Disclaimer

Disclaimer

This statement is a Disclaimer which clarifies your rights and obligations with using the DirectLaw.US Web Site.

DirectLaw, Inc., and its corporate affiliates, including SmartLegalForms, Inc., (collectively, “our,” “us,” or “we”) operate websites, provide products and services through mobile and other applications, and develop software that are governed, as applicable, by our terms of use (our “TOU”). Certain terms used in this document have the meanings set forth in our TOU. These supplemental terms (the “Supplemental Terms of Use” or this “Supplemental TOU”) apply to our sites and services related to the legal industry and are incorporated into our TOU. If there is any conflict between this Supplemental TOU and our TOU, this Supplemental TOU will control. This Supplemental TOU does not apply to those sites and services that do not display or link to this Supplemental TOU, or that have their own supplemental terms of use. By using our sites and services, you are a “user” and you accept and agree to our TOU and this Supplemental TOU as a legal contract between you and us.

Our sites and services provide access to independent attorneys, self-help services, including general information related to the law, legal forms, and lawyers designed to help users solved their legal problems.  DirectLaw, Inc. also provides services to lawyers by  providing lawyers with a virtual law firm platform that enables them to offer legal legal services online.

We are not lawyers or a law firm and we do not provide legal advice.  None of our representatives are lawyers and they also do not provide legal advice. No attorney-client or confidential relationship exists or will be formed between you and us or any of our representatives. The accuracy, completeness, adequacy, or currency of the content is not warranted or guaranteed. We recommend you consult a lawyer if you want legal advice. We are not a lawyer referral service and the sites and services and other resources and information are for personal use only.

Lawyer Services for Users

The DirectLaw.US website offers you several ways to identify and locate an attorney (or other legal services), including advertisements for lawyers, and a searchable directory of lawyers and law firms. The decision to retain an attorney is an important one, and one that you must make carefully based on your own judgment and evaluation of that attorney. If you are using the lawyer services, you should read the following terms and conditions below. If you disagree with these terms and services, please do not use the lawyer services.

  • Our sites and services are only one source of information among the many sources that are available to you. You may wish to consider multiple sources in order to make an informed attorney selection decision.
  • You understand any attorney listings or directories are provided by third parties and may contain inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated information. You must independently verify the accuracy of any information you obtain from our sites and services.
  • We will never refer you to a specific attorney or service. You are solely responsible for making a selection of an attorney or other service and determining whether the information you obtain through your use of our sites is suitable for your purposes. Any agreements regarding legal services or fees must be done outside the scope of our sites and are strictly between the user and the third party and do not involve us in any way. We do not receive any portion of any attorney’s or law firm’s fees. We are not involved in or responsible for any transactions that might occur, and we do not guarantee that such transactions will occur.
  • The release and security of any sensitive or confidential information transmitted by you to any attorney or service is your sole responsibility.
  • Lawyer services and the individual attorneys represented by them provide information to our sites, which we do not verify, validate, or confirm, except as expressly stated in our sites.
  • We do not endorse any particular attorney or legal service and make no representation, guarantee, or warranty (express or implied) as to the legal ability, competence, quality, or reliability of any legal services provided by any of these lawyer services.
  • We cannot perform a check for conflicts of interest between you and an attorney provided by a lawyer service.
  • When using lawyer services, you may be required to provide some personal information such as name, address, email address, or telephone number to the law firm. If provided, the law firm uses this information for the specific purpose for which it was requested — that is to assist in the provision of a legal service. We have no control and make no representations as to the use of personal information provided to third-party lawyer services advertising on our sites. For information on these privacy practices, contact the lawyer service for their terms of use and privacy policies.
  • If you use lawyer services, you agree that: IN NO EVENT WILL WE BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOST PROFITS OR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES) ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE LAWYER SERVICES OR for any advice, information, or services provided to you by any attorney with whom you may make contact through our sites and services. TO THE EXTENT THE FOREGOING LIMITATION OF LIABILITY IS PROHIBITED, OUR SOLE OBLIGATION TO YOU FOR DAMAGES WILL BE LIMITED TO $100.00.
  • You also should be aware that certain states and jurisdictions have special rules relating to legal services. You should contact your state or local jurisdiction for more information.  While not intending to be exhaustive, please note the following additional state-specific disclosures if you live in the following states:
    • Alabama: No representation is made that the quality of the legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.
    • Florida: Florida Rule of Professional Conduct 4-7.10(c) defines a lawyer referral service as “(1) any person, group of persons, association, organization, or entity that receives a fee or charge for referring or causing the direct or indirect referral of a potential client to a lawyer drawn from any specific group or panel of lawyers; or (2) any group or pooled advertising program operated by any person, group of persons, association, organization, or entity wherein the legal services advertisements utilize a common telephone number and potential clients are then referred only to lawyers or law firms participating in the group or pooled advertising program.” For purposes of the Florida Rules of Professional Conduct only (the “Florida Rules”), our sites may be deemed a lawyer referral service as defined in the Florida Rules. Rule 4-7.10(a)(10) requires that all lawyer referral services (as defined in the Florida Rules) must affirmatively state in all advertisements that it is a lawyer referral service. For those reasons, for purposes of the Florida Rules only, our sites are a lawyer referral service and any statements in the Terms and Conditions to the contrary are inapplicable in Florida.
    • Missouri: The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements.
    • Maryland: The Maryland State Bar does not certify any lawyer as a specialist or expert.
    • New York: Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
    • Wyoming: The Wyoming State Bar does not certify any lawyer as a specialist or expert.

Attorney Ethics Notice; Rules.

If you are an attorney participating in any aspect of our sites or services, including but not limited to interactive areas, (a) you agree not to provide specific legal advice in any of your content and to draft content which is appropriate, educational, and in accordance with your state bar’s attorney ethics requirements; (b) you represent and warrant that you are an attorney in good standing with a license to practice law in at least one of the 50 United States of America or the District of Columbia; (c) you agree to promptly notify us of any grievance, claim, reprimand, or censure brought against you, as well as resignation or other loss of license; and (d) you acknowledge that the Rules of Professional Conduct of the jurisdictions where you are licensed (“Rules”) apply to all aspects of your participation and that you will abide by these Rules. These Rules include, but are not limited to, the rules relating to advertising, solicitation of clients, rules regarding the establishment of attorney-client relationships, failure to maintain client confidences, unauthorized practice of law, and misrepresentations of fact. We disclaim all responsibility for your compliance with these Rules. You further agree and acknowledge that when you participate on our sites, that you will not offer legal advice, but will only provide general information. We highly recommend that you include a disclaimer regarding the aforementioned advertising and ethics issues. We will have no liability to you arising out of or related to your compliance or noncompliance with such laws and rules, or related to our inclusion or failure to include a disclaimer.

No Solicitation.

You will not distribute to any persons or entities identified via our site any content or material containing solicitations or advertising of any kind without our express prior written permission. Attorneys and law firms are prohibited from soliciting employment from prospective clients through our sites or any of its interactive features. In no event may any person or entity solicit any users with data retrieved from our sites.

Last updated: January 29, 2017