Hazing-National Fraternity Rape & Hazing Criminal Charges: Who Pays When a Fraternity House Becomes a Crime Scene
Your daughter called you from a dorm room or a hospital or a friend’s car at a hour when college students should be asleep, and what she told you turned the ground under your feet to water. A fraternity house — a place that was supposed to be part of the college experience, not a danger to it — became a crime scene. A 19-year-old has been arrested. The criminal case is moving. And you are sitting in a kitchen or a waiting room or a parking lot, shaking, searching for whether anyone beyond the arrested individual can be held accountable for what happened.
We are Attorney911 — The Manginello Law Firm. We are a trial firm that builds civil cases against the institutions that create the conditions for hazing and sexual assault on college campuses. Right now, Ralph Manginello is lead counsel in an active hazing lawsuit against a university and a national fraternity — a case filed for more than $10 million that is being fought right now in a courthouse. That is not a brochure promise. It is a live file on this desk. We know these institutions, their insurance structures, their defense playbooks, and the evidence that disappears if nobody moves to freeze it in the first days.
Here is the first thing you need to hear: the arrest of the 19-year-old is the beginning, not the end. The criminal system will decide whether the individual goes to prison. But the civil system — the one we work in — asks a different question: who else is responsible for creating the conditions where this was foreseeable, where it was allowed, where the warnings were ignored, and where a young person was failed by every institution that was supposed to protect her. That answer almost always includes more than one person.
The Direct Answers — What You Are Searching For at 2 AM
Can I sue the fraternity for what happened to my child? Yes. The civil liability chain in a fraternity sexual assault case runs through at least four layers, and we build claims against each one: the arrested individual, the local fraternity chapter, the national fraternity organization, and the university. Each layer has its own duty, its own insurance, and its own story about why it bears responsibility. The national fraternity — the entity whose name is on the letterhead, whose risk-management policies were supposed to govern the chapter, and whose insurance typically backs the local operation — is almost always the deepest pocket and the defendant with the most explaining to do.
Is the university responsible? Potentially, yes, on multiple theories. The University of Arkansas, like every public university that accepts federal funding, operates under Title IX — the federal law that treats sexual assault as a form of sex discrimination in education. The university has a legal duty to respond to reports of sexual harassment and assault, to investigate, to provide accommodations, and to take steps to prevent a known danger from recurring. If the university knew — or should have known — about prior hazing, prior assaults, prior complaints at this fraternity, and failed to act, that is negligent supervision and a potential Title IX violation. If the fraternity house sits on university-owned or university-controlled land, premises liability may apply. If campus police were called to this address before and did nothing, that is notice.
How long do I have to file? Arkansas gives you three years from the date of the assault to file a personal injury lawsuit — but that clock can be shorter than it looks. Claims against the university (a state institution) may require formal notice on a deadline significantly shorter than three years under Arkansas’s state tort claims framework. If the survivor was a minor, the timeline may be extended. If PTSD or other psychological injuries were not immediately diagnosed, the discovery rule may apply. The safe move is to never assume you have the full three years — call us, and we will confirm the exact deadline for your specific facts.
Does the criminal case affect the civil case? They are separate systems running on separate timelines with separate burdens of proof. The criminal case must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The civil case must prove liability by a preponderance of the evidence — more likely than not — a far lower bar. A criminal conviction is powerful evidence in the civil case, but it is not required. The civil case can proceed even if the criminal case is dropped, plead down, or results in an acquittal. And the civil case reaches defendants the criminal system never touches — the fraternity, the national organization, the university.
Will my child’s name be made public? This is one of the first fears every family raises, and it is a legitimate one. Courts have tools to protect the identity of sexual assault survivors in civil proceedings — pseudonyms (Jane Doe filings), protective orders, sealed discovery. We fight for those protections from the first filing. The survivor’s privacy is not a bargaining chip.
The Four Layers of Accountability — Who Really Pays
Every fraternity hazing and sexual assault case is built on a defendant stack. The 19-year-old who was arrested is the first layer, but is almost never the last one with money or responsibility. Here is the map of who we pursue and why.
Layer One: The Arrested Individual
The criminal case handles the individual. The civil case can name him too — but an individual college student typically has no assets and no meaningful insurance. A homeowners policy might provide some coverage if the assault occurred away from the insured premises, but intentional torts (which sexual assault always is) are almost universally excluded from homeowners policies. The individual is named in the civil complaint to establish his fault and to trigger the liability of the institutions above him, but he is rarely the source of meaningful recovery. We name him because the facts require it, not because his bank account is the target.
