Our terms of use

Summary

LawDiscuss.com is a community driven collaborative website service provided by LawDiscuss that seeks to provide legal information, educate and inform people about their legal rights and promote better understanding of the law.  By using the LawDiscuss.com site, you agree to all our terms and conditions that you will find below ("Terms & Conditions"). These Terms & Conditions are our rules for using this website. If you do not agree to any of these Terms & Conditions, you should not use LawDiscuss.

LawDiscuss allows Users such as you to post questions on the website so that anyone, including you or attorneys, can have a chance to provide Users with advice and legal information.

Without paying any fee of any kind, you can submit questions to which anyone can respond, with the questions and answers being posted publicly on the site.

Our Terms

Acceptance of Terms

The use of LawDiscuss.com is governed by these Terms & Conditions, the various disclaimers appearing on our site, and our Privacy Policy.  By visiting or using LawDiscuss.com you agree to be bound by these terms. In addition, you understand that the specific method, features and services offered on LawDiscuss.com may be altered, improved, removed or adapted at any time by LawDiscuss.com in its sole discretion and without any notice. If you do not agree with any of these terms, do not use this site.

LawDiscuss does not endorse anyone that uses the site

You agree that you understand that the lawyers, laypeople or anyone or any entity that participates on LawDiscuss are not affiliated with, employed by or agents of LawDiscuss.com.  LawDiscuss.com makes no representations as to the qualifications of any attorneys, professionals, or anyone using the site.  No listing of any member on the site, and no information of any kind or answers provided by any member who may happen to be an attorney, constitutes an endorsement, recommendation or referral of any member who is an attorney.  Members who are lawyers or attorneys do not provide any compensation or make any payment to LawDiscuss.com in order to become a member of LawDiscuss.com or in order to answer any questions by users on LawDiscuss.com.

In connection with their participation on LawDiscuss.com, attorney and lawyer members or other professionals may make certain representations and warranties regarding the information they provide about the jurisdictions in which they are licensed to practice law and in good standing.  Nevertheless, you are encouraged to investigate or perform your own due diligence concerning these members and their qualifications.

Privacy

LawDiscuss.com does its best to protect your privacy with respect to information not otherwise disclosed by you in questions submitted to LawDiscuss.

To submit questions, we only require, and we encourage you to only provide, the minimum amount of personal identifying information necessary to process a question.  Questions may be asked anonymously.   LawDiscuss.com will not disclose any information you may post on the site to third parties without your permission, except in the following circumstances: (i) to protect ourselves from liability, or (ii) to respond to legal process or to otherwise comply with the law.  

Once a question is posted, it is automatically posted to the LawDiscuss public database.  When a question is answered, both the answer and the question appear on the site. The contents of these questions and their answers are visible to all Users of LawDiscuss.com, including any visitor to the site that happens to be browsing it.  Therefore, the questions and answers on LawDiscuss are neither confidential nor privileged in any way.  You must understand that, because the LawDiscuss site is a public resource, you may lose some privacy by posting a question or answer.  Your view of the facts, or the way you frame a question, may well reveal something about your thinking about a problem that you may not want others to know. It's your choice.

No Responsibility for Posts

LawDiscuss.com does not review or approve the questions or answers submitted to LawDiscuss. The views expressed therein are those of the posting Users, Attorney Members, or other professionals and do not necessarily reflect those of LawDiscuss.com.

LawDiscuss.com assumes no responsibility for the posts or the information contained therein, nor does it make any claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, suitability, competence or completeness of any of the information or advice in the posts. Use the advice and information provided AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Inappropriate Content

You agree that you will not use LawDiscuss.com to post any advertisement or other commercial messages. You agree that you will not post any knowingly false, defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, harassing, obscene, sexually oriented or threatening message, or material that is illegally invasive of another person's privacy. LawDiscuss.com will attempt to delete any inappropriate posts as quickly as possible; however, submissions are generally posted in real-time and typically are not reviewed by LawDiscuss.com before they are posted to the site. As a User of LawDiscuss.com, if you see inappropriate content on our site, we would appreciate your bringing such posting to our attention.

