to think quickly, respond to relevance objections, and ask questions that advance a coherent theory of the case. Attorneys with litigation experience bring those skills to the hearing room in a way that most non-attorney advisors do not.
When a Non-Attorney Advisor Might Be the Right Choice
Not every Title IX matter requires an attorney. For relatively straightforward matters where the stakes are lower, where the institution's process appears to be running fairly, and where there is no realistic possibility of civil or criminal proceedings, a non-attorney advisor with solid Title IX experience may be entirely adequate.
The calculus changes when the potential consequences are severe suspension, expulsion, termination of employment, damage to a professional reputation, or the possibility of parallel civil or criminal proceedings. In those situations, the additional protection that comes with having an attorney in the room is generally worth it.
The right question is not just who can serve as your advisor, but who is best positioned to protect your interests given what is at stake in your specific situation.
The Bottom Line
Title IX proceedings carry real consequences, and the person standing beside you throughout that process matters. An attorney advisor can do everything a non-attorney advisor can do, and can also provide legal advice, identify institutional missteps, and keep an eye on the broader legal picture throughout. If you are involved in a Title IX matter and are weighing your options, it is worth having a conversation with an attorney before you decide. Learn more about our Title IX advising services for complainants and respondents.
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