Layer Two: The Local Fraternity Chapter
The local chapter is the entity that occupied the house, hosted the event, controlled who was admitted, and had the duty to supervise its own members and guests. The chapter is often organized as a local LLC, a non-profit corporation, or — in some cases — an unincorporated association. It may carry liability insurance through the national organization’s master program, or it may have its own thin policy. The chapter’s assets are usually modest: the house (if it owns one), some dues, and the national insurance backstop. But the chapter’s conduct is the foundation of the case — it was the chapter that organized the event, allowed the alcohol, tolerated the culture, and failed to protect the survivor. Its failures — negligent supervision, negligent security, breach of the duty of care — are the connective tissue that links the harm to the institutions above.
Layer Three: The National Fraternity Organization
This is where the real accountability — and the real money — lives. The national fraternity organization is the entity whose name is on the banner, whose risk-management manual was supposed to govern the chapter, whose representatives were supposed to conduct inspections, and whose insurance carrier typically backs the entire operation. The national organization’s defense is always the same: “we didn’t control the chapter — we just licensed our name.” That defense is the single most contested question in fraternity litigation, and it is where cases are won or lost.
The national organization typically:
- Sets the risk-management policies the chapter must follow
- Requires the chapter to carry insurance (usually through the national’s master program)
- Conducts (or is supposed to conduct) chapter inspections
- Has the authority to suspend or revoke the chapter’s charter
- Collects dues and fees from the chapter
- Publishes the anti-hazing and anti-sexual-misconduct policies that govern member conduct
- Maintains records of prior incidents at chapters nationwide
Each of those is a thread of control. The more control the national exercised — and the more it knew about prior problems at this chapter or others — the harder it is for the national to claim it was a bystander. The national’s own risk-management manual, its prior incident files, and its internal communications about this chapter are the documents that break the “we just licensed the name” defense wide open.
Layer Four: The University
The University of Arkansas is a public university that receives federal funding. That makes it subject to Title IX, which creates a federal cause of action for deliberate indifference to known sexual harassment or assault. The university’s potential liability runs through several channels:
- Title IX deliberate indifference: If the university had actual knowledge of sexual harassment or assault in its programs and was deliberately indifferent to it — meaning its response was clearly unreasonable in light of the known risk — it can be held liable under federal law. This is the Supreme Court’s framework from Gebser v. Lago Vista ISD and Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education, and it is the most powerful federal claim available against a university in a sexual assault case.
- Negligent supervision: If the university knew of prior hazing, prior assaults, or prior dangers at this fraternity and failed to supervise or discipline, that is a state-law negligence claim.
- Negligent retention: If the university knew this fraternity was a problem and allowed it to continue operating — keeping its recognition, keeping its housing, keeping its university affiliation — that is its own cause of action.
- Premises liability: If the fraternity house sits on university-owned or university-controlled land, or if the university exercises control over the property through its Greek Life office, the university may owe a premises duty.
Suing a public university in Arkansas involves the state’s tort claims framework, which has notice requirements and deadlines that are shorter than the standard three-year statute of limitations. If the university is a target, the notice clock may be ticking on a timeline measured in months, not years. This is one of the most important reasons to call a lawyer early — not after the criminal case resolves, not after the semester ends, not after the family has had time to process, but now.
The Law That Governs This Case
The legal framework for a fraternity hazing and sexual assault case is a stack of state and federal law. Here is what governs and what it means.
Arkansas’s Anti-Hazing Law
Arkansas has criminalized hazing in educational settings. The state’s anti-hazing statute prohibits conduct that endangers the mental or physical health or safety of a student for the purpose of initiation, admission, affiliation, or membership in a student organization. Hazing that causes serious physical injury can be prosecuted as a felony. The existence of this statute matters for the civil case in two ways: it establishes that the danger was foreseeable and that the conduct was not just negligent but criminal — which elevates the standard of care and opens the door to punitive damages against the institutions that allowed it. When a state legislature has specifically criminalized hazing, a university or fraternity that tolerated the conditions producing it cannot credibly argue it did not know hazing was dangerous.
