Responding to the draft investigative report.
The investigative report is the document that frames the hearing, and the ten days to respond to it are the last opportunity to change that frame before a decision-maker reads it.
What the rule provides.
The institution must send each party and their advisor the investigative report that fairly summarises relevant evidence, at least ten days before any hearing or other determination, for their review and written response. That response is part of the record and must be considered. It is a second and distinct window from the evidence review, and it targets something different.
Evidence response against report response.
The evidence response argues the record: what it establishes, what is missing, what was never collected. The report response argues the narrative: what the investigator asserted without support, what they omitted, how they reconciled divergent accounts, and where their summary of the evidence does not actually meet the elements of the charged provision. Treating the second as a repeat of the first wastes it.
Credibility observations.
Investigators frequently include impressions of demeanour, consistency, or plausibility. Those are not findings of fact and they are not evidence, and a report that presents them as though they were should be objected to on that basis. Decision-makers read the report before anything else, and an unchallenged credibility characterisation carries into the hearing as though it had been established.
Format, because it determines whether it is read.
Page and line references, numbered corrections, each supported by a citation to a document already in the production. That structure makes each request a discrete act that is granted or refused, which creates a record. A discursive letter about unfairness is read once and filed; a numbered schedule of documented errors is answered.
Why you should call us.
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Working with us starts with a risk-free consultation, in person or over the phone. You can ask us anything, for as long as it takes, and we encourage you to ask the tough questions. We are available 24/7, we practise coast to coast, and every client has direct access to a partner. Call 212 300 5196 - an attorney answers.
