First 48 hours — quick start
The next two days are not where your case is decided. They are where the mistakes that cannot be undone get made. These are holding actions from the book — they keep options open until counsel who knows your facts can advise you. None of it depends on whether you did what you are accused of.
If police have contacted you — stop here
Do not go to an interview without a lawyer. Do not answer “just a couple of quick questions” on the phone. Be polite; get the detective’s name, agency, and number; say that you will have a lawyer contact them; do not discuss the allegations, even to deny them; then call a criminal defense lawyer today. Campus police are police.
Tonight
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Preserve the notice and mark every deadline
Make a copy of the letter and of the envelope or email it came in, with the date you received it. Box every deadline, meeting, and response period; write the calendar date beside each; note whether the policy counts business days or calendar days. Do not reply yet unless a deadline that arrives before you can get advice forces a short procedural response — ask counsel when possible.
Ch1 — What to Do with It · Annotation guide · App A — Identify What Arrived -
Save the policies the letter names
Find every policy, code, or handbook the letter cites and save a copy of the version in force today. Policies are revised; which version governs is a question for your lawyer. If the letter cites none, note that.
Ch1 — What to Do with It · App A -
Do not contact the complainant — directly or through anyone
Not to explain, apologize, ask why, or “clear the air.” Not by text, call, email, letter, comment, or reaction. Not through a friend, roommate, teammate, colleague, or parent. If she contacts you, do not engage with the substance; preserve the message and tell your lawyer. If you have a no-contact directive or court order, read it tonight and follow it.
Ch2 — Do Not Contact the Complainant · App A — Manage Contact -
Preserve everything; delete nothing
Preserve relevant records on devices and accounts you lawfully control — including messages that look bad. Keep originals. Do not delete, unsend, edit, untag, deactivate, wipe, or throw away anything. Screenshots are a working copy, not the record. List records you cannot preserve yourself (access logs, video) and institutional material at risk if access ends.
Ch2 — Preserve Everything · Delete Nothing · App A -
Do not explain yourself, and do not post
Do not explain the allegations to colleagues, classmates, roommates, or group chats. Use a complete sentence when you must say something: “I can’t talk about it right now.” Do not post about the case, about her, or about how you feel — including the indirect kind of post people who know will understand. Assume screenshots travel.
Ch2 — Do Not Explain Yourself, and Do Not Post · App A -
Sleep, eat, and tell one person
Rest and eat regularly. Tell one safe person what you are facing, not the details of the events. Family conversations are not automatically privileged. If you are thinking about harming yourself, seek help now — in the U.S., call or text 988.
Ch2 — Sleep, Eat, and Tell One Person · App A
Tomorrow
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Find the right help — counsel, and a campus advisor if you need one
Start looking for counsel. Police contact or possible criminal exposure calls for criminal-defense advice. For campus logistics, a permitted campus advisor can help with procedure; do not assume that conversation is privileged. Confirm representation, scope, fees, and who coordinates overlapping proceedings when you engage someone.
Ch2 — holding actions / counsel · App A — Obtain the Right Help · full counsel chapter is in the paid book -
Request the governing policy — and only a short, factual scheduling ask if needed
For campus logistics, request the governing policy, clarification, or reasonable time in a short factual message. State only what is true. A pending request does not extend a deadline. Do not use a campus scheduling request as a substitute for a required court filing. Whether to ask the school for a delay because of a police investigation is a question for your lawyers to coordinate.
App A — Obtain the Right Help · Ch2 — campus delay / “may” · Ch4 overview -
Keep preserving; do not expand access you should not have
Use only authorized preservation methods. Do not copy student, patient, research, or other restricted material into a private account merely because it may be relevant. Seek a lawful preservation and access route for institutional records.
App A — Preserve without Expanding Access · Ch2
Before any meeting
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Do not give a substantive account yet — to police, the office, or informal audiences
Seek advice before a detailed narrative where possible. Preserve existing notes now; if you write while awaiting advice, date the entry, identify uncertainty, and separate recollection from inference. A private device or a label addressed to counsel does not itself create privilege. Do not sit for a police interview, and do not treat an early campus conversation as harmless small talk.
Ch2 — Write It Down · If the Police Call · App A -
Bring the marked-up letter and the policies to the first lawyer or advisor meeting
They are the most useful things you can put on the table. Work the annotation guide on a copy: who sent it, which process, what is alleged, every date, rights and restrictions, and what the letter does not say.
Ch1 — What to Do with It · Annotation guide · Six questions signup -
Take the book’s first-meeting questions
Which processes am I facing, and which carries the most risk right now? Is what I have written so far protected? Who can be in the room without affecting privilege? What about university accounts I may need to preserve? Should anyone ask the institution to delay because of a police investigation? What do I say to my chair, supervisor, coach, or parents, and when?
Ch2 checklist — Questions to bring · Appendix A
Not legal advice. Everything here describes how these processes generally work. Your institution’s policies, your state’s law, whether police are involved, and whether you are a student or an employee all change what you should do. Confirm every step with a lawyer licensed where you are who knows your facts. Full disclaimer.