Title IX — The Federal University Duty
Title IX is the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in any education program receiving federal financial assistance. Sexual assault and sexual harassment are recognized forms of sex discrimination under Title IX. The Supreme Court has established that a university can be held liable for money damages under Title IX when it has actual knowledge of sexual harassment or assault and is deliberately indifferent to it.
“No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
— 20 U.S.C. § 1681
What this means in practice: if the University of Arkansas knew — through campus police reports, Title IX complaints, prior student reports, Greek Life office referrals, or any other channel — that this fraternity presented a danger of sexual assault, and its response was clearly unreasonable, the university can be sued in federal court for money damages. Title IX claims are not capped by state tort claims limits the way state negligence claims against the university might be. This is a separate, powerful federal cause of action that exists alongside any state-law claims.
The Clery Act — Campus Crime Reporting
The Clery Act requires universities to report and disclose campus crime statistics, including sexual offenses. If the fraternity house is on campus or on property the university controls or patrols, crimes there may be reportable under Clery. A pattern of Clery-reported incidents at a specific fraternity — or a failure to report incidents that should have been reported — is evidence of notice and deliberate indifference.
Arkansas Personal Injury Statute of Limitations
Arkansas allows three years from the date of injury to file a personal injury lawsuit. But that three-year clock has critical exceptions:
- Claims against the university: May require formal notice on a shorter timeline under the Arkansas state tort claims framework. Do not assume you have three years to sue the university.
- Minors: If the survivor was under 18 (which is possible in some college freshman cases), the SOL may be tolled until she reaches majority.
- The discovery rule: If PTSD, depression, or other psychological injuries were not diagnosed until later — if the survivor did not connect her symptoms to the assault until months afterward — the clock may run from discovery, not the date of the event.
- Wrongful death: If the survivor did not survive, Arkansas’s wrongful death statute operates on its own timeline.
The safest approach is to treat every deadline as the shortest possible one and to call us immediately. We confirm the exact deadline for your facts at intake.
Arkansas Modified Comparative Fault
Arkansas follows a modified comparative fault rule with a 50% bar. This means the survivor’s recovery is reduced by her percentage of fault — and if she is found 50% or more at fault, she is barred entirely. In a sexual assault case, this rule is almost never a legitimate defense: intentional criminal acts like rape supersede any negligence theory, and the perpetrator’s intentional conduct cannot be attributed to the survivor. But expect the defense to try. Expect them to argue she was drinking, she went voluntarily, she stayed. Every one of those arguments has a legal and medical answer — and we come prepared with all of them.
What Happened to the Body and the Mind — The Medicine of Sexual Assault Trauma
The harm in this case is not just what happened in the fraternity house that night. It is what is happening to the survivor right now, and what will happen for years. The medical reality of sexual assault trauma is a field of its own, and the defense will spend the entire case trying to minimize invisible injuries. Here is the science that stops them.
Rape Is the Single Most PTSD-Generating Event There Is
In the landmark National Comorbidity Survey — the largest epidemiological study of trauma and PTSD ever conducted — researchers found that of every type of traumatic event measured, rape carried the highest conditional probability of producing post-traumatic stress disorder. For women, approximately 46% of rape survivors developed PTSD. For men, approximately 65%. This is not a “she’s upset” injury. It is a recognized, diagnosable psychiatric condition with an eight-part diagnostic criteria in the DSM-5, and it is more likely to follow a sexual assault than to follow combat, a car wreck, or a natural disaster. When a university or a fraternity created the conditions for this harm, the lifelong trauma that follows is not a surprise — it is the most predictable outcome in the trauma literature.
Tonic Immobility — Why “She Didn’t Fight Back” Is a Symptom, Not a Defense
The defense will try to use the survivor’s response during the assault against her. If she froze, if she did not scream, if she did not physically resist — they will imply consent or at least acquiescence. The science demolishes this. In a peer-reviewed clinical study of nearly 300 rape survivors assessed at a Stockholm emergency clinic for rape victims, researchers found that approximately 70% experienced significant tonic immobility — an involuntary, brainstem-mediated “freeze” response — during the assault, and 48% experienced extreme tonic immobility. The body locks. The voice will not come. The muscles refuse to move. This is not consent. It is a survival reflex as automatic as a flinch, and the women who experienced it were subsequently at approximately 2.75 times the risk of developing PTSD and 3.4 times the risk of severe depression. The ones who froze were not the ones who were less harmed — they were the ones the trauma hit hardest.
