Services
School & University Title IX/ Misconduct Cases
Serving as a Professional Advisor to students and their families in all disciplinary proceedings on Code of Conduct and Title IX/Sexual Harassment and Discrimination violations in public or private schools and Universities:
advising students on all Code of Conduct violations in Universities and Colleges nationwide
advising Respondents or Complainants in all Title IX/Sexual Harassment and Discrimination cases in all universities and colleges nationwide
advising Respondents or Complainants on appeals of violations and/or sanctions in all Universities and Colleges nationwide
advising private school students and their families in all disciplinary matters including Code of Conduct and Title IX/Sexual Harassment and Discrimination violations nationwide
advising Primary and Secondary School students and their families on Code of Conduct and/or Title IX/Sexual Harassment and Discrimination violations nationwide
advising Primary and Secondary School students on appeals of violations and sanctions nationwide
representing Connecticut's students in Board of Education Expulsion Hearings
The Power of an Attorney
There is a distinct advantage to hiring a professional advisor in school disciplinary proceedings, particularly a lawyer with litigation and criminal defense experience. Attorney Zito is proficient in understanding the applicable procedural rules and laws, including Title IX’s ever-changing regulations. She often corrects schools’ and universities’ missteps prior to any hearing preventing additional unfairness. Further, her knowledge allows her to spot procedural errors in cases often brought to her for the first time on appeal; the sooner she begins advising you or your student, the better. Appeals are very limited in scope, and undoing a finding of responsibility is much harder than preventing one! Hiring Attorney Zito to advise students at the beginning of the investigation offers the best potential for a good outcome; cases are often lost by a student’s statements in the very first interview. Attorney Zito effectively prepares students for the interview, informing the rest of the investigation. She then assists students in gathering evidence to support their case and in their response to the Investigation Report and evidence. She works with students in preparing their hearing statements and readies them for questioning. Even when she cannot directly participate in the proceedings, her work behind the scenes is critical to success.
Currently, in Title IX cases, lawyers are permitted to directly participate in the proceedings through cross-examination of the parties and any witnesses at the hearing. Attorney Zito’s extensive experience cross-examining police officers and witnesses in court and in administrative hearings over the years leads to proven better results for students. Through effective cross-examination, she is often able to bring the case to a successful conclusion. Even in cases where she is not permitted to actively participate in the proceedings, she enables the student to point out discrepancies in the evidence and credibility issues of the witnesses through effective opening and closing statements. Professional, experienced advising is essential for effective advocacy for students in these highly consequential proceedings where students have little due process and high stakes in the outcome.
Violations and sanctions can negatively impact students’ graduate school applications, ability to transfer schools, and ability to become licensed in certain fields, such as the medical or legal fields, and can result in job loss or lost future job prospects. For these reasons, hiring a professional advisor is essential to obtain the best results. Over the past several years, Attorney Zito has had such proven success advising students in disciplinary matters that school lawyers —those usually on the other side—often refer her business; she is a mother of 3 young adults and will fight for you or your student as if they were one of her own.
Advising Students with Mental Health Conditions and Other Disabilities
Attorney Zito often works with students suffering from various mental health disorders and/or learning/intellectual disabilities, such as students coping with anxiety and depression, executive functioning deficits, ADHD, or Autism Spectrum Disorder; she is experienced and compassionate in dealing with students who suffer from these conditions often exacerbated by these proceedings. She directs students and their families to appropriate resources when needed, ensures their accommodations are met, and seeks additional time to participate in the proceedings when treatment is needed. Attorney Zito is proficient in formulating defenses based on these conditions and often succeeds in avoiding the harshest punishments for these students based on mitigating circumstances.
