Won appeals, university opened formal discrimination investigation into itself — how do I find legal representation on a limited budget?
Location: Florida
I’m a recent graduate student (clinical healthcare program) with an update to a situation I’ve posted about before. I won two academic grade appeals last year — the university acknowledged the original grades violated its own syllabus and grading standards. Despite winning, I faced significant downstream consequences: repeat clinical hours, compressed timelines, and what I believe was retaliatory scrutiny after I escalated concerns.
Since then, I filed a formal complaint with the university’s internal Equal Opportunity/Compliance office. That office’s director confirmed my allegations of race discrimination, disability discrimination, and retaliation all met the threshold for a formal investigation, and the university has retained outside counsel to investigate. I’ve been interviewed twice as part of that process.
I also have a complaint pending with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), filed over a year ago, still listed as “under evaluation” with no assigned investigator as of my last update.
I have real documentation — written admissions from the university acknowledging their own process failures, comparator evidence, and a clear timeline. I’ve been quoted $3,500+ retainers, which isn’t feasible for me right now.
My questions:
**•** Once an internal university investigation and an OCR complaint are both active, is that generally enough for an attorney to take a case on contingency, or do I need the findings to come out first?
**•** Are there specific types of attorneys (education law, civil rights, employment) better suited to a case like this?
**•** Are there legal aid or low-bono organizations that handle education discrimination cases specifically?
**•** Is there anything I should or shouldn’t be doing while both investigations are pending?
Any general legal insight is appreciated.