Delayed Disclosure Is the Norm
If the survivor did not report immediately — if she waited days, weeks, or months before telling anyone — the defense will argue that delay proves the report is fabricated. The science says the opposite. Delayed disclosure is the normal response to sexual assault, not the exception. The survivor may have been in shock, may have been trying to forget, may have feared retaliation, may have feared the fraternity’s social power on campus, may have blamed herself, or may simply not have had the words yet. The DSM-5 itself recognizes a “delayed expression” specifier for PTSD — full diagnostic criteria may not be met until six months or more after the event. A timeline that is not immediate is not a story that is not true.
The Proof Problem and How We Solve It
PTSD has no X-ray. The defense will call it subjective, exaggerated, pre-existing. The answer is a comprehensive medical record built from day one:
- The SANE exam (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) — if the survivor went to the hospital, a trained forensic nurse collected evidence, documented injuries, and created a contemporaneous medical record. This is gold-standard proof.
- The first therapy intake — the closer to the event, the more powerful. A therapist’s notes from weeks after the assault pre-date any “litigation motive” accusation.
- Validated clinical instruments — the CAPS-5 (Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale) and the PCL-5 (PTSD Checklist) are the standard structured measures that create an objective score the defense cannot dismiss as opinion.
- Contemporaneous outcry witnesses — the first friend, roommate, or family member she told. Their memory of that conversation degrades with time, which is why identifying and documenting them early matters.
- Neuropsychological testing — for cognitive deficits the defense will call “subjective,” formal testing provides objective evidence of the injury.
The Lifetime Cost
Federal public-health researchers at the CDC estimated the lifetime economic cost of a single rape at more than $122,000 per survivor — and that figure, published in a peer-reviewed study, only counts what you can put on an invoice: medical care, therapy, lost productivity, and criminal-justice costs. It does not begin to measure the nightmares, the relationships that strained, the semester she may have lost, the door she cannot walk through alone at night, the major she changed to avoid the building where his friends still sit in class. A complete damages model in these cases includes:
- Past and future medical and psychiatric care
- Past and future therapy and medication
- Lost wages and lost earning capacity (if she withdrew, transferred, or changed her career trajectory)
- Educational costs and the loss of the educational opportunity she was promised
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Punitive damages — where the institution’s conduct was reckless, knowing, or deliberately indifferent
The $122,000 figure is a floor, not a ceiling. It is a published research number, not a case valuation. Every case is valued on its own facts by a life-care planner and a forensic economist. But it tells you what the science already knows: this harm is real, it is measurable, and it is expensive.
The Evidence Clock — What Exists and How Fast It Dies
The single most important thing we can tell you about this case is that the evidence is dying right now. Not in years. Not after the criminal case resolves. Now. Here is what exists, who holds it, and how fast it can legally disappear.
Fraternity House Surveillance Footage
Most fraternity houses have security cameras — at entrances, in common areas, in parking lots. This footage typically overwrites on a rolling loop of 30 to 90 days. There is no federal law requiring a fraternity to preserve surveillance footage for any specific period. If no one sends a preservation letter, the footage of who entered the house, who was at the party, and what the conditions were like that night will be recorded over — legally — within weeks. This is the fastest-dying and most important piece of evidence in the case.
Social Media and Digital Communications
The fraternity’s group chats, GroupMe threads, Snapchat stories, Instagram posts, and text messages are evidence — of the culture, the planning, the awareness, and sometimes the assault itself. Snapchat stories disappear in 24 hours. Instagram stories expire in 24 hours. GroupMe messages can be deleted by any participant. Text messages can be deleted by any sender. If the fraternity’s internal communications are not frozen by a preservation demand, they will be gone before anyone asks for them.
University Records
The University of Arkansas’s Title IX office, Greek Life office, campus police, student conduct office, and dean of students may all hold records relevant to this case — prior complaints about this fraternity, prior hazing investigations, prior alcohol violations, prior sexual misconduct reports, the fraternity’s recognition agreement, its housing agreement, and its risk-management plan. These records are subject to FERPA protections, but they are discoverable in litigation. A preservation letter to the university’s general counsel is the mechanism that freezes them.