Indemnification

You agree that you are solely responsible for anything you post on LawDiscuss.com and you agree to indemnify and hold LawDiscuss.com harmless from and against any claim, loss, damage, expense or liability (including attorney's fees and costs) that may result, in whole or in part, from your posts or submissions to LawDiscuss.com or your use of LawDiscuss.com.

No Attorney-Client relationship

You understand and agree that any use of LawDiscuss.com does not in any way create or establish an attorney-client relationship between you and any other member on LawDiscuss. You should recognize that questions and answers, as well as any other legal information on LawDiscuss are provided for your information to help you understand some of your legal rights. These materials should not be relied on as legal advice and reading and reviewing them is not a substitute for direct consultation with an attorney about a specific legal problem.

You understand and agree that submitting a question or receiving an answer does not in any way create or establish an attorney-client relationship between you and any member of LawDiscuss that may happen to be an attorney, or between you and LawDiscuss.com. The information and answers provided are intended to be generic legal information, not legal advice, and are based upon the very limited information provided in questions by users.  Specific legal advice can only be given with full knowledge of all of the facts and circumstances of the relevant situation. If you are represented by an attorney, that attorney is the best person to give you advice about a case or legal matter.  Under no circumstances should the information obtained on this site be used to make decisions about the quality of representation by a lawyer or about the proper course of a legal matter.

Unauthorized Use or Access

You agree that your use of LawDiscuss.com will be limited only to what is contemplated by these Terms & Conditions, namely providing you with the ability to submit questions, to answer other people’s questions, or to submit questions to be answered by members of LawDiscuss.com. You agree that you will not use LawDiscuss.com for the purpose of seeking to develop a business to compete with LawDiscuss.com. Further, you agree to comply with all copyright laws worldwide in your use of this site, and agree that LawDiscuss.com and its content may not be used, copied, distributed, republished, altered, uploaded, posted, or transmitted in any way, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of LawDiscuss.com, except that you may retain copies of any Free Questions or Paid Questions that you submit to LawDiscuss.com and any answers to these questions.

Disclaimer of Warranties

LawDiscuss.com attempts to include accurate information on this website, but because of the possibility of human and mechanical error as well as other factors, we not responsible for any errors.  LawDiscuss.com and all material, products and services offered on this site are provided "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE."  YOU USE THE SITE AT YOUR OWN RISK.

To the fullest extent permissible pursuant to applicable law, LawDiscuss.com disclaims all warranties, express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. Specifically, but without limitation, LawDiscuss.com DOES NOT WARRANT THE INFORMATION OR GOODS AND SERVICES FOUND OR PURCHASED ON THIS SITE FOR TIMELINESS, ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, PERFORMANCE, OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. LAWDISCUSS.COM DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SITE IS ERROR-FREE IN CONTENT OR IN FUNCTIONALITY NOR THAT LAWDISCUSS.COM IS FREE OF VIRUSES, WORMS, SPYWARE, MALWARE, OR OTHER MALICIOUS OR HARMFUL CODE. ACCORDINGLY YOU SHOULD TAKE APPROPRIATE PRECAUTIONS TO ENSURE YOUR ABILITY TO PROTECT AGAINST SUCH KNOWN RISKS OF USE OF THE INTERNET. LawDiscuss.com also MAKES NO REPRESENTATION, GUARANTEE OR WARRANTY (EXPRESS OR IMPLIED) AS TO (i) THE QUALITY, COMPETENCE, OR SUITABILITY OF THE ATTORNEYS PARTICIPATING ON LAWDISCUSS.COM; OR (ii) THE SUITABILITY, ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE INFORMATION AND/OR ADVICE CONTAINED IN THEIR REPLIES TO QUESTIONS ON THE SITE.

