Disability Inclusion and Advocacy Law (DIAL) Clinic
The Disability Inclusion and Advocacy Law (DIAL) Clinic (formerly known as the Adults with Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities (AIDD) law clinic) introduces law students to legal practice advocating for the civil rights of persons with disabilities. The DIAL Clinic’s advocacy focuses on its clients’ well-being, dignity, and psychological health. In the DIAL Clinic, students engage in the full range of lawyering tasks, including conducting intakes, interviewing potential clients, negotiation and dispute resolution, administrative complaints, trials, policy advocacy, and other aspects of the legal profession. Students learn about procedural, practical and ethical elements that arise from discrimination in the areas of housing, employment, public accommodations, government services, and probate matters.
Clinic Prerequisites
All required first-year classes and Professional ResponsibilityFaculty
Matthew W. Dietz, Clinical Director
Leigh Markowitz, Clinic Staff Attorney
Talhia Rangel, Clinic Staff Attorney
AgileThought, Inc.
15203 SW 81st Ave
Palmetto Bay, FL 33157-2206
Felicia Jordan
Disability Rights Florida
2400 E Commercial Blvd Ste 525
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308-4030
Hon. Ginger Lerner-Wren
201 SE 6th St
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301-3303
Victoria Mesa-Estrada
Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley
2139 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd
West Palm Beach, FL 33409-6601
Rob Rosenwald
City of Miami Beach City Atty's Office
Miami Beach City Hall, 4th Floor
1700 Convention Center Dr
Miami Beach, FL 33139-1819
Brian Tannebaum
1 SE 3rd Ave Ste 2410
Miami, FL 33131-1700
Constituent Advisory Board Coming Soon.
The Disability Inclusion and Advocacy Law Clinic provides knowledge and advice to, and serves as advocates for, persons with Disabilities. Each law student who participates in the Clinic is supervised by a licensed attorney and there is no fee for the advice or services that the Clinic provides. To maximize the resources available, we assist clients in one of three ways:
Legal Advice and Problem-Solving Clinic: Students in the clinic will provide information, legal advice, and basic assistance with Disability Law issues to clients without any expectation of long-term representation. This includes assistance with requests for reasonable accommodations in a workplace or housing, requesting interpreting and other auxiliary services, guardianship questions, and other discrete matters.
Administrative Advocacy and Guardianship Alternatives: The Clinic attorneys and students also handle claims and proceedings that, by their nature, can be resolved within a semester or two. There are currently two types of matters that fall into this category. First, are proceedings in front of agencies that investigate claims of discrimination and retaliation—matters in which we will seek to resolve complaints thought negotiation and mediation. Second, are the matters involving advise and assistance to caregivers of Persons with Disabilities who wish to establish alternatives to guardianship for future care and support.
Full Case Representation: For very few cases, the Clinic will accept representation of claims in Federal or State Court to vindicate and expand the rights and opportunities for Persons with Disabilities.
Do you need legal help?
The Disability Inclusion and Advocacy Law Clinic is a teaching clinic staffed by licensed Florida attorneys and law students offering free legal assistance to clients facing disability-related legal issues. Each law student who participates in the DIAL Clinic is supervised by a licensed attorney and there is no fee for the advice or services that the Clinic provides. Because the clinic operates within the Nova Southeastern University College of Law, there are limits to what cases we can take. We will review all requests for help and offer assistance to as many people as we can.
We offer the following types of assistance:
- Legal advice and problem solving. We provide answers to disability-related legal questions and help in obtaining disability-related accommodations. This includes assistance with requests to your job or home for accommodations for your disability, requesting sign language interpreters or other help with communicating, guardianship questions, and other discrete matters.
- Representation in administrative proceedings. When a person feels that they are a victim of discrimination, we will represent you in the complaint process in front of agencies that investigate claims of discrimination through a finding of that agency. We will also help to resolve these complaints through negotiation and mediation.
- Guidance to caregivers of Persons with Disabilities who wish to establish alternatives to guardianship for future care and support.
- For very few cases, the DIAL Clinic will accept full representation of a case in Federal or State Court.
If you are interested in getting assistance, please fill out the below form to the best of your ability. Filling out this form does not mean that we will accept your case, but it does allow us to review and prepare to speak to you and see how we can help. If we take your case or agree to provide help, we will have a different agreement where it will have the rights and responsibilities of lawyer and client.
We understand that some of the questions may not have anything to do with your case. All the information you provide on this intake form will be kept completely confidential, even if we do not end up taking your case. We use this information to track how well we are doing at reaching all corners of the community. Therefore, it is very important to us that you fill out all of the information requested in the form below—this is what enable us to continue to provide our services.