Experts/Investigators
Attorney Zito has worked with experts in various fields to support student defenses and employs private investigators when needed to develop defenses and obtain critical evidence not discovered by the school investigator. She routinely works with students’ existing treatment providers to seek support for their defense. Professional opinions offered in these cases can lead to findings of no responsibility or, in the event the student is found responsible, often mitigate the sanctions imposed. Gathering all supporting evidence often overlooked by the school investigator can mean the difference for finding a student not responsible for the violations accused. Attorney Zito works to protect all student’s due process rights, to hold schools to their burden of proof, and to ensure schools abide by their procedural rules. She holds schools to account for any of their violations of Title IX’s procedural regulations. Notably, she has an edge over most education lawyers and school advisors advising students in these disciplinary proceedings based on her over 35 years of experience as a criminal defense lawyer and litigator and her arsenal of experts and investigators.
Parallel Criminal Proceedings
Attorney Zito is uniquely qualified to blend her two areas of expertise in advising and representing you and or your children in these cases. Students are often, by virtue of the school misconduct claimed, exposed to criminal liability or separately charged with state crimes related to the school allegations. Students who are arrested are likewise exposed to school/University disciplinary proceedings on the basis of the arrest as a separate Code of Conduct violation. Attorney Zito will advise students of any criminal exposure posed by the school allegations and, most importantly, knows how to protect you or your child's constitutional rights often compromised in school disciplinary proceedings. Students charged in Connecticut will not need two lawyers in the event of a parallel proceeding; she can provide representation and advice in the school case and in court, saving you time and money.
Winning Results
Attorney Zito has recently succeeded in winning several Title IX and Code of Conduct cases and/or preventing harsh sanctions and expulsions for students at Yale University, Wesleyan University, Trinity College, The University of New Haven, Sacred Heart University, The University of Connecticut, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, The University of Texas, USC Davis, Quinnipiac University, Connecticut College, UConn Law School, the University of Bridgeport, Rhode Island School of Design, Brown University, and Washington University. Since Covid, plagiarism cases in colleges and universities have exploded; she has successfully advised students in these cases, including Artificial Intelligence cases, preventing expulsions and suspensions. She has also recently defended students successfully in primary and secondary schools throughout Connecticut preventing findings of responsibility and expulsions in several cases on various disciplinary matters including Title IX violations.
She has successfully defended several students in Connecticut courts and in their parallel school/university disciplinary proceedings. She has managed to protect students from compromising their constitutional rights against self-incrimination in court and further developed evidence in the school cases that proved useful in the defense of the criminal case. Negotiating parallel proceedings or cases where students have criminal exposure is tricky and requires strategy unique to each case; experience in this situation is crucial to be successful. Attorney Zito has the experience and know how to do it.
Criminal Defense
For over 35 years, Jennifer Zito has defended thousands of clients in Connecticut cases ranging from serious motor vehicle offenses to the most serious felony offenses, including:
Sexual Assault
Sex Offenses
Risk of Injury to a Minor
Possession or Distribution of Child Pornography
Promoting a Minor in an Obscene Performance
Domestic Violence
Assaults
Disorderly Conduct/Breach of Peace
DWI/DUI
Assault or Manslaughter with a Motor Vehicle
Vehicular Homicide
Evading Responsibility
Reckless Driving
Possession of narcotics/sale of narcotics
Murder, Manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide
Burglary
Larceny
Home Invasion
Robbery
Arson
Internet Crimes
White Collar Crimes
Crimes against property
A Personal Approach
Attorney Zito is conscientious, detail-oriented, hardworking, and committed to preserving your freedom and your record. She is dedicated to passionately defending her clients with tenacity and persistence to get the best possible outcomes. She has a team at her disposal, whether a hired investigator to gather needed evidence and/or retained experts in technology, medicine, DNA, psychiatry, etc. to support your defense. She prides herself on taking a personal approach to each case, addressing the needs and concerns of her client and the specific circumstances of each case. She is an effective and responsive communicator always outlining what a client can expect during the course of the proceedings and the specific law and evidence of their case reducing some of the anxiety inherent in this process. She cares about her clients and treats them with the dignity and respect they deserve; she is direct and honest focused always on her client’s best interests, not her own.