UNLESS A WARRANTY IS EXPRESSLY STATED IN THESE TERMS & CONDITIONS, NO OTHER STATEMENT, ASSURANCE, ADVICE OR INFORMATION OBTAINED BY THE USER FROM LAWDISCUSS.COM SHALL CREATE A WARRANTY.

5) Limitation of Liability

LAWDISCUSS.COM, ITS AFFILIATES, ANY OFFICER, DIRECTOR, EMPLOYEE, SUBCONTRACTOR, AGENT, SUCCESSOR, OR ASSIGN OF LAWDISCUSS.COM SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ATTORNEY'S FEES AND LOST PROFITS OR SAVINGS) IN ANY WAY DUE TO, RESULTING FROM, OR ARISING IN CONNECTION WITH THIS SITE, REGARDLESS OF ANY NEGLIGENCE ON THE PART OF LAWDISCUSS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THOSE THAT RESULT FROM: (i) THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SITE; (ii) RELIANCE ON THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THE SITE; (iii) LAWDISCUSS.COM'S SUPPORT SERVICES; (iv) ANY GOODS OR SERVICES PURCHASED OR OBTAINED FROM LAWDISCUSS.COM; (v) MESSAGES, INFORMATION OR ADVICE RECEIVED; (vi) INTERRUPTION, SUSPENSION OR TERMINATION OF SERVICE; AND (vii) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF USER'S TRANSMISSIONS OR DATA.

SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

Release

LawDiscuss.com provides the technological foundations or "space" where the public can access both legal information and attorneys.  LawDiscuss.com provides the conduit for legal information; however, we are not involved in the actual conversation between the members on the site, particularly lawyer members, and you. LawDiscuss.com does not provide legal advice and is not engaged in the practice of law. We do not monitor, verify, or filter any of the responses from the members who are lawyers, nor can we guarantee the quality, accuracy or completeness of any attorney response. LawDiscuss.com is neither a lawyer referral service nor engaged in making any recommendations about whether you should use a particular attorney's services or not. You hereby acknowledge the above facts and remise, release, and forever discharge LawDiscuss.com, of and from all, and all manner of, actions, causes of action, suits, proceedings, debts, dues, contracts, judgments, damages, claims, and demands whatsoever in law or equity, which you ever had, now have, or shall, or may have for or by reason of any matter, cause, or thing whatsoever arising out of the use of the LawDiscuss site, its database, or the relationship between you and any Member, professional, member who is an attorney introduced to you through this site. If you are a California resident, you hereby waive the provisions of section 1542 of the California Civil Code, which states: “A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his favor at the time of executing the release, which if known by him must have materially affected his settlement with the debtor.”

Other Websites

LawDiscuss.com may contains links to other websites for which LawDiscuss.com does not maintain control.  Any concerns regarding any such service or resource, or any link thereto, should be directed to the particular service or resource.

Arbitration

You agree that any dispute or controversy arising out of these Terms & Conditions or your use of LawDiscuss.com, shall be settled by Arbitration to be held in Yolo County, State of California, in accordance with the rules then in effect of the American Arbitration Association. The arbitrator may grant injunctions or other relief in such dispute or controversy. The decision of the arbitrator shall be final, conclusive and binding.  Judgment may be entered on the arbitrator's decision in any court having jurisdiction. The parties shall each pay one-half of the costs and expenses of such arbitration, and each of the parties shall separately pay counsel fees and expenses.

Modification of Terms

LawDiscuss.com may modify these Terms & Conditions at any time without prior notice. Continued use of this site following any change constitutes your acceptance of the change. We therefore ask you to review these Terms & Conditions occasionally to ensure that you are aware of the most recent version.

Interpretation of the Terms & Conditions

This agreement shall not be construed against any party, regardless as to who may have drafted the Agreement.

Governing Law

These Terms & Conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, U.S.A.