Education Lawyer for Students and Teachers

Asselta Law P.A. focuses exclusively on education law. Attorney Richard Asselta helps students and educators when a school, university, testing organization, or licensing agency makes a decision that could affect their education or career, whether it’s a cheating accusation, an AI flag, a dismissal letter, or a suspension. Most of his work involves college and graduate students at universities across the country.

Before founding his practice, Richard spent nearly ten years representing a large public school district, which gave him an inside view of how schools build and decide disciplinary cases. Today he uses that experience on behalf of students and educators.

Student Defense Attorney for College and Graduate Students

Richard works with college and graduate students nationwide facing academic or conduct-related accusations, including:

• Academic integrity allegations: cheating, plagiarism, unauthorized collaboration, and accusations involving AI tools, proctoring software, and detection tools like Turnitin.
• Student conduct cases and hearings, including interim suspensions and expulsions.
• Title IX allegations.
• Academic and program dismissals from undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs, including medical school and other health programs, and dismissals for grades or GPA.
• Appeals of academic integrity findings, conduct decisions, dismissals, and grades.
• Standardized testing reviews, including SAT score cancellations and irregularity reviews.
• Admissions issues, such as rescinded offers and disciplinary disclosures on applications.

University academic integrity and conduct cases are internal proceedings, not court cases. Richard serves as the student’s advisor within each school’s own process, where the school allows it, or works with the student behind the scenes to prepare their response, evidence, and appeal. In Florida, where he’s licensed, he represents students as their attorney. Learn more about his student defense practice and college student defense.

AI Cheating and Academic Integrity Cases

AI-related accusations are now among the most common academic integrity cases, and they’re increasing even among students who didn’t intend to cheat. Many begin with a detector score, but AI detection tools can misidentify a student’s own work, and a detection result alone shouldn’t decide a case. Students using editing tools can also be flagged, as explained in accused of using AI to cheat on a writing assignment?, and newer issues like AI humanizer flags and ChatGPT history are coming up more often. The evidence of how a student did the work often matters most, such as a document’s version history.

Proctoring and Exam Cases

Online exams generate their own kind of case. Flags from tools like Honorlock, Proctorio, and ExamSoft, or entries in a Canvas quiz log, mark moments for review rather than proving misconduct. More in flagged for cheating in a proctored exam? and what to know about new rules on smart glasses.

K-12 Suspension and Expulsion

Richard helps Florida families challenge and appeal suspension and expulsion decisions in elementary, middle, and high schools, including weapons and zero-tolerance cases, student searches, and discipline involving students with disabilities. His K-12 practice focuses on student discipline. Learn more about expulsion hearings.

Teacher License Defense

Richard represents Florida teachers and educators facing complaints against their certificates before the Florida Department of Education and the Education Practices Commission, as well as related investigations and disciplinary matters. Learn more about teacher license defense, teacher discipline and misconduct, and what happens when a school tries to fire a teacher.

Why Education Law Is Different

Education law is a specialized field. School and university disciplinary processes have their own rules, deadlines, and standards of proof, and they often move quickly. Many give students only a short window to respond, limit who can attend a hearing, and decide appeals based on what’s already in the record. Understanding how these processes work, and preparing early, often matters as much as the facts of the case. The consequences can also reach well beyond school, as discussed in can academic misconduct affect your career? and does academic misconduct follow you to graduate school?

Helpful Guides

If you’ve just been accused:

• What to do if you’re accused of cheating in college
• Falsely accused of cheating? Here’s what you need to do
• A professor accused me of cheating: now what?
• What should you do if a professor wants you to admit to plagiarism?
• How many days does a professor have to report academic misconduct?

Understanding the evidence:

• Turnitin says I plagiarized, but I didn’t
• Turnitin errors: can you fight false plagiarism reports?
• Why messages and emails are used as evidence
• Why colleges accuse students even without direct proof
• Can past assignments be flagged for cheating?

Specific situations:

• Accused of plagiarism on a programming assignment
• Accused of sharing assignments
• Accused of unauthorized assistance
• Accused of taking a test for someone else
• Student athletes facing academic misconduct charges

Rules, rights, and records:

• Academic misconduct glossary
• College cheating and AI statistics
• Student rights in Florida university conduct cases
• Can a university withhold your degree or transcripts?
• Can a college revoke your degree?
• How to write an academic or disciplinary appeal

School-specific guides (a selection): Boston University, Boston College, Clemson, CU Boulder, Northwestern, Penn State, Santa Clara, Texas A&M, University of Miami, UPenn, UW–Madison, WashU, Arizona State, Harvard, Duke, Brown, MIT, Carnegie Mellon, and the University of Texas.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does an education lawyer do?
An education lawyer helps students, families, and educators with decisions made by schools, universities, testing organizations, and education licensing agencies, such as academic integrity cases, suspensions, dismissals, appeals, and teacher certificate complaints.

Does Asselta Law help students at colleges in other states?
Yes. Most of Richard Asselta’s work involves college and graduate students across the country. He serves as an advisor within each university’s academic integrity and conduct process, or helps students prepare behind the scenes.

Can a lawyer help with an AI cheating accusation?
Yes. An education lawyer can help a student understand what an AI detector score does and doesn’t show, organize evidence of how the work was written, and respond through the school’s process.

Does Asselta Law handle K-12 cases?
Yes, for student discipline. Richard helps Florida families challenge and appeal suspension and expulsion decisions.

Does Asselta Law represent teachers?
Yes. Richard represents Florida teachers facing complaints against their certificates before the Florida Department of Education and the Education Practices Commission.

Contact Asselta Law P.A.

Asselta Law P.A. is based in Plantation, Florida and works with students across the country. To discuss your situation, call 855-338-5299 or learn more about Richard Asselta.