Florida counsel of record · State & federal · Statewide (561) 308-9119 zachary@astudentslawyer.com

Zachary Gaynor, Esq. · Boca Raton, Florida

I built this because I could not find local counsel when I needed it.

A matter came in that needed a lawyer admitted somewhere I was not, on a deadline that did not care. Finding someone reachable, priced, and willing to say yes or no the same day turned out to be far harder than it should have been. This site is the version of that I wish had existed.

The practice

I am a solo attorney in Boca Raton. Two things make up the practice: local counsel work for out-of-state firms with Florida matters, and my own litigation practice representing students against universities — academic dismissal, Title IX, Section 504 and ADA accommodations, FERPA, and professionalism findings.

The second one is why the first one works. I am in Florida state and federal courts on my own cases, not renting out a bar number. The Portal, CM/ECF, division practices, and the way Florida clerks reject filings are all things I deal with weekly on matters where the outcome is mine to own.

Before law I spent several years in Big 4 tax and I still hold an active Florida CPA license. That combination shows up more often than you would think — in commercial cases with accounting records at their center, and in healthcare matters, where an LL.M. in Health Law is occasionally the reason a filing reads right.

Admissions and credentials

State barThe Florida Bar, No. 125534 — admitted October 2016
Federal districtS.D. Fla. · M.D. Fla. · N.D. Fla.
Federal appellateU.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Also admittedD. Colorado · D. Nebraska · W.D. Wisconsin
LawJ.D., University of Florida
AdvancedLL.M. in Health Law, Seton Hall
AccountingB.S. Accounting and Master of Accounting, University of Florida · active Florida CPA license

Not licensed in any state other than Florida. Nothing here is a claim of specialization, expertise, or certification by The Florida Bar in any area of practice.

How I try to be easy to hire

An answer either way, within one business day

Including when the answer is a conflict. A maybe that arrives in four days is worse than a no that arrives today.

A quote before an engagement letter

So you can get client approval before you commit to anything.

A written division of responsibility

Who controls the client, who drafts, who files, who calendars. In the engagement letter, not in an assumption.

A named lawyer who answers the phone

No intake queue and no associate handoff. The attorney who signs your motion is the one who picks up when the clerk rejects a filing.

The other practice

Students against universities

My merits practice is student–university litigation: academic dismissal and appeals, Title IX and student conduct defense, Section 504 and ADA accommodations including testing accommodations, FERPA and records disputes, professionalism and fitness-for-practice findings, and federal civil rights litigation against institutions. It runs at astudentslawyer.com, with fees posted publicly.

If you have a Florida student or higher-education matter, I can serve as local counsel on it or as co-counsel on the merits — say which when you write.

Send the matter.

Court, case number, who needs admission, and the deadline that is driving it.

Work with me

Conflicts first, then a quote, then an engagement letter.

Conflicts are run before anything else. Please do not send confidential or privileged material until conflicts are cleared and an engagement letter is signed.