The Engagement Agreement, In Plain View
Sample — for information only. This is the current form of the limited-scope agreement most clients sign first (the $1,000 Full Read + Game Plan engagement). I publish it because you should be able to read the actual terms before you ever call — not a summary, not a teaser. The agreement you sign controls, and terms may be adjusted to fit your matter.
What this agreement is
It is a limited-scope engagement under the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar: a one-time review of your record (up to about one hundred (100) files — roughly five hundred pages), one consultation with no time limit, and seven days of email follow-up. It does not include contacting your school, drafting appeals, protecting deadlines, or litigation — each of those is a separate written engagement, and the agreement says so in plain terms.
The protections built into it
- Nothing starts before signing. The engagement takes effect only after it is signed, conflicts have cleared, I confirm acceptance in writing, and the fee is then paid — in that order. If the engagement never takes effect, the entire fee is refunded.
- Flat fee, defined scope. The fee covers the services however many hours they take, and Rule 4-1.5 — which prohibits any clearly excessive fee — always applies.
- Credit toward more. If we sign a larger engagement on the same matter within two months, the full fee is credited.
- Deadline warning in bold. The agreement tells you — twice, with initials — that no deadline is being protected during a review, because that honesty matters more than comfort.
Read the full agreement
The complete current text is below. If you have questions about any provision, ask before you sign — that is what the free phone call is for: (561) 308-9119.
Limited-Scope Engagement Agreement — Review & Assessment (sample)
Zachary Gaynor, Esq. · Florida Bar No. 125534 · Student Defense · Higher Education Law
1. The Matter
The “Matter” is your enrollment in your program at your institution and the dispute described in the agreement — together with the events, decisions, policies, and communications behind it and their academic, financial, and professional consequences.
2. What This Engagement Includes — and Does Not
Included. For the flat fee in Section 4: (a) a one-time review of all documents you provide relating to the Matter — decision letters and notices, correspondence with the Institution, the student handbook and every policy that applied to you, appeals and responses, academic and financial records, and any recordings — up to approximately one hundred (100) separate files (roughly five hundred (500) pages), reviewed together rather than piecemeal; if your record materially exceeds that amount, I will tell you and quote the difference before I begin, never after; (b) one telephone or video consultation with no time limit, with my candid assessment and recommendation; and (c) reasonable email follow-up for seven (7) days after the consultation, when the representation ends automatically.
Not included. Contacting the Institution or anyone else on your behalf; drafting or sending any demand, appeal, records request, complaint, or filing; negotiating; seeking emergency relief; monitoring or preserving any deadline; or litigating. Any further step happens only under a separate written agreement.
3. Effective Date; Conflict Check
Signing alone does not create an attorney-client relationship. The Agreement takes effect only when (a) it is signed, (b) my conflict-of-interest check has cleared, (c) I have confirmed in writing that I will accept the engagement, and (d) the fee has been paid — payment is the final step, and its receipt is the “Effective Date.” If I decline the engagement or the Effective Date never occurs, the entire fee is promptly refunded.
4. Fee; Payment; Costs
The fee is a flat One Thousand Dollars ($1,000), due upon my written confirmation of the engagement. The payment link goes out only after the Agreement is signed and conflicts have cleared, so payment is the final step and the engagement takes effect on its receipt. On the Effective Date the fee is deemed fully earned; three protections remain: full refund if the Effective Date never occurs; refund of any portion attributable to services not performed; and your rights under Rule 4-1.5, which prohibits any clearly excessive fee. If we sign a separate agreement for greater representation within two (2) months after the consultation, the full fee is credited. Third-party payors are handled under Rule 4-1.8(f): the payor does not become the client and cannot direct the representation.
5. No Deadlines Are Being Protected
The engagement does not include monitoring, calendaring, tolling, or preserving any deadline — statutes of limitations, OCR or agency complaint windows, internal appeal deadlines, or the promptness emergency relief requires. Until the review is complete, no deadline is being protected, and the agreement requires your initials on exactly that sentence.
6. Where I Am Licensed
I am admitted in Florida, the U.S. District Courts for the Southern, Middle, and Northern Districts of Florida, and the Eleventh Circuit — nowhere else. For institutions outside Florida, the review addresses your potential federal claims and practical options, not that state’s law; litigation there would require pro hac vice admission and local counsel.
7. Preserve and Send Your Evidence
Do not delete, alter, or discard anything relating to the Matter. Download the complete contents of any institutional email account or student portal now — access is frequently cut off without warning — and send everything in one organized transmittal as complete, unredacted PDFs.
8. Artificial Intelligence
Do not send AI-generated legal research, citations, or analysis — AI routinely invents authority, and courts sanction people for filing it. I verify every citation at its source through Westlaw. Everything you provide must be authentic, complete, and unaltered.
9. Confidentiality; Communications
Everything you provide is protected by privilege, work product, and Rules 4-1.6 and 4-1.18 — including materials sent before the Effective Date — but that protection is fragile: use only an email account you alone control, do not share my advice or work product, and do not post about the Matter anywhere.
10. Termination; General Terms
You may end the representation at any time by written notice; withdrawal is governed by Rule 4-1.16. Florida law governs; venue lies in Palm Beach County; and any fee dispute may, at your election, go to The Florida Bar’s Fee Arbitration Program.
Ready to start, or not sure this is the right engagement? See the full fee schedule or request a consultation. Attorney advertising. This sample is general information, not legal advice, and not an offer of representation; the signed agreement controls.