Executive Committee, BBI Board of Advisors, Esq.
Matthew W. Dietz has been practicing in the area of civil rights litigation since 1996 and litigated over 250 cases in trial and appellate courts involving Americans with Disabilities Act, Fair Housing Act and other civil rights laws regarding the rights of Personswith Disabilities, and others seeking equal rights under the law on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, age, familial status, and sexual orientation and gender identity. Mr. Dietz is an active writer, advocate and speaker on disability rights issues and founded the Disability Independence Group, a non-profit corporation, which strives to encourage more persons withdisabilities to have equal opportunities in the workforce. The Disability Independence Group conducted the first focus group of lawyers withdisabilities to identify barriers throughout the legal profession in Florida as well a conducted a survey of the needs of Florida lawyers withdisabilities.
Mr. Dietz was past chair of the Equal Opportunities in the Law Section of theFlorida Bar, past chair of the Civil Rights Section of the American Association for Justice, past-chair of the Public Interest Law Sectionof the Florida Bar, and the past-chair of the Disability Committeewithin that section. In his work within the Florida Bar, Mr. Dietz drafted proposed Rule of Administrative Procedure 2.540, which provided guidelines for providing accommodations for Persons with Disabilities in Florida Courts. Mr. Dietz was also appointed to the Florida Supreme Court standing committee on Fairness and Diversity and the accessibility work group of the Florida Third District Court of Appeals, and Florida 11th Circuit Court in and for Miami Dade County. In 2004, he was awarded the G. Kirk Haas Humanitarian Award for his work on behalf of persons with disabilities. Mr. Dietz attended Boston University where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration in 1992. In 1996, Mr. Dietz earned his Juris Doctor, with honors, from Brooklyn Law School. He is admitted to all Florida State and Federal Courts, and New York State Courts.