Attorney Zito treats each of her clients individually and with consideration for their personal circumstances. She has considerable experience representing people who suffer from mental health issues, developmental disabilities, and or substance abuse issues, and does so with compassion. She has worked successfully with multiple experts over the years to assist with the defense of these cases appreciating the interplay of the disorders on a person’s conduct and understanding of cultural norms and rules. She believes treatment over punishment is warranted where the State can prove its case, and that disorders can often explain and or excuse the misconduct alleged. She insists on a personal approach to each of her clients tailoring their defenses accordingly.
Sex Offenses
Attorney Zito has specialized expertise in the defense of sex offenses and child pornography, having successfully defended dozens of these cases with particular attention to the collateral consequences of conviction, such as sex offender registration and the burdensome conditions of sex offender probation. She works with experts trained in the field of sex offenses and risk assessment, and directs clients to needed services when appropriate. She engages technical experts to analyze computers and phones when needed to assist in the defense of her clients. Through her tireless advocacy she has secured not guilty findings, the dismissal of pornography charges, the reduction of mandatory minimum sentences, and avoided jail time, sex offender registration and/or sex offender probation for many a clients. She continues to advocate for a risk based sex offender registry in Connecticut and the elimination of mandatory minimum sentences in child pornography cases; as a result of this work she is often able to make persuasive arguments to avoid public registration and charges requiring mandatory sentences for her clients.
Defense of Juveniles and Youth
Attorney Zito also specializes in the defense of juveniles and young adults. As MRI technology has taught us, young peoples’ brains are not fully developed until their mid-20’s affecting their decision making abilities and risk assessments. They act impulsively and are more prone to making mistakes; as a result they often find themselves entangled with the law. Attorney Zito is a firm believer that young people should not be held to the same standard as an adult just because they are 18; their degree of culpability is less. Attorney Zito is therefore committed to the fierce representation of juveniles and young adults attempting at all costs to protect their futures.
To further her advocacy for juveniles and young adults, she joined the successful crusade to raise the age of juveniles in Connecticut to 17. She spends half of her practice hours representing students in school and university disciplinary proceedings on Title IX/Sexual Harassment and Discrimination and Code of Conduct violations, which often involve parallel criminal charges in court. Young people who make mistakes can be rehabilitated with treatment, education and care; Attorney Zito works to ensure juveniles and young adults are treated fairly, are protected from convictions whenever possible, receive fair consequences appropriate for their age, and get the services they need to prevent future problems with the law.
DUI And Serious Motor Vehicle Offenses
Attorney Zito is proficient and highly experienced in representing people charged with DUIs and serious motor vehicle offenses ranging from reckless driving and evading responsibility to assault with a motor vehicle and manslaughter with a motor vehicle. She is certified in the administration of NHTSA’s Standardized Field Sobriety testing and has conducted countless motor vehicle hearings in an effort to save her clients’ licenses from suspension. While the hearings are limited in scope and difficult to win, she has an amazing track record in getting her clients’ licenses restored. When seeking legal representation in these cases it is important to hire a lawyer experienced in this area as there are several technical and legal issues unique to these cases. These offenses can result in jail time and a permanent loss of license for repeat offenders so it is critical to obtain experienced counsel to defend your rights. Attorney Zito is that counsel!
Success Stories
The decision to try a case is yours; Attorney Zito will help inform and respect your decision. She will tenaciously defend your rights at trial. Statistically, however, most cases are resolved by plea agreement. In these cases, clients will find in Attorney Zito an effective advocate who has been successful in securing dismissals in advance of trial and has negotiated countless favorable plea agreements for clients that avoided felony convictions and significant jail time. It takes time, know-how, the power of persuasion, negotiation, discovered evidence undermining the State’s case, and persistence; Attorney Zito has a proven track record with over 35 years of experience and an excellent reputation for defending her clients as evidenced by the awards and distinctions bestowed upon her over the years as well as the testimonials of her past clients. She has been described by a client as a “pit bull who digs in and doesn’t let go.” In the fight of your life or in the defense of something less serious, she is your champion.
Contact Us
Set up a free consultation with the law offices of Jennifer Zito.