Location: Remote
Preferred Time Zone: Eastern or Central
Practice Focus: Student Defense
Position Type: Full-time
Position Summary
K Altman Law, a nationally recognized education law firm, is seeking a Student Defense Attorney with meaningful school-side or institutional experience, strong private-firm judgment, and an entrepreneurial mindset.
This role is ideal for an attorney who understands how schools, colleges, universities, disciplinary boards, conduct offices, and institutional counsel think, but who is motivated to use that insight to advocate for students and families.
Our Student Defense practice is highly specialized. Many matters require creative, strategic thinking and a willingness to look beyond standard approaches to achieve effective outcomes. We are seeking someone who is comfortable working in a niche practice area, can think outside the box, and is motivated to help build and refine a growing national practice.
This is a client-facing legal role focused on consultations, case assessment, legal strategy, client conversion, and matter development. The attorney will help prospective clients understand their legal position, evaluate whether the matter fits the firm’s criteria, and support the transition from intake to engagement and case strategy.
About K Altman Law
K Altman Law represents students, families, and professionals in high-stakes education matters nationwide, including student discipline, academic misconduct, suspension and expulsion defense, dismissal appeals, professional school disputes, Title IX-related student defense matters, special education advocacy, and litigation.
The firm operates through a remote-first national model that combines attorney oversight, strong intake infrastructure, experienced advocates, and a practical, client-centered approach. Student Defense is one of the firm’s core growth areas and requires attorneys who can combine legal judgment, institutional insight, emotional intelligence, business discipline, and entrepreneurial drive.
Core Responsibilities
Student Defense Consultations and Case Assessment
- Conduct consultations with prospective Student Defense clients by phone, Zoom, Teams, or similar platforms.
- Evaluate matters involving student discipline, academic misconduct, suspension, expulsion, dismissal, conduct code issues, professionalism concerns, residency, threat assessment, and related school or university disputes.
- Assess legal merit, procedural posture, urgency, evidentiary issues, institutional risk, and client objectives.
- Determine whether matters align with the firm’s representation criteria, service model, fee structure, and strategic priorities.
- Explain legal and procedural options clearly to students, parents, and families, often in high-stress situations.
- Identify matters requiring immediate escalation, emergency response, litigation review, or specialized internal assignment.
Institutional Insight and Strategy
- Apply prior school-side, district-side, university-side, or institutional counsel experience to anticipate how decision-makers may evaluate disciplinary matters.
- Identify procedural defects, policy violations, due process concerns, credibility issues, record problems, and strategic leverage points.
- Translate complex institutional processes into practical guidance for students and families.
- Contribute to stronger consult scripts, matter-screening criteria, templates, and strategic guidance based on institutional insight.
- Help position the firm as a sophisticated student-side advocate that understands both the legal and institutional realities of education disputes.
Client Conversion and Matter Development
- Serve as a persuasive, credible, and empathetic legal voice during the prospective-client decision process.
- Set clear expectations regarding scope of representation, timing, process, fees, responsibilities, and potential outcomes.
- Work closely with intake, operations, business development, and Student Defense leadership to move qualified matters from consultation to engagement.
- Provide practical recommendations on service level, urgency, staffing, and next steps.
- Support conversion goals while maintaining sound legal judgment, candor, and professional responsibility.
Collaboration and Practice Growth
- Partner with Student Defense leadership, attorneys, advisors, and intake staff to ensure matters are properly evaluated and transitioned.
- Prepare consult notes, issue summaries, risk assessments, and recommendations in Clio, HubSpot, or similar systems.
- Participate in case review, consult calibration, intake feedback, and process-improvement discussions.
- Identify patterns in incoming matters, institutional behavior, market demand, and practice-area opportunities.
- Contribute to training materials, templates, scripts, and internal resources.
- Work collaboratively with academic, disability, and student-support advisors while maintaining professional boundaries, confidentiality, and independent legal judgment.
- Help grow and refine the Student Defense practice through new service offerings, consult tools, operational improvements, thought leadership, and strategic initiatives.
Required Qualifications
- J.D.
- Active bar admission in good standing in at least one United States jurisdiction.
- 3 to 5+ years of relevant legal experience.
- Meaningful experience representing or advising schools, districts, colleges, universities, boards, institutional clients, or education-sector decision-makers.
- Demonstrated experience with student discipline, student conduct, academic misconduct, suspension, expulsion, dismissal, code of conduct matters, or related education disputes.
- Private law firm experience or comparable client-service and revenue-accountable legal experience.
- Strong ability to evaluate facts quickly, identify legal and procedural issues, and communicate practical options.
- Excellent client-facing communication skills and the ability to explain complex issues in plain language.
- Strong emotional intelligence and comfort working with students, parents, and families under stress.
- Ability to work effectively in a high-volume, remote, fast-paced legal environment.
- Strong documentation, time management, and organizational skills.
Preferred Qualifications
- Prior experience as school counsel, district counsel, university counsel, outside education counsel, or institutional defense counsel.
- Experience in private education law, higher education, K-12 discipline, student conduct, or academic integrity matters.
- Experience with Title IX-adjacent student discipline matters, especially student defense or institutional disciplinary processes.
- Experience in a boutique, entrepreneurial, growth-oriented, or national remote law firm environment.
- Prior experience with consultations, intake, legal sales, client conversion, or matter screening.
- Familiarity with Clio, HubSpot, or similar practice-management and CRM platforms.
- Comfort contributing to process design, training, templates, scripts, and practice-area growth initiatives.
Ideal Candidate
The ideal candidate is a former school-side or institutional attorney who understands how education institutions operate but is ready to advocate for students and families in a private firm setting.
This person will be legally sophisticated, commercially aware, highly responsive, and comfortable combining legal analysis, client communication, consult strategy, and practice development. The strongest candidate will also be entrepreneurially driven, comfortable in a niche practice, and able to develop creative legal strategies when standard approaches are not enough.
This role is a strong fit for an attorney who:
- Understands how schools and universities build disciplinary records
- Knows student conduct procedures and institutional risk management
- Can identify leverage points quickly
- Communicates clearly with stressed clients
- Is comfortable with performance metrics and conversion accountability
- Thinks creatively and strategically in complex or unusual matters
- Wants to help build a national Student Defense practice
Compensation and Benefits
K Altman Law offers competitive compensation based on experience, qualifications, and role scope. Compensation may include:
- Base salary commensurate with experience
- Performance-based bonus opportunities tied to consultation quality, engagement conversion, practice growth, and team contribution
- Remote work environment
- Access to firm-wide training and professional development
- Opportunity to help shape a growing national Student Defense practice
Why Join K Altman Law
This is an opportunity to join a national education law firm at an important growth stage and play a key role in one of its core practice areas.
The Student Defense Attorney will help students and families navigate some of the most consequential education disputes they may ever face. For the right attorney, this role offers more than consult work. It offers the opportunity to bring institutional experience into a student-side practice, influence strategy, improve outcomes, and help build a growing national boutique firm.
Equal Opportunity Employer
K Altman Law is an equal opportunity employer and encourages qualified candidates from all backgrounds to apply.
Pay: $85,000.00 - $95,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
- Vision insurance
Application Question(s):
- What is your primary work location?
- State your Salary Requirements
Work Location: Remote