Police Investigation Records
The criminal investigation is generating records — police reports, witness statements, forensic evidence, the rape kit, toxicology results, the suspect’s phone records. Some of these will be available through the criminal discovery process; others we obtain through civil subpoenas and civil discovery. The rape kit (SANE exam) has its own retention timeline, which varies by state law and hospital policy. In some states, untested kits have been historically destroyed after only a few years. The kit must be preserved immediately.
Fraternity Internal Records
The national fraternity organization’s files on this chapter — inspection reports, incident reports, prior complaints, risk-management audits, member disciplinary records, the chapter’s charter agreement, and its insurance filings — are the documents that prove the national knew or should have known about the danger. These records exist in the national headquarters, not at the local chapter house. They are discoverable in litigation but only if the national is named as a defendant and only if a preservation demand is on file. The national has no obligation to preserve anything for you until it receives that letter.
The Preservation Letter — The First Thing We Do
The day you call us, we send preservation letters to every entity in the chain: the local chapter, the national fraternity, the university, the housing corporation (if separate), and any third-party vendor (security company, alcohol vendor, event promoter). Those letters order each entity to freeze all evidence — surveillance footage, digital communications, internal records, incident reports, insurance files, and physical evidence. Once a preservation letter is on file, the deliberate destruction of any listed evidence is spoliation — and a court can instruct the jury to assume the destroyed evidence would have helped the survivor. That is leverage we create on day one.
The Insurance Reality — Where the Money Actually Is
The insurance question in a fraternity hazing and sexual assault case is its own battle, and it is one of the first things we investigate. Here is what we know about the coverage landscape.
The National Fraternity’s Insurance Tower
Most national fraternity organizations maintain a master liability insurance program that backs their local chapters. This is typically a commercial general liability (CGL) policy with layered excess coverage above it. The limits vary by organization but can be significant — several million dollars or more in total coverage. However, and this is critical, many fraternity insurance policies contain assault-and-battery exclusions and sexual-misconduct exclusions that the insurer will argue bar coverage for sexual assault claims. This is one of the most contested issues in fraternity litigation. The insurer’s first move is to deny coverage and walk away. Our response is to litigate the exclusion — arguing that the chapter’s negligent supervision (not the individual’s assault) is the covered event, and that the exclusion does not reach the institutional failures that allowed the harm.
The University’s Insurance
The University of Arkansas, as a public institution, has insurance through the state’s risk-management program or a self-insured structure. State tort claims may be subject to statutory caps on damages. Title IX claims — which run in federal court — are not capped the same way state law claims are. This is why we plead both: state negligence for the university’s institutional failures, and Title IX for the federal deliberate-indifference claim that bypasses state damage caps.
The Individual’s Insurance
The arrested 19-year-old almost certainly has no meaningful coverage. A homeowners policy might respond if his parents’ policy extends to him and if the conduct was arguably negligent rather than intentional — but intentional sexual assault is universally excluded. We name the individual in the civil complaint to establish his fault and to trigger the institutional defendants’ liability, not because his personal assets are the recovery target.
The Housing Corporation
Many fraternity houses are owned or leased by a separate housing corporation — an entity distinct from the chapter and sometimes distinct from the national. This entity may carry its own liability insurance for premises-related claims. If the assault occurred on property the housing corporation controlled, it is a separate defendant with separate coverage.
What This Case Is Worth
The value of a fraternity hazing and sexual assault civil case depends on the severity of the harm, the strength of the institutional liability, the amount of available insurance, and the jurisdiction. From our own active hazing case — filed for more than $10 million — to the published CDC research showing a $122,000+ lifetime cost per rape survivor (in 2014 dollars, before inflation, before pain and suffering, before punitive damages), the range in these cases is significant. Cases involving severe PTSD, institutional deliberate indifference, and a pattern of prior ignored warnings at the same fraternity can carry values well into seven figures and beyond. Cases where the institutional liability is weaker and the harm is less documented may be smaller. Every case is valued on its own facts. We do not promise a number. We promise to build the strongest possible case and to fight for every dollar the survivor is owed.
The Defense Playbook — What They Will Do and How We Counter
Lupe Peña spent years inside a national insurance-defense firm — in the rooms where adjusters and their software decided how to deny, delay, and devalue claims exactly like yours. He knows this playbook from the inside. Now he sits on your side of the table. Here are the moves the defense will make and how we counter each one.
