Terms and Conditions

Terms of Use

BL Rankings, LLC (“Best Lawyers,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) operates bestlawyers.com and bestlawfirms.com (our “Websites”). By accessing our Websites and related services, you accept without limitation or qualification, and agree to be bound and abide by, the following Terms and Conditions. Best Lawyers may revise and update these Terms and Conditions from time to time in its sole discretion. Your continued use of our Websites and related services following the posting of revised Terms and Conditions means that you accept and agree to any and all changes to the Terms and Conditions.

Disclaimers

BL Rankings, LLC has used its best efforts in compiling the databases accessible on our Websites but does not warrant that the information contained herein is complete or accurate, and does not assume, and hereby disclaims, any liability to any person for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions in this information whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident or any other cause. By providing lawyer, expert and service provider biographical pages, Best Lawyers makes no representations regarding a lawyer, expert or service provider's availability or willingness to assist in any matter. The information and services offered on our Websites are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. Best Lawyers makes no express or implied warranties, representations or endorsements whatsoever with regard to any information or service provided through our Websites or through the Internet generally; the fact that a lawyer, expert or service provider is listed in Best Lawyers does not guarantee or imply that the lawyer, expert or service provider will achieve any specific result in a legal or professional matter or a better result than one achieved by a lawyer, expert or service provider not listed in Best Lawyers; and under no circumstances will Best Lawyers be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, punitive or consequential damages that result in any way from your use of or inability to use the services or any parts thereof, or your reliance on or use of information, or services provided on or through our Websites, or that result from mistakes, omissions, interruptions, deletion or any failure of performance. Best Lawyers does not warrant that the services will be uninterrupted or error free or that any information, software or other material accessible on our Websites is free of viruses or other harmful components. The information contained in the Best Lawyers® website is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject matter. No recipient of content from our Websites should act or refrain from acting on the basis of any content included in the site without seeking the appropriate legal or other professional advice on the particular facts and circumstances at issue from a lawyer licensed in the recipient's state. The content of our Websites contains general information and may not reflect current legal developments, verdicts or settlements. Best Lawyers® expressly disclaims all liability in respect to actions taken or not taken based on any or all the contents of our Websites.

FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBT, BEST LAWYERS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OF ANY KIND ARISING FROM THE USE OF OUR WEBSITES OR FROM ANY INFORMATION, CONTENT, MATERIALS, PRODUCTS, SERVICES OR USER CONTENT OF ANY KIND ARISING FROM THE USE OF THE SITE, INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, AND CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED IN WRITING. TO THE FULL EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, BEST LAWYERS DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO OUR WEBSITES AND ITS CONTENTS, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF TITLE, MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE.

As a condition of the use of our Websites and related services, you agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Best Lawyers and its respective employees, directors, officers, agents, vendors and suppliers from and against any liabilities, losses, investigations or inquiries, claims, suits, damages, costs and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses) (each, a “Claim”) arising out of or otherwise relating to your use of our Websites, including any User Content (as defined below) submitted by you and Claims alleging facts that if true would constitute a breach by you of these Terms and Conditions.

Notice of Legal Discipline

As the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession, we strive to ensure that a listing in our publication signals not only legal expertise, but also, ethics and professionalism of the highest caliber. We ask that any discipline of our listed attorneys be promptly reported for review. Notification of legal discipline can be sent to Kimberly Welsh, Research Analyst Manager, at kwelsh@bestlawyers.com.

Legal Specialization

Lawyers are listed in areas of specialization according to the recommendations of their peers, not according to their own representations. A lawyer's listing in a particular specialty should not be construed as a claim by that lawyer. Many states and provinces require certification for lawyers to claim specialties and many specialties recognized in Best Lawyers do not have certification programs. Those interested in the specialty certifications of a lawyer should check with the lawyer or with the appropriate state or provincial board.

Expert Specialization

Experts are listed in fields of expertise according to the recommendations of listed lawyers or their firms, not according to their own representations. An expert's listing in a particular field of expertise should not be construed as a claim by that expert. Many states and provinces require certification for experts to claim expertise and many fields of expertise recognized in Best Lawyers do not have certification programs. Those interested in the certifications of an expert should check with the expert or with the appropriate state or provincial board.

