Brian Heckmann figured he was good to go when he received a letter from the Florida Board of Bar Examiners in April 2018 approving him as a certified legal intern during his second year at Florida International University College of Law.

According to that letter, the board had found nothing it “considered disqualifying” in its initial review of his character and fitness application and that early approval paved the way for him to intern with both the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security while in law school.