Play One: “The Individual Acted Alone”
The fraternity and the university will both argue that the 19-year-old was a rogue actor whose conduct was unforeseeable. The counter is the pattern: prior complaints at this fraternity, prior hazing incidents, prior alcohol violations, prior Title IX reports, prior police calls. If the pattern exists — and in our experience it almost always does — the assault was not unforeseeable. It was the predictable result of a culture the institutions tolerated. The fraternity’s own risk-management manual, which prohibits exactly the conditions that led to this assault, is evidence that the danger was recognized. You do not write a policy against something you never anticipated.
Play Two: “The National Didn’t Control the Chapter”
The national fraternity will argue it merely licensed its name and collected dues — that the local chapter was an independent entity it did not supervise. This is the franchise defense, and it is the single most contested issue in fraternity litigation. The counter is control evidence: the national’s inspection reports, the national’s mandatory risk-management standards, the national’s requirement that the chapter carry insurance through the national’s program, the national’s authority to suspend the charter, the national’s published anti-hazing policies, and any communications between the national and this chapter about prior incidents. Each of these is a thread of control. The more threads, the harder it is for the national to claim it was a bystander to its own chapter.
Play Three: “The Survivor Was Drinking / Willingly Attended / Assumed the Risk”
The defense will try to shift blame to the survivor. She went to the party. She was drinking. She knew fraternities could be dangerous. Every one of these arguments is a version of victim-blazing, and every one has an answer. Providing alcohol to a person who cannot legally consent to sex is not a defense — it is evidence of the fraternity’s negligence. Voluntarily attending a social event is not consent to sexual assault. And assumption of risk does not apply to intentional criminal acts. In Arkansas, the modified comparative fault rule does not bar recovery unless the survivor is 50% or more at fault — and in a sexual assault case, the survivor’s fault is zero. We fight these arguments with the law, the medicine, and the facts.
Play Four: “The University Didn’t Know”
The university will argue it had no notice of danger at this fraternity. The counter is the record: campus police call logs for the fraternity’s address, prior Title IX complaints, Greek Life office incident reports, student conduct violations, Clery Act reports, and any prior warnings or sanctions against the chapter. If the university knew — and the paper trail usually shows it did — the deliberate-indifference standard under Title IX is met. A university that knows its fraternities are dangerous and does nothing is not a bystander. It is a participant in the risk.
Play Five: The Quick Settlement Offer
At some point — usually after the preservation letters go out and the defense realizes the evidence is locked down — someone will offer a fast settlement. It will be a fraction of the case’s value. It will come with a non-disclosure agreement. It will be designed to make the case go away quietly before the survivor understands the full scope of her harm and the full extent of the institutions’ liability. We do not accept the first offer. We do not accept an offer before the medical picture is complete. We do not accept an offer that requires the survivor to stay silent about what happened to her. The first offer is the insurance company telling you what they are afraid of. We listen to it, and then we keep building.
Play Six: “The Insurance Policy Doesn’t Cover This”
The fraternity’s insurer will argue that the assault-and-battery or sexual-misconduct exclusion in the CGL policy bars coverage. This is a real fight. The counter is that the claim is not just for the assault — it is for the institution’s negligent supervision, negligent training, negligent retention of a dangerous chapter, and failure to enforce its own safety policies. Those are separate covered acts. The exclusion for assault and battery may not reach the chapter’s negligence in creating the conditions for the assault. This is a coverage litigation that runs alongside the liability case, and it is one of the most important battlegrounds in the entire claim.
How We Build the Case — The Proof Story
Here is how a fraternity hazing and sexual assault civil case is actually built, from the first phone call to the courtroom.
Week One — The Freeze. The day you call us, we send preservation letters to the local chapter, the national fraternity, the university, the housing corporation, and any third-party vendors. Those letters order each entity to preserve surveillance footage, digital communications, internal records, incident reports, insurance files, and physical evidence. This is the single most time-sensitive step in the entire case. The footage that shows who entered the fraternity house that night is being recorded over right now. The group chat where members discussed what happened is being deleted right now. The preservation letter is the only thing that stops the clock.
Weeks Two Through Four — The Intake and Investigation. We interview the survivor, the family, and the witnesses. We obtain the police report, the rape kit results (through coordination with the criminal case), the hospital records, and the first therapy intake. We pull the university’s Clery Act reports for this fraternity’s address. We request the university’s Title IX file on this fraternity. We identify the national fraternity organization’s corporate structure, its insurance program, and its registered agent for service of process.