Services

Providers of services are listed according to the recommendations of listed lawyers or their firms, not according to their own representations. A service provider's listing should not be construed as a claim by that service provider. Many states and provinces require certification for service providers to claim specialties and many services recognized in Best Lawyers do not have certification programs. Those interested in the specialty certifications of an expert should check with the expert or with the appropriate state or provincial board.

Ownership of Intellectual Property

“Intellectual Property Rights” means all rights, whether registered or unregistered, in all jurisdictions throughout the world, in patents, inventions, trade secrets, confidential or proprietary information, data and collections of data, copyrights, software and other works of authorship, domain names, trademarks, trade names, service names, slogans, logos and other designations of origin, trade secrets, confidential and proprietary information, data and databases, all registrations and applications for registration of any of the foregoing, and all other forms of intellectual property or proprietary rights.

The database information and material located on our Websites is the property of BL Rankings, LLC, unless otherwise indicated. The Best Lawyers in America®, Best Lawyers®, Best Lawyers Ones to Watch® in America and Best Law Firms® are registered trademarks of BL Rankings, LLC; The Best Lawyers in Canada, Best Lawyers International, Best Lawyers Preferred, Best Lawyers Select are service marks of BL Rankings, LLC. All Intellectual Property Rights related to any of the foregoing are owned by BL Rankings, LLC or one of its affiliates, unless otherwise indicated, and are protected by United States and international copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, and other Intellectual Property Rights laws. You agree that you will not use or reproduce Best Lawyers’ Intellectual Property Rights without our prior written consent. All other names, logos, product and service names, designs, and slogans displayed in connection with the services provided by Best Lawyers are the trademarks of their respective owners.

You may use our Websites only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms and Conditions, and you agree not to:
(i)use our Websites in any manner that could disable, overburden, damage or impair our Websites, or interfere with any other use of our Websites, including, but not limited to, any user’s ability to engage in real-time activities through our Websites;
(ii)use any robot, spider or other automatic device, process, software or means to access our Websites for any purpose, including to monitor, record or copy any of the material, information or data on our Websites;
(iii)use any manual process to monitor or copy any of the material, information or data on our Websites, or to engage in any other unauthorized purpose without the express prior written consent of Best Lawyers;
(iv)otherwise use any device, software or routine that interferes with the proper working of our Websites;
(v)otherwise attempt to interfere with the proper working of our Websites; or
(vi) post User Content (as defined below) that infringes, misappropriates, or violates the Intellectual Property Rights of third parties, that is unlawful or immoral, or that is libelous or otherwise defames or brings into disrepute any person or entity.

Limitations on Use of Information

No use of the information, databases, trademarks, service marks, trade names or trade dress on our Websites may be made, and no fees may be charged, directly or indirectly, for the information on our Websites, without the express written permission of Best Lawyers, and may only be used under guidelines provided by BL Rankings, LLC.

User Generated Content

Best Lawyers allows you to add content to your Best Lawyers profile (“User Content”), as long as the User Content submitted by you complies with these Terms and Conditions. Best Lawyers does not endorse, recommend or sponsor any user product reviews, ideas, advice or other User Content. You agree that any User Content submitted by you on your Best Lawyers profile will be accurate, will not violate or facilitate the violation of any applicable law, regulation or Best Lawyers rule or policy, will not violate any right of a third party, including, copyright, trademark, privacy or publicity rights or any other Intellectual Property Rights, and will not cause injury to any person or entity. You agree that User Content submitted by you on your Best Lawyers profile will not contain threatening language, and will not contain malware, political campaigning, commercial solicitation, chain letters, mass mailings, pornography, illegal materials, or any form of “spam”. In addition, you agree that you have not been compensated nor granted any consideration by any third party for the User Content submitted by you.

