Why I Retired Client Testimonials From My Website
I took down every client testimonial on this site. Schools’ lawyers read it, and no school wants to become a bullet point here.
Last reviewed
I have taken down every client testimonial on this website, and I will not be adding new ones. The In Their Words section is retired, the quote that sat on the front page is gone, and the review post that pointed to it now redirects here.
The reason is the student I am representing right now. The lawyers on the other side of these matters read this website. Their clients — colleges, universities, and professional schools — do not want a resolution they agreed to turned into a bullet point of my accomplishments. A testimonial that makes a school less willing to work with me costs my current client something real. That is not a trade I will make.
The school’s lawyers read this website
Once a lawyer is involved, many schools bring in their own: the general counsel’s office, or outside counsel. One of the first things any lawyer does is look up who is on the other side. They read this site. I would read theirs.
Much of what I do happens lawyer to lawyer — letters, calls, and meetings where a school decides whether to reconsider a decision, correct a record, or resolve a dispute before it goes further. That channel only works when both sides can deal with each other in good faith. I wrote about what it looks like when it works in The Nicest Email I Got This Week Came From Opposing Counsel.
No school wants to become a bullet point
Put yourself in the school’s chair. Its lawyer is deciding whether to recommend working something out. Part of that decision is what happens afterward. If the outcome can end up quoted on my website, even anonymously, the school has a reason to dig in that has nothing to do with the merits of your case.
Testimonials could have bolstered this site. They might have made the next family more comfortable picking up the phone. But a website that reassures the next family while making today’s negotiation harder is working against the person who is counting on me now. My clients come first. My marketing does not.
Anonymous is not invisible
I built In Their Words to protect privacy: no names, no schools, the client’s own unedited words, shared only with written permission. That protected clients from the public. It did not protect their matters from the school. The people who handled a matter can recognize it from a few details — the kind of program, the stage it reached, the year. A school’s lawyers know which matters were theirs.
So anonymity solved the wrong problem. The risk was never that a stranger would identify a student. It was that the other side would find its own case on my website.
What changes, and what does not
- The testimonials are gone. The In Their Words pages now redirect here, and the one entry that was posted is down.
- I will not ask. No client will be asked for a testimonial or a review when a matter ends.
- Still no Google reviews. My reasons are in Why I Don’t Have a Google Review Page, and they still hold.
- This was my choice. Florida’s lawyer-advertising rules allow testimonials that meet their conditions — Rule 4-7.13(b)(9) of the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar. Nothing required me to take them down.
How to judge a lawyer without testimonials
A testimonial was never the best evidence anyway. A few kind sentences tell you how one client felt, not how your matter will go. Better evidence is in front of you:
- Read the lawyer’s own work. Every guide on this site is written by me, about the processes I handle: the rules, the deadlines, and the choices you have.
- Ask who does the work. Who reads your whole file, who writes the appeal, and who sits beside you at the hearing.
- Ask whether they will file. If the school will not move, will the lawyer take it to OCR or to court, and who files it?
- Get the scope and the fee in writing before any work begins.
I go through those questions in more detail in how to vet a student-defense lawyer.
Common questions
Does Zachary Gaynor have client reviews or testimonials?
Not on this website. I retired the testimonials section in November 2026, and I do not ask clients for Google reviews.
Why not keep the testimonials anonymous?
Because the people I most need to work with — the school’s lawyers — can recognize their own matters even when names and schools are left out.
Will you ask me for a testimonial or review when my matter ends?
No. Not by email, not in a closing letter, and not through anyone who works with me.
Do the Florida Bar’s rules prohibit testimonials?
No. Florida allows testimonials that meet the conditions in Rule 4-7.13(b)(9). Taking mine down was my decision.
If your school has started a proceeding, dismissed you, or denied an appeal or an accommodation, tell me what happened. You will be speaking with the lawyer who handles your matter.
Prefer email? Write to zachary@astudentslawyer.com with the same facts.
Tell me what happened
Four facts start the conversation — your school and program, what happened and where it stands, any deadline, and whether you are still enrolled. What comes back: whether the matter fits this practice and, where one can responsibly be given, a preliminary figure. I read every message myself, and you hear back the same business day — the next one if you write in the evening or on a weekend.
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Or email zachary@astudentslawyer.com — a few sentences is plenty.
Facing this now?
Deadlines in these matters are often short. Reach out early and tell me what is happening.
A campus decision can follow a student for years.
A boutique practice can be flexible in a way a larger firm often cannot. Depending
on the matter, that can take any of these forms.
From the very beginning
The earlier I'm involved, the more options stay open. I can step in at the first notice, charge, or letter — before a deadline closes or a statement is given — and help shape the matter from the outset.
Behind the scenes
Where a process limits an advisor's speaking role, I work in a consulting capacity — reading the policies, preparing you and your statement, and drafting submissions and appeals — without ever appearing.
Complex, high-stakes matters
Cases that cut across academic, disciplinary, civil-rights, and financial lines — the ones that don't fit a single box — are squarely the work this practice is built for.
Second opinions
If you already have counsel, or simply want another read before you act, I provide focused second opinions at a reasonable, agreed cost.
Ongoing counsel
For students, families, and advisors who want a lawyer on call as a situation develops, I'm available on an ongoing monthly basis.
Worked out to fit
The scope and the fee are discussed up front and structured to fit the matter. The goal is a practical arrangement that gets the situation handled.
The scope of any engagement and the fee are set out in a written agreement. Contacting the firm does not create an attorney–client relationship.
A campus decision can follow a student for years.
A boutique practice can be flexible in a way a larger firm often cannot. Depending
on the matter, that can take any of these forms.
From the very beginning
The earlier I'm involved, the more options stay open. I can step in at the first notice, charge, or letter — before a deadline closes or a statement is given — and help shape the matter from the outset.
Behind the scenes
Where a process limits an advisor's speaking role, I work in a consulting capacity — reading the policies, preparing you and your statement, and drafting submissions and appeals — without ever appearing.
Complex, high-stakes matters
Cases that cut across academic, disciplinary, civil-rights, and financial lines — the ones that don't fit a single box — are squarely the work this practice is built for.
Second opinions
If you already have counsel, or simply want another read before you act, I provide focused second opinions at a reasonable, agreed cost.
Ongoing counsel
For students, families, and advisors who want a lawyer on call as a situation develops, I'm available on an ongoing monthly basis.
Worked out to fit
The scope and the fee are discussed up front and structured to fit the matter. The goal is a practical arrangement that gets the situation handled.
The scope of any engagement and the fee are set out in a written agreement. Contacting the firm does not create an attorney–client relationship.