Less than 48 hours after Interim President Manny Diaz fired the university’s general counsel, University of West Florida Board Chair Rebecca Matthews held a meeting with attorneys from Gov. Ron DeSantis’ favorite law firm, Lawson Huck Gonzalez, and representatives of the well-known presidential search firm Funk Associates.
Inweekly received the calendar listing through a public request:
- The attendees were Willie Funk, managing vice president of Funk Associates, and his chief of staff, Krisha Creal.
- Lawson Hunk Gonzalez was represented by co-founder Jason Gonzalez and attorneys Eric Reed and Taylor Greene.
- Besides Matthews, UWF had Associate VP of Human Resources Jamie Sprague, Chief Communications Officer Brittany Sherwood, Procurement and Contracts Director Cass Boatwright and Equal Opportunity Coordinator Candace Freeman on the call.
NOTE TIMELINE: The calendar event was created at 10:54 a.m. on Wednesday, July 30, BEFORE UWF General Counsel Susan Woolf sent her memo to the Board of Trustees informing the trustees of the conflict with the Matthews and asking for a board meeting to vote on the matter (12:05 p.m. on July 30).
- It appears Matthews violated UWF Policy GC-03. See Outside Counsel.
Lawson Huck Gonzalez
I asked State Rep. Alex Andrade about the Tallahassee law firm that was formed in 2023:
- “There’s only a handful of firms the Governor’s office favors. I’m not surprised it’s a firm like Lawson, Huck, Gonzalez. They’ve recently been getting millions of dollars in contracts from the Governor’s office, and one of their lawyers even tried to say the Hope Florida money laundering scheme was above board.”
Alan Lawson retired from the Florida Supreme Court in 2022.
- In April 2025, Lawson published an article in Florida Politics addressing controversies related to the DeSantis administration’s stance against legalizing recreational marijuana in Florida, while Andrade and his committee were investigating how Medicaid settlement dollars were given to Hope Florida and later funneled to nonprofits that donated them to a political committee run by James Uthmeier (former Chief of Staff and current Attorney General) to fight the pot amendment.
- Lawson defended the administration, particularly the actions of James Uthmeier (former Chief of Staff and then-Attorney General), and argued that the campaign was legal, transparent, and aimed at protecting the state’s constitution and values.
Jason Gonzalez is the former General Counsel to the Governor of Florida.
When the firm launched, it was retained by the Florida Department of Transportation and the Department of Management Services. The firm was part of legal teams defending key regulatory changes and actions that supported or aligned with the DeSantis administration’s policies, including the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District created during the Disney v. DeSantis disputes.
- While Lawson Huck Gonzalez has represented the Board of Governors and trustees in litigation over DEI restrictions at public universities, I have not found any involvement in a presidential search.
Funk Associates
Funk Associates—formally known as R. William Funk & Associates—is a Dallas, Texas-based executive search firm specializing in higher education leadership recruitment.
Funk Associates has led over 400 searches for college and university presidents and chancellors, in addition to numerous placements for provosts, deans, athletic directors, and other senior roles. The firm has placed leaders in two-thirds of all public AAU (Association of American Universities) institutions and at over half of U.S. News & World Report’s “Top 30 National Universities.”
- The firm manages the recruiting process at every significant step—from the initial candidate pool to the selection and public announcement phases.
This year, Funk Associates completed presidential searches for Florida International University (FIU), Coastal Carolina University (CCU), and the University of St. Thomas–Houston (UST).