You are solely responsible for the User Content you submit, and Best Lawyers assumes no liability for any User Content submitted by you. You agree to indemnify us against all claims and liabilities resulting from your User Content. You acknowledge and agree that we reserve the right (but have no obligation) to do any or all of the following, at our discretion: (i) monitor User Content; (ii) alter, remove, or refuse to post or allow to be posted any User Content; and/or (iii) disclose any User Content, and the circumstances surrounding their transmission, to any third party in order to (a) operate our Websites; (b) to protect Best Lawyers and its employees, officers, directors, affiliates, agents, representatives, licensors, suppliers and service providers (collectively, the “Best Lawyers Entities”), and the users and visitors of our Websites; (c) to comply with legal obligations or governmental requests; (d) to enforce these Terms and Conditions; or (e) for any other reason or purpose.

In consideration of your use of Best Lawyers’ services, you hereby grant to Best Lawyers a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide right and license (with the right to sublicense) to use, reproduce, distribute, display, modify, create derivative works of, and otherwise exploit any submitted User Content (and any Intellectual Property Rights therein and thereto) for any lawful purpose.

For all User Content posted by you, you represent and warrant that you have all rights necessary for you to post the same to the Websites and to grant the licenses granted in this section, and that such User Content, and your provision thereof to and through our Websites, comply with all applicable laws, rules and regulations. You further irrevocably waive any “moral rights” or other rights with respect to attribution of authorship or integrity of materials regarding User Content that you may have under any applicable law under any legal theory.

User Content is also provided by third party visitors to our Websites. Please note our Website visitors may make statements, post messages or other User Content that are inaccurate, misleading or deceptive. Best Lawyers and its affiliates, partners, suppliers or any other associated entities neither endorse nor are responsible for any opinion, advice, information or statements made by third parties. Best Lawyers and Best Lawyers Entities are not responsible for any such information or materials made available through our Websites (including errors or omissions in postings or links or images embedded in such postings) or results obtained by using any such information or materials. Under no circumstances will the Best Lawyers Entities be responsible or liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on such information or materials. The opinions expressed by third parties reflect solely the opinions of the individuals who submitted such opinions and may not reflect the opinions of Best Lawyers.

Delivery and Refund Policies

All sales are final. Refunds will only be given in special circumstances, or in the event of an error by BL Rankings, LLC. Deliveries are made using FedEx Ground with an expected domestic delivery of 3-5 business days. International orders are subject to extended delivery times. Shipping to P.O. Boxes is prohibited. For more information, please contact orders@bestlawyers.com.

Advertising Terms and Conditions

All print and digital advertising is accepted subject to the approval of BL Rankings, LLC (the "Publisher"). The Publisher reserves the right to reject advertising which Publisher (in its sole discretion) determines is not in keeping with the publication’s standards, or conflicts with the policies or conditions of this contract, or the publisher’s copyright and goodwill interests.

Publisher does not guarantee placement of any advertisement unless the Advertiser agrees to pay the additional cost of a guarantee as detailed on the applicable rate card. Guaranteed placement requests shall not be binding upon Publisher until the Publisher is able to confirm the availability of the requested space. Placement requests for any fractional advertising unit will be considered but will be subject to the discretion of Publisher and cannot be guaranteed. Advertiser will be notified prior to publication if a positioning request cannot be accommodated exactly as requested. No guarantees will be accepted which seek to control the placement of another advertiser’s copy.

No conditions, printed or otherwise, appearing on the insertion order, invoice order or copy instructions which conflict with the publisher’s policies set forth herein will be binding on Publisher. Verbal agreements are not recognized or binding.

Cancellation of an insertion order forfeits the right to standard industry "position protection."

The publisher’s liability to the Advertiser (which includes Advertiser’s agents, advertising clients, representatives, employees and affiliated) for any error will not exceed the cost of publishing the advertisement in question. The cost of publishing will be determined by size of advertising unit, publication print run, distribution quantity and overall production costs. The Publisher disclaims responsibility and any liability for any error in any Advertisement approved for final print by the Advertiser. The Publisher further disclaims responsibility and any liability for any error occurring in an Advertisement published without written approval by the Advertiser. Verbal approvals are not recognized or binding.

The Publisher disclaims responsibility and any liability for the quality of print reproduction for advertisements for which the copy (artwork, text, photographs) is provided by the Advertiser. Unless otherwise noted, the Publisher will accept all copy provided by the Advertiser "as-is." Advertisers are encouraged to consult with the publication’s advertising coordinator if unsure of the proper print standards for quality reproduction, and to request in writing any alterations that should be made to images or copy. Additional charges for alterations may occur, depending on the type of Advertising unit purchased, and will be billed separately. A copy of production charges may be obtained by request.

