Editorial policy

Deadlines, penalty ranges, blood alcohol thresholds, fine amounts, lookback periods and suspension lengths are stored as data, taken from the statute that sets them, and displayed with the citation alongside. None of them is written into the design of a page.

That is a technical rule as much as an editorial one. A figure cannot reach a page without a citation attached, because the two are stored together in the same record.

Citations, form numbers and jurisdiction labels are set in a distinctive monospaced style throughout the site, so you can tell at a glance which claims are sourced.

Each record carries a verification flag. It is set only after the primary source has been retrieved and read, and the record notes what was read. Retrieving and reading the statutory text counts. Recalling it from memory, or relying on a summary, a secondary source or another website, does not.

Until that flag is set, the record is invisible to visitors. This is enforced at the database level rather than in page code, so an unverified figure cannot leak onto a page through a bug. If we have not done the work, you see nothing in that spot. You will not see an estimate, a rounded number, or the word approximately.

Every legal record carries the date it was verified and a date it is next due for review. Time-sensitive material, particularly license deadlines, is reviewed on a shorter cycle than background explanation.

Legislatures amend these laws regularly, and amendments often carry a future effective date. Where a statute has more than one version in play, we publish the version actually in force, and we do not publish a future version early simply because it has been signed.

When an amendment takes effect, the affected records are re-read against the new text and re-verified before the page changes. Correcting a figure is treated as urgent, not as routine housekeeping.

If you believe something here is out of date, please tell us. We would rather hear it from you than leave it wrong.

Listings begin from public bar records. An unclaimed listing shows only what that public record supports: name, firm, office city, admission year, the counties the attorney accepts cases in, and a phone number. It carries no photograph, no biography and no website link, because we have no permission to publish those on someone else’s behalf.

An attorney who claims their listing can add a photograph, a description of their practice, a link to their own site and a contact form.

Bar standing is re-checked at least every ninety days. If a check goes stale, or standing is no longer active, the listing stops appearing across the whole site automatically. That is a system rule, not a task on somebody’s list.

We record which counties an attorney actually accepts cases in, as reported by them, and we say so where that is the source. We never infer coverage from how near an office happens to be.

Any attorney can ask to be removed. We do not publish disciplinary histories, because doing that responsibly needs a considered policy rather than an automated feed.

Featured placement is paid advertising. It is always labeled as Featured, on every listing, everywhere it appears. That label is not a design choice we can soften, and it is not removed for any advertiser at any price.

Advertising is a flat fee. It is never tied to whether you hire anyone, to the outcome of a case, or to fees an attorney earns.

No payment changes a legal figure on this site. Deadlines, penalties and thresholds come from statutes, and no advertiser has any influence over them. Paid placement affects where a listing sits in a list, and nothing else. It does not affect whether a listing appears at all, since that is governed by bar standing.

We are not paid by, and do not accept payment from, anyone to remove or soften unfavorable legal information.

If a figure here is wrong, tell us and we will check it against the statute. If we got it wrong, we fix the record, which fixes every page that uses it. Serious errors in time-sensitive information are treated as the most urgent thing in the queue.