Months One Through Three — The Filing. We file the complaint, naming every defendant in the chain: the individual, the local chapter, the national organization, the housing corporation, and (after confirming the state tort claims notice requirements) the university. We plead Title IX against the university, state-law negligence against the fraternity defendants, and negligent supervision / negligent retention / premises liability as the facts support. We serve the complaint on each defendant through their registered agent.
Months Three Through Twelve — Discovery. This is where the case is won or lost. We serve document demands on every defendant: the national’s inspection reports for this chapter, the national’s incident files, the national’s risk-management manual, the chapter’s internal communications, the university’s Title IX records, the university’s police call logs, the university’s Greek Life files. We take depositions — the chapter president, the risk-management officer, the national’s representative, the university’s Title IX coordinator, the university’s Greek Life director. Under oath, in a room with a court reporter, they answer for what they knew and what they did.
The Trial. If the case does not settle — and many do, but only after the defense sees the full weight of the evidence — we try it. The survivor’s testimony. The medical evidence. The pattern of prior complaints. The national’s own risk-management manual. The university’s Clery reports. The fraternity house surveillance footage, if we froze it in time. The defense’s arguments, dismantled one by one. The jury’s verdict.
The First 72 Hours — What to Do Now
If the assault happened within the last 72 hours, the actions taken in this window can determine the entire case. Here is the roadmap.
Medical first — always. If the survivor has not yet been examined by a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE), that is the first step. A SANE exam collects forensic evidence, documents physical injuries, provides prophylactic treatment for sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy, and creates a contemporaneous medical record that is foundational to both the criminal and civil cases. The exam is the survivor’s choice — she can decline any part of it — but the evidence window narrows with every hour that passes. Toxicology (if alcohol or drugs were involved) is particularly time-sensitive.
Do not contact the fraternity, the university, or the arrested individual’s family. Do not negotiate. Do not accept any offer. Do not sign anything. Do not post on social media about the incident. Do not let the survivor discuss the details in texts, emails, or messages that can be subpoenaed. The defense is already building its file — everything said outside the protected attorney-client relationship is potentially evidence.
Do contact us. The consultation is free. The call is confidential. We will explain the civil liability chain, confirm the deadlines that apply to your facts, and send the preservation letters the day you hire us. You do not pay us unless we win your case. We work on contingency — 33.33% before trial, 40% if the case goes to trial. If we are not the right fit for your case, we will tell you and help you find counsel who is.
Preserve what you can. If the survivor has any physical evidence — clothing worn that night, bedding, a phone with messages — bag it, do not wash it, and store it safely. Take screenshots of any social media posts, group chats, or messages related to the fraternity or the event before they are deleted. Write down the names of anyone who was there, anything they said, and anything they witnessed — memory degrades fast, and a contemporaneous note is worth more than a month-later recollection.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I sue the fraternity even though the 19-year-old was arrested?
Yes. The criminal case and the civil case are separate. The criminal case addresses the individual’s guilt and potential imprisonment. The civil case addresses who else is responsible for creating the conditions that allowed the assault to happen — the local chapter, the national fraternity organization, the university, and any other institution that had a duty to protect the survivor. The civil case can proceed regardless of the criminal case’s outcome.
How long do I have to file a lawsuit?
Arkansas’s general personal injury statute of limitations is three years from the date of the assault. However, claims against the University of Arkansas (a state institution) may require formal notice on a significantly shorter timeline. If the survivor was a minor, the deadline may be extended. If psychological injuries were not diagnosed immediately, the discovery rule may apply. Never assume you have the full three years — call us to confirm the exact deadline for your facts.
Is the university responsible for what happens at a fraternity house?
Potentially, yes. If the university receives federal funding (which the University of Arkansas does), it is bound by Title IX, which creates liability when the university has actual knowledge of sexual assault risk and is deliberately indifferent to it. If the fraternity house is on university-controlled land, or if the university’s Greek Life office exercises oversight over the chapter, or if the university had prior reports of problems at this fraternity, it may be liable for negligent supervision, negligent retention, and Title IX deliberate indifference.
Can the national fraternity organization be held liable for a local chapter’s conduct?
