Case Study : Accused of Plagiarism - Use of AI - Disciplinary Proceedings

Case study: Final year chemistry student accused of plagiarism - Use of AI – Disciplinary Proceedings - RT Coopers drafted statement and advised client – Allegation dismissed after Disciplinary Committee Hearing

A final year BSc (Hons) student studying Chemistry (‘our client’) accused of suspected plagiarism in a literature review due to improper referencing. The literature review was for a final year chemistry project. The department did not mark the literature review due to alleged academic misconduct. Our client had a previous academic misconduct offence from the commencement of university. The university treats a prior offence combined with an alleged offence as serious. Therefore, as this was potentially a second offence, the university classed this suspected offence as a serious offence. Our client was facing exclusion with no award due to the seriousness of the alleged offence. Before instructing RT Coopers, our client had attended an Academic Integrity meeting denying academic misconduct. By the time RT Coopers were instructed to assist, our client had been advised by lawyers who had drafted a statement and advised our client on the responses for the investigative meeting. The investigative panel referred the case to a disciplinary committee. Our client now had to attend a disciplinary hearing before the committee.

Concerned

Our client came to us concerned about the outcome of the investigation stage and the likely outcome of the case as the case was referred to a disciplinary committee although a set of lawyers were instructed at the time and drafted the statement for the investigative panel.

Grounds for the Statement

RT Coopers drafted the statement for the disciplinary committee. The statement included the mitigating circumstances of our client and procedural irregularities that were identified by RT Coopers.

Hearing

Our client attended a hearing to defend the allegation of plagiarism.

Outcome

After the allegation was dismissed, the literature review was marked. Our client was awarded a degree and graduated with honours.

Commentary

What distinguished the advice of RT Coopers in this case from the previous lawyers was the attention to detail.

Review

‘Rosanna is the best ! She gave extremely helpful advice and guided us along the way to obtain a positive outcome in the hearing. She was always contactable, courteous and sincere and completely understood our concerns. I highly recommend Rosanna and her team’. EK