What Happens After You Contact Me
If you are somewhere between a notice and a deadline, the first thing you need is to know what is about to happen. Here it is, in order, with nothing left out.
Who you are actually dealing with
The legal work here comes from one attorney. I am the lawyer who reads your file, writes your appeal, and sits beside you at the hearing — there is no screener deciding whether you are worth passing along, and no associate you meet only after you have signed.
New inquiries come straight to me. Call or text (561) 308-9119, use the form, or email, and the reply comes from me. After we have talked, Benjamin Jones helps with follow-up: he gathers the information and documents your matter needs, helps schedule the Game Plan session, and makes sure nothing you sent sits unanswered while a deadline runs. Ben is not an attorney and does not give legal advice — all legal work and legal advice come from me. His calls and texts come from (561) 300-0648; save the number so you recognize us when we reach out.
What this structure means for you: your message gets a response instead of a queue, you never explain your situation twice, and the person who knows your case is the person doing the work.
1. You reach out
Call or text (561) 308-9119, use the form, or send an email. Tell me who you are, what school, what the school says you did or failed to do, and the date of anything with a deadline attached to it. A few sentences is enough at this stage.
Do not send records yet. Until a conflict check has cleared, please send only a brief summary and no documents. I keep what you send confidential, but your full disciplinary file should not sit in an ordinary inbox before secure upload instructions arrive. The first message exists to answer two questions only: is this the kind of matter I handle, and am I free to take it.
2. I run a conflict check
Before I can look at your situation I have to be certain I am not already adverse to you, to your school, or to someone else connected to the matter. That check is the reason the first form is short.
If there is a conflict, I will say so and, where I can, point you somewhere else. In a practice that represents only students, conflicts are rare, so the check is quick — but it happens every time. If there is no conflict, my reply tells you whether the matter fits this practice and, where one can responsibly be given, a preliminary minimum or range for the work — from me. If it looks like a fit, we have a brief call at no charge. Nothing starts until I have accepted the matter, the agreement is signed, and the required payment is made; then I confirm your start date in writing and send instructions for sending documents. That written confirmation is what starts the representation — not the form, and not the phone call.
3. Choose the engagement that fits the matter
You do not need to purchase a Full Read + Game Plan before discussing representation. If a response, appeal, or hearing deadline is close, we can discuss direct representation from the outset. If you want a scheduled assessment before deciding what to do, the Full Read + Game Plan is a separate option. The written agreement determines which work I undertake.
4. Send the record securely
Once you are a client, we work through Clio for Clients — a free app for iPhone and Android, or any web browser — where you send me documents by scan or upload, read and send messages, see where the matter stands, and view and pay invoices. Access comes by invitation from me after the agreement is signed. Until then, please do not send documents: describe the matter, and I will tell you how to send the file securely.
Everything, in one organized transmittal: the notice, the student handbook or code section it cites, the emails in full chains rather than forwarded fragments, the evaluations, the accommodation letters, the appeal policy, the transcript. Unredacted. If there are more than ten files, name them with the date first so they sort into order on their own.
If the files are too large to upload, I can set up a shared folder. Send everything: if the record turns out larger than the scope we agreed, I tell you before going further, and any change to the scope or fee is agreed in writing.
People sometimes hold back the part they are embarrassed about. That is the part I most need. I cannot build around a fact I do not know about, and the school usually already has it.
5. Begin the work we agreed
For representation, the work and timing follow the scope in your agreement and the needs of the proceeding. The scheduled session and seven-day follow-up described below apply to the Full Read + Game Plan; they do not replace or limit a separate representation agreement.
For a Full Read + Game Plan: the file review
I read the entire file — not a summary of it — against the school’s own written policies and against the federal law that applies to your situation. What I am looking for is the distance between what the handbook required the school to do and what the school actually did, and whether the record supports what it says it found.
I aim to finish by the end of the week your complete file arrives, and I will tell you up front if a deadline in your matter makes that impossible.
The scheduled Game Plan session
In person, by video, or by phone — whichever you prefer. It runs as long as it needs to run. There is no time limit, no stopwatch, and no set number of questions. We go through what the school has, what it must prove, what your record actually shows, what the realistic outcomes are, and what you should do next and in what order.
If a parent is paying and you want them on the call, that is fine, and it is worked out in writing beforehand.
Seven days of follow-up after the session
For seven days after the session you can email follow-up questions about what we discussed, at no additional charge. After that the engagement ends on its own unless we have signed something further. Nothing renews quietly, and nothing keeps billing in the background.
After a Full Read + Game Plan
For a large share of students the Game Plan is the entire engagement. Being told you do not need a lawyer is a legitimate outcome and a common one, and you will hear it from me if it is true.
Where more is warranted, the options are a written appeal or demand letter, ongoing representation with the school, a contested hearing, or, as a last resort, litigation. Each is a separate written agreement, quoted before any work begins, and the fee you paid for the Game Plan is credited toward it if you sign within two months of the Session.
You will not be sold any of this during the session. I do not present a retainer or a representation agreement while we are on the call, and I do not follow up with a pitch. If you want to go further, you tell me afterward.
What it costs
Almost everything I do is a flat fee, fixed in writing before any work begins. The figure depends on the matter, and I give it to you privately: a preliminary figure once I know enough to identify the matter, and the fee itself in the written agreement. How fees are set, and how you pay, are on the fees page.
Where I am admitted
I am licensed to practice law in Florida. I am admitted to the bars of the U.S. District Courts for the Southern, Middle and Northern Districts of Florida, the District of Colorado, the Northern, Central and Southern Districts of Illinois, the District of Nebraska, the District of New Mexico, and the Western District of Wisconsin, and of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
Campus proceedings are not court proceedings, and many schools permit an out-of-state attorney to advise or appear as an advisor under their own policies — which is why the practice is national. A court matter outside the jurisdictions above may require local counsel or separate admission, and that cost is disclosed before you decide anything. There is more detail on the Students Nationwide page.
Things that do not happen here
- No sales call. The first call is brief, at no charge, and only to confirm fit; the Game Plan is the work, not a preview of it.
- No meter running while you decide.
- No prediction of how your case will come out. I will tell you what the record supports and what the risks are; anyone quoting you odds is guessing.
- No public reviews. I do not ask students to write them, for reasons set out here.
Ready to start?
Send the short form on the contact page — name, school, what happened, and your deadline. If there is a date already on the calendar, say so in the first line.