This web site supports the American Bar Association
Best Practice Guidelines for Legal Information Web Sites. See
generally: http://www.elawyering.org
Best Practice Guidelines for Legal
Information Web Site Providers
Elawyering Task Force, ABA Law
Practice Management Section and ABA Standing Committee On the
Delivery of Legal Services
February 10, 2003
Approved by Action of the House of Delegates, American Bar Association,
An increasing number of sites on the web
provide legal information. Government departments, non-profit community
organizations, private companies, educational institutions, individuals,
and law firms publish sites. Users of these sites have varying levels of
knowledge of the law and the Internet. Therefore, it is essential that
legal web sites providers give users sufficient information to make
assessments about the accuracy and the quality of the legal information
that is published.
The goal of these guidelines is to
promote the development of quality legal web sites and to provide
guidance to legal web site developers. The purpose of the guidelines is
to establish "best practices" for both lawyers and other web
site providers who offer legal information, documents and other services
to the public, but the guidelines do not address the additional
requirements that would be applicable to individual lawyers and law firm
sites that provide legal advice. Individual lawyers and law firms should
also consider whether the rules of professional responsibility apply to
any aspect of their operation of a legal information website. When
providers adopt and follow the guidelines, users will be less likely to
be misled.
However, it is important to understand
that compliance with these guidelines does not constitute approval or
certification by the American Bar Association of the content and
operation of the web site and no one is authorized to represent that it
does. Instead, the guidelines encourage publishers of legal web sites to
provide information about the legal content of their sites that assists
a user in making a judgment on the quality of the legal information that
appears on the site.
- Contact Information - A web
site providing legal information should provide full and accurate
information on the identity and contact details of the provider of
the site. The person(s) or organization(s) responsible for the
information on a site is (are) clearly indicated on all pages of the
site. Providers should include full contact details, including name,
mailing address, telephone, and/or e-mail address. A government
agency or court with limited resources to reply may choose to omit a
telephone contact or e-mail address, but as a minimum should list a
mailing address.
Comment:
Given that anyone may
publish on the web, the ability to identify providers helps users make
judgments about the authority of the legal information and advice they
encounter within a site. Authority can be implied when the information
comes from a recognized organization, such as government department or
community legal center. When the information comes from an individual
or less well known organization, stating the credentials of
contributing authors will assist users in judging authority. This can
be achieved simply by including qualifications or position held with
an author's name. Sometimes search engines take users directly to
pages within a site. Providing authorship details on every page
ensures users can ascertain the organization or person responsible for
the information.
- Dating Material - Web site
providers should include information about the dates on which the
substantive content on their sites was prepared or last reviewed.
Comment:
Laws and information
about legal matters change frequently and at any given time. Users
of web sites that provide legal information should be able to
determine the age of the substantive content and should not be
misled into believing out-dated material is current. A provider
should avoid the use of an automated dating mechanism if it may lead
to confusion about the date on which the content was posted or
changed.
- Jurisdiction - Web site
providers should avoid misleading users about the jurisdiction to
which the site's content relates. If the legal content is clearly
state-specific, the jurisdiction in which the law applies should be
identified within the content of the information or otherwise.
Comment:
Lay people often have
little or no understanding of the legal concept of jurisdiction.
They may be unaware that laws can vary from state to state or in
some cases from country to country. If a web site displays generic
legal content, the provider should make it clear this legal content
may not apply in the user's jurisdiction. The same guideline applies
when a legal web site offers form documents. Providers should
consider providing information about jurisdiction within the site's
terms and conditions section if that helps avoid confusion or
misrepresentations.
- Limits of Legal Information
- When a site provides only legal information, the provider should
give users conspicuous notice that legal information does not
constitute legal advice.
Comment:
Sites providing only
legal information should include a notice on the site that explains
the differences between legal information and legal advice and warns
the user that the site does not constitute legal advice and is not a
substitute for the professional judgment of an attorney. Legal
information by itself is often insufficient to resolve legal
problems. Users often need specific legal advice that applies to
their facts and only lawyers who are members of the bar in the
user's jurisdiction can provide legal advice.
