What Happens After You Contact Me
Most people who write to me are somewhere between a notice and a deadline, and the first thing they want 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.
The follow-up is Ben’s job. Benjamin Jones co-handles intake and follow-up: he is mainly the one who responds to your inquiry, 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 write in
Use the form, send an email, or call. 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. If there is not, you get a written confirmation of engagement and instructions for sending documents. That confirmation is what starts the representation — not the form, and not the phone call.
3. You send the record — all of it
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 email, split them across numbered messages or send a cloud link; I can also set up a shared folder on request. There is no volume cap and no page limit. Sending more does not cost more.
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.
4. The full read
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.
5. The 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.
6. Seven days of follow-up
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.
What happens after that — if anything does
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 is a flat fee, set in writing before any work begins. The Full Read + Game Plan Session is $1,000. Every other service, and what each one includes, is published on the Fees & Scope of Services page, and the terms that apply to every engagement are in the Engagement Agreement.
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 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 free consultation dressed up as a sales call. The Game Plan is the work, not a preview of it.
- No hourly 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.