This is the most contested question in fraternity litigation, and the answer depends on the degree of control the national exercised over the chapter. The national sets risk-management policies, requires insurance, conducts inspections, and can revoke the charter. The more control the national exercised — and the more it knew about prior problems at this chapter — the harder it is for the national to claim it was merely a licensor. We build the control case from the national’s own documents: its inspection reports, its incident files, its mandatory policies, and its communications with the chapter.
What if my daughter was drinking at the party?
This is one of the defense’s favorite arguments, and it has a complete answer. Providing alcohol to someone who cannot legally consent to sex is not a defense to sexual assault — it is evidence of the fraternity’s negligence. Voluntarily attending a party and consuming alcohol is not consent to sexual assault. Assumption of risk does not apply to intentional criminal acts. In Arkansas, the survivor’s fault in a sexual assault case is zero, and the comparative fault rule does not bar her recovery.
Will my daughter have to testify in court?
If the case goes to trial, the survivor’s testimony is typically the centerpiece of the case. But most civil cases settle before trial — and the decision to settle or proceed is always the survivor’s. We prepare every client for what testimony involves, and we fight for protections — pseudonyms, closed proceedings, limits on defense questioning — that reduce the burden. The survivor’s voice is the most powerful evidence in the case, and our job is to make sure she is heard on her terms.
How much is this case worth?
The value depends on the severity of the harm, the strength of the institutional liability, the available insurance, and the jurisdiction. Published CDC research puts the lifetime economic cost of a single rape at more than $122,000 (in 2014 dollars) — and that figure excludes pain and suffering, punitive damages, and the full scope of non-economic harm. Our active hazing case was filed for more than $10 million. Every case is valued on its own facts. We do not promise a number — we promise to build the strongest possible case and to fight for every dollar the survivor is owed. Past results depend on the facts of each case and do not guarantee future outcomes.
What does it cost to hire you?
Nothing up front. We work on contingency — we are paid a percentage of the recovery (33.33% before trial, 40% if the case goes to trial), and we do not get paid unless we win. The consultation is free, confidential, and carries no obligation. If we are not the right firm for your case, we will tell you. Call 1-888-ATTY-911.
Who We Are
Ralph Manginello has spent 27+ years in courtrooms, including federal court. He is the managing partner of this firm and lead counsel in our active hazing lawsuit — filed for more than $10 million against a university and a national fraternity. Before he was a lawyer, he was a journalist. He approaches every case the way a reporter approaches a story: find the documents, follow the money, and make the institutions answer for what they knew and when they knew it. He is admitted to the State Bar of Texas (Bar #24007597, licensed November 6, 1998) and the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas. You can read more about Ralph here.
Lupe Peña is a former insurance-defense attorney. He spent years inside a national defense firm — in the rooms where adjusters and their software decided how to deny, delay, and devalue claims like yours. He knows the playbook because he wrote parts of it. Now he uses that knowledge for injured clients. He is fluent in Spanish and conducts full client consultations in Spanish without an interpreter. You can read more about Lupe here.
Our firm has recovered more than $50 million for clients across our years of practice, including a $5M+ brain-injury settlement, a $3.8M+ amputation settlement, a $2.5M+ truck-crash recovery, and a $2M+ maritime back-injury settlement. The $10M+ hazing lawsuit is our active file — not a closed chapter. These results are real, but past results depend on the facts of each case and do not guarantee future outcomes.
We are based in Houston, Texas, with offices in Austin and Beaumont, and we take cases across the country, working with local counsel where required. We answer our phones 24/7 — not with an answering service, but with live staff. The call is free. The conversation is confidential. The decision is yours.
Call Now — The Evidence Clock Is Running
Every day you wait is a day the surveillance footage gets closer to being recorded over. Every day is a day the group chats get closer to being deleted. Every day is a day the witnesses’ memories get a little dimmer and the university’s notice deadline gets a little closer.
Call 1-888-ATTY-911. The consultation is free. We do not get paid unless we win your case. We will tell you, honestly, whether you have a case and what the next steps are. If we are not the right fit, we will help you find counsel who is.
Hablamos Español. Lupe Peña conducts full consultations in Spanish — not through an interpreter, but directly. Si su familia necesita hablar con un abogado en español, llame al 1-888-ATTY-911.
This page is legal information, not legal advice. Every case is different. The specific deadlines, defendant structure, and legal theories that apply to your case depend on facts we will confirm at intake. Contacting the firm is free and confidential.
Call 1-888-ATTY-911 or contact us here. We answer 24/7.