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Academic Dishonesty Defense Lawyer

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    Cheating – Academic Dishonesty – Unauthorized Collaboration

    Georgia Defense Lawyer for Students Accused of Cheating

    An accusation of academic dishonesty can derail a student’s entire education. If you or a family member has been accused of cheating or any type of academic dishonesty, contact our office for a consultation as soon as possible. Phyllis is an experienced advocate for students accused of academic dishonesty and has a successful track record. She has helped hundreds of students get their charges and accusations dismissed so they were able to continue on with their education.

    Phyllis devotes a portion of her practice to defending academic dishonesty charges in front of tribunals or discipline boards at schools. However, Phyllis is also a top-rated Atlanta area criminal defense lawyer. She has extensive experience succeeding in criminal defense courts, standing up to prosecutors and judges to protect the rights of her clients. As a result of this experience, she is extremely well equipped to handle even the most aggressive of School Administrators, professors or other members of the group investigating and prosecuting your alleged academic dishonesty.

    Accused of Cheating, Plagiarism or Academic Dishonesty? Call Now for a Consultation.

    Regardless of what you did or did not do, the biggest mistake you can make is going through the academic dishonesty accusation process on your own. Tribunals, Disciplinary Hearings, Review Boards. Regardless of what they are called, these boards are not set up to give the student in question a fair “trial”. Typically they are set up to protect the image and reputation of the school in question. With an effective advocate like Phyllis fighting for you, you can expect to resolve your issue in the best possible outcome.

    Academic Dishonesty Information Center

    Potential Consequences

    Cheating Overview

    Copying & Plagiarism

    Defense Strategies

    False Accusations

    Online Cheating

    Academic Dishonesty & Cheating Overview

    Today’s students are under an enormous amount of pressure. Everyone who has been a student has felt the pressure to succeed, but only people who have been students recently fully understand the vast availability and complexity of cheating options available to today’s student. Phyills Gingry Collins is an experienced attorney who defends students who have been accused of academic dishonesty.
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    Potential Consequences for Being Caught Cheating in High School

    Potential Consequences for Being Caught Cheating in High School Most schools have a student handbook or code of conduct that lays out how academic dishonesty will be handled in different situations. Cheating on a test may be treated differently than misusing a resource on a paper you wrote or take-home assignment. Not all types of cheating or academic dishonesty are treated the same, which is why it’s very important to have an experienced advocate on your side. Some of the potential consequences for cheating in high school include:
    • failing grade or zero on the assignment or test
    • failing grade or zero on the entire course (which could delay or complicate graduation)
    • Suspension from extra-curricular activities like sports or after-school clubs
    • Suspension (temporary) or Expulsion (permanent)
    Whether or not you are “guilty” having an advocate on your side can help you get the best possible outcome from the tribunal or disciplinary board. Contact Phyllis for a consultation today.
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    Potential Consequences for Being Caught Cheating in College or University

    Potential Consequences for Being Caught Cheating in High School Most schools have a student handbook or code of conduct that lays out how academic dishonesty will be handled in different situations. Cheating on a test may be treated differently than misusing a resource on a paper you wrote or take-home assignment. Not all types of cheating or academic dishonesty are treated the same, which is why it’s very important to have an experienced advocate on your side. Some of the potential consequences for cheating in high school include:
    • failing grade or zero on the assignment or test
    • failing grade or zero on the entire course (which could delay or complicate graduation)
    • Suspension from extra-curricular activities like sports or after-school clubs
    • Suspension (temporary) or Expulsion (permanent)
    Whether or not you are “guilty” having an advocate on your side can help you get the best possible outcome from the tribunal or disciplinary board. Contact Phyllis for a consultation today.
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    Common Types of Academic Dishonesty

    There are endless types, methods and sources dedicated to cheating in school.  The internet provides infinite sources for “help”; some of them are well-meaning and legitimate, and some are outright cheating and plagiarism factories. The communication methods offered through apps and smartphones have also opened up the opportunity for “unauthorized collaboration” and similar accusations.

    Examples of Types of Cheating

    • Plagiarism
    • Online Cheating
    • Sharing of Test Answers from different Sections / Days of Class
    • Misuse of Locked-Down Browsers
    • Hidden Notes
    • Unauthorized Collaboration
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    Plagiarism

    Simply put, plagiarism is representing someone else’s work (usually written work like a paper, thesis or summary) as your own. However, plagiarism is NOT always straightforward copying word for word. Recently we have seen an increase in accusations of plagiarism that include:
    • Plagiarizing portions of a paper without appropriate citation
    • Using Find & Replace for certain words to outsmart Plagiarism detectors.
    • Plagiarism of Structure or Organization of a paper
    • “Remix” or “Mashup” plagiarism where you either paraphrase from multiple sources or copy from multiple sources and then present the work as your own (it’s important to note what a fine line this type of “cheating” is from what is considered a “not-cheating” approach to reading sources and then writing about them)
    • Source Attribution Plagiarizing – Not fulling Citing sources or citing fake sources.
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    Online Cheating

    In recent years there have been an explosion in resources for cheating online, both for high school and college students. Chegg is a website that is promoted as a study aid but that can very easily be used to obtain test questions and answers in a way that violates most schools academic code. There are also countless file sharing and other collaboration sites, some of which can launch an investigation for these sites showing up in your browser history or accessed through the University network. Some of the online cheating accusations stem from Chegg leaving out certain steps (and then being copy and pasted as the full answer).
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    False Accusations of Cheating

    In recent years there have been an explosion in resources for cheating online, both for high school and college students. Chegg is a website that is promoted as a study aid but that can very easily be used to obtain test questions and answers in a way that violates most schools academic code. There are also countless file sharing and other collaboration sites, some of which can launch an investigation for these sites showing up in your browser history or accessed through the University network. Some of the online cheating accusations stem from Chegg leaving out certain steps (and then being copy and pasted as the full answer).
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    Defense Strategies for Cheating Accusations

    Every situation is unique and so is the strategy we will use to approach the discipline board or school tribunal. It’s important to understand the evidence that will be used against you and what the school is alleging you did that was in violation of their policies. From that point, we can either build a strategy to deny or disprove the charges, or in some cases it’s best to focus on minimizing the consequences. Regardless of your specific situation, having an experienced attorney advocating for you will help you get the best outcome possible.
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