If you are facing a school sexual misconduct investigation, you are already under a lot of stress and anxiety from the accusation alone. Grappling with the costs of hiring professional help can add to the stress. The purpose of this guide is to provide clarity and save you time, stress, and money by helping you understand and prepare for the costs associated with our Title IX advisory service.

We understand that while we provide a service that tends to be more affordable, it is always expensive in the sense that it is a cost you did not anticipate. This is compounded by the fact that serving as a Title IX advisor tends to be labor-intensive. We promise to make the most of our clients’ time and hard-earned money by providing experienced and professional assistance. If you have any questions, please contact us as soon as possible.

How Much Does the Service Cost?

We charge an hourly rate for our non-attorney advisory service service at a fraction of the cost of an attorney. This rate applies to any time an advisor spends working on the case, although it does not apply to any billing discussions or free consultations prior to being hired. This is also the average rate that mid-market law firms bill for paralegal work. By comparison, you will likely find that most experienced Title IX attorneys charge between $400-600 an hour.

How much the service costs in total depends on how much time the case takes. There is no way to predict or promise exactly how long a specific case will take because each case has its own facts, circumstances, and client needs, but we can provide averages and ranges. For the average case (which lasts 4-5 months), professionally advising a student from the time they receive notice that a formal complaint has been filed and up to the initial decision (but not including any potential appeal) takes about around 70 hours of work for a higher ed case and around 55 hours for a lower ed case, give or take about eight hours. Some factors can skew these figures higher or lower.

For example, a case can end early if it is dismissed or resolved through informal resolution (like mediation). A case can also take fewer hours if an advisor is hired midway or late in the process, although this is not recommended. A case can take more hours and last longer if there is are more witnesses, more evidence, a counter-complaint, a poorly-trained or biased investigator, more complainants, more alleged incidents, and so forth. These are just a few of the most common examples. Our shortest case took 7 hours and our longest case took 129. Below are estimates of the ranges of time a case can take depending on the size of the case and based on an analysis of our internal case data.

For a higher education case:

• Small case: 55-64 hours
• Medium/average case: 65-84 hours, but usually closer to 70
• Large case: 85+ hours

Lower education:

• Small case: 35-45 hours
• Medium/average case: 45-59 hours
• Large case: 70+ hours

Payment Options

Thankfully, the costs of the advisory service do not have to be paid entirely upfront. To get started, we usually require an initial “deposit” (like a retainer) equal to a negotiable number of hours. We recommend starting with anywhere from 20-40 hours. This will give an advisor enough time to provide significant help, and it will also give you enough information to evaluate if you wish to continue the service beyond those hours. The initial payment can be made in one of several ways:

1. Debit card
2. Credit card
3. A non-interest payment plan through Affirm over a moderate period (usually three months). You must apply to Affirm and qualify for the plan.
4. An interest-bearing payment plan through Affirm over a longer period, e.g., anywhere from 6 to 24 months.

You should avoid processing the initial payment as an “eCheck” payment. For example, if you use a PayPal card but your PayPal account has insufficient funds, PayPal may instead attempt to pay through a linked bank account. That may take 5-7 business days or longer to process, and our agreements state that we must have a positive balance before any advisory work can be done.

After the initial payment, clients usually “pay as they go” by adding hours as needed using the same above payment options, with one exception. Once we are about halfway through the case in terms of the total estimated advisory hours, we like to check in with clients to see how they are doing financially. If it makes sense, we then offer to put them on a no-interest payment plan for the estimated amount of work that remains. This will help spread out the remaining payments over a broader period of time. This also helps for another reason: the most labor-intensive part of the case is usually the hearing which comes near the end.

We do not currently offer flat fee payment options.

Refunds

Our agreements state that either the client or Title IX for All can terminate the service at any time and for any reason. When our advisory service is concluded, any remaining unworked hours are promptly refunded to the client.

Special Expenses

It is rare for special expenses to be incurred, but they do occasionally happen. Most cases are done entirely through email and videoconferencing software like Zoom or Microsoft Teams, so appearing onsite and incurring travel expenses is almost never necessary, especially in higher ed cases. In other rare cases, expert witnesses may be necessary to establish a thorough defense.

Conclusion

I hope this guide has helped you understand how to prepare for hiring an advisor to assist in your case. If you have any questions or need assistance with a Title IX investigation, call us at ‪(903) 309-0332‬ for a free consultation, book an appointment on a Title IX advisor’s calendar, or use the contact form to message us.