Some web sites advertise that the
user can contact a lawyer through the site without making it clear
to the user that the lawyer is providing general legal information
only and not specific legal advice. Lay persons are often unaware
that only a lawyer who is a member of a state bar can provide legal
advice and the lawyer is only qualified to provide specific legal
advice about the law in the state in which he or she is admitted to
practice. Therefore, users may believe that an exchange with a
lawyer is the equivalent of receiving specific legal advice when it
is not.
Similarly, when a web site offers
document preparation services, the provider should clarify whether
the site is offering legal services and under what specific
conditions, or whether the document preparation service is provided
by a lay person and therefore without the protection of the
attorney/client relationship. In some jurisdictions, document
preparation by a lay person may constitute the unauthorized practice
of law.
- Links - Sites should link to
other resources that are likely to assist users with their problems.
Comment:
The web is an open
medium and its power is based on the capacity of the user to move
from one web site to another easily. Users should be encouraged to
move from one legal web site to another when the other web site may
have additional current, relevant, and in-depth information.
Accordingly, sites should contain
links to other sites and sources that contain information related to
the user's problems and concerns. An annotation that briefly
indicates the authorship, content or relevance of these sites
enhances the usefulness of these links and limits the possibility
that the user will believe that the linked site is also sponsored by
the web site provider.
Framing (as opposed to linking to)
the content provided by another web site can create problems. When a
site is "framed", the URL of the external site does not
appear in the location box, which may cause users to wrongly assume
that the information within the frame belongs to the original site.
It also makes it difficult for users to determine the true source of
the information they are viewing. Moreover, the act of copying the
content of the framed site and republishing it on the provider's own
site may result in a copyright violation.
- Legal Citations - When
appropriate, sites should contain links to relevant case law and
legislation.
Comment:
Frequently people use
legal information web sites to research solutions to their legal
matters. Ready access to legal authority facilitates this research
and helps validate the accuracy of the legal content displayed on
the web site. Because of limitations on linking to proprietary
sites, however, not every legal service web site will be able to
achieve this guideline. Nevertheless, it is worthwhile to have links
when the information is readily available.
- Referrals - Where
appropriate, sites should provide users with information on how and
where to obtain legal advice and further information.
Comment:
One purpose of these
guidelines is to remind users that legal information by itself is
often insufficient in terms of problems solving. Users often need
specific legal advice that applies to their facts and only lawyers
who are members of the bar in the user's jurisdiction can provide
that advice. Therefore, providers of sites are encouraged to link to
other sites, such as http://www.findlegalhelp.org, that may provide
the resources to help resolve the user's issues.
- Permissions - Providers
should obtain permission to use content from other providers.
Comment:
Web site providers
should have all appropriate permissions to use content sourced from
other providers since the unauthorized republication of such content
may infringe upon the proprietor's copyright. In addition, the
source of the content should be acknowledged.
Unless the content is acknowledged
users may have a difficult time assessing the integrity of the
content based on authorship. Users may also erroneously believe that
the material was authored by the site provider.
- Terms and Conditions - Sites
should clearly and conspicuously provide users with information
about the provider's terms and conditions of use.
Comment:
"Terms and
Conditions" or "Terms of Service" define the terms
under which a user is authorized to use the web site and/or to
purchase products or services from the web site. Typical provisions
include disclaimers of implied warranties, limitations on damages,
and dispute resolution provisions.
A link to terms and conditions should
be located in a conspicuous manner and should advise the user that
the use of the site is subject to the terms and conditions. Even
with such measures, however, the case law is not settled that
electronically-posted terms and conditions will create a binding
contract unless the user clearly manifests assent, such as by
clicking "I agree".
- Privacy Statement - Sites
should clearly and conspicuously provide users with their privacy
policies and policies on security of communications
Comment:
The site should have
clearly worded privacy policies that address the provider's use of
personal information of users and visitors, including the sale or
transfer of information to third parties.
When users communicate with web sites, the user should be notified
whether that communication is secured.
|
