Daniel Woodring, Florida Education Law Attorney

Daniel Woodring has more than 25 years of experience with significant education cases. As General Counsel of the Florida Department of Education for almost five years, he was the chief lawyer for an agency whose reach ran from prekindergarten through 12th grade to the community colleges (today’s Florida College System) and the State University System. When the Florida Board of Governors was created by constitutional amendment to manage the university system, he became its first General Counsel. He has chaired the Education Law Committee of The Florida Bar and sits on the advisory committee of the National Alliance of Public Charter School Attorneys.

To speak with Mr. Woodring about an education matter anywhere in Florida, call us at 850-567-8445 or fill in the message form on this page.

At the Florida Department of Education

At the Department, his work as an adviser and litigator included: defending Florida’s education programs against constitutional challenges, Opportunity Scholarships and the process for approving charter schools and hearing their appeals among them; the end of racial preferences in university admissions and state contracting; discipline cases against teachers and other professionals; labor, union, and employment questions; state purchasing and bid protests; rulemaking and challenges to administrative rules; proceedings under IDEA and Section 504; ethics, public records, and open meetings; and the negotiation of contracts and the disputes that followed.

Private Practice Since 2007

He went back to private practice in 2007 as the principal attorney of the Woodring Law Firm. The firm works from a Tallahassee office for clients across the state, from Pensacola and Jacksonville through Gainesville, Orlando, and Tampa Bay to Fort Myers, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami. Education law is one of his primary practice areas.

Charter schools have been part of his work since 1999. Hundreds of them, and of the organizations that manage them, have been his clients, and for a number of them the firm acts as outside general counsel. He also represents private schools and colleges, companies that sell to schools, teachers and administrators, and parents and students.

Courts and Bar Admissions

He belongs to The Florida Bar and the State Bar of Georgia. In the federal system he is admitted in Florida’s Southern, Middle, and Northern Districts, in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and in the U.S. Supreme Court. His trial-level work has taken him to most of Florida’s 20 judicial circuits and before state administrative tribunals; he has argued in the Florida Supreme Court and the District Courts of Appeal, and has briefed cases at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Ratings and Recognition

The Florida Super Lawyers list for 2015, which is limited to five percent of the lawyers in the state, included Mr. Woodring, and Avvo rates him “Superb.” He holds an AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rating. AV Preeminent® is a certification mark used under license in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell® certification procedures, standards and policies, and the ratings are explained at martindale.com/ratings-and-reviews.

Education and Personal

He earned his law degree, cum laude, at the University of Florida College of Law, after a B.A., summa cum laude, from Clearwater Christian College. He and his wife, Jean, who is also an attorney, live in Tallahassee and have a son and a daughter.

Mr. Woodring’s full biography, including his clerkship and his service in the Executive Office of the Governor, is on the Woodring Law Firm website.