Publisher assumes no liability beyond a refund of any amount deposited by Advertiser with Publisher in anticipation of an advertisement’s publication if for any reason it becomes necessary to cancel or delay production of a planned issue or publication. Further, the Publisher is not liable for damages resulting from delays in delivery of any publication or issue for any reason or any non-delivery caused by any force majeure, including any Act of God, action by third party, any governmental or quasi-governmental entity, fire, flood, insurrection, riot explosion, embargo, strikes (whether legal or illegal), labor or material shortage, transportation interruption of any kind, work stoppage or slow-down or any condition beyond the control of Publisher affecting the production or delivery of the publication.

Advertiser may cancel an insertion order at no expense so long as Publisher receives such cancellation prior to the Space Closing date for said issue(s). Any Advertiser that cancels an insertion order after the advertising space closing date has passed will nonetheless be billed for the advertisement at the full applicable rate in effect at the time of publication.

In the event that Ad Materials are not received by the material deadline, advertiser will be billed for space. Publisher will create ad materials for the Advertiser and submit for approval. If approval is not obtained, the materials will be printed as-is and payment will be due by Advertiser.

Advertiser assumes all responsibility for compliance with any lawyer advertising rules or regulations in the relevant jurisdiction(s) of publication. BL Rankings, LLC is not responsible for the filing of any advertisements with any bar association or other entity or any associated fees. Advertiser shall not be entitled to any credit, offset or refund for any advertisement rejected by any bar association or other relevant authority.

Publisher will bill the party indicated on an insertion order for monies due Publisher from Advertiser, but in the event of non-payment, Publisher reserves the right to hold both the end Advertiser and its advertising agent jointly and severally liable for such monies which are due and payable to the Publisher.

Advertiser and advertising agency agree to indemnify, defend and save harmless the Publisher from any and all liability for content and/or unauthorized usage stemming from advertisements printed by Publisher at Advertiser’s request.

Anyone wishing to use Best Lawyers trademarks, service marks, intellectual property and/or trade names in their advertising must obtain appropriate written approval. Additional charges for high-resolution logos referring to Best Lawyers will apply.

Search Results

Our search results are tailored to the user’s location and the search parameters they enter on our Websites. We have additional tools to help users further target their search by lawyer, firm, location and/or legal topic. Best Lawyers profiles are prioritized in search results.

Violation of These Terms and Conditions

We may investigate any violation of these Terms and Conditions. We may provide law enforcement with information you provide to us related to your interaction with our Websites to assist in any investigation or prosecution of you or others. We may take legal action that we feel is appropriate. You agree that monetary damages may not provide us a sufficient remedy and that we may pursue injunctive or other relief for your violation of these Terms and Conditions. If we determine that you have violated these Terms and Conditions or applicable laws, rules, or regulations, or for any other reason or for no reason, we may cancel your account, delete all your User Content and prevent you from accessing our Websites and related services at any time without notice to you. If that happens, you may no longer use our Websites and related services. You will still be bound by your obligations under these Terms and Conditions. You agree that we will not be liable to you or any third party for termination of your access to our Websites and related services or any related information, and we will not be required to make our Websites and related services or any related information available to you.

Enforcement of These Terms and Conditions

BY ACCESSING AND USING THE SITE, YOU AGREE THAT YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE SITE IS SUBJECT TO THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS, AS WELL AS ALL APPLICABLE LAWS, AS GOVERNED AND INTERPRETED PURSUANT TO THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The laws of the State of Georgia, without regard to Georgia’s choice-of-law principles, govern all matters arising out of or related to these Terms and Conditions. You agree that the exclusive forum and venue for any legal action arising out of or related to these Terms and Conditions shall be the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, and you submit to the personal jurisdiction of that court. If neither subject matter nor diversity jurisdiction exists in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, then the exclusive forum and venue for any such action shall be the courts of the State of Georgia located in Augusta, and submit to the personal jurisdiction of that court.