Attorney Matthew Dietz and law student Capt. Julius Hobbs. Courtesy photos.
Disability Independence Group founder Matthew W. Dietz negotiated a confidential settlement with the Florida Bar Board of Examiners over claims its admissions process was unfair to applicants with a history of mental health or substance abuse problems.
Dietz’s client — law student and U.S. Army veteran Capt. Julius Hobbs — sued the Florida Bar Board of Examiners and its executive director Michele A. Gavagni under the American with Disabilities Act. In the September 2017 complaint, Hobbs accused the defendants of insisting he undergo extra checks by the board’s psychiatry expert, even though his doctor had declared him fit to practice law.
