Trial Guides List Server Terms and Conditions
Thank you for being part of the Trial Guides Legal Community. To ensure the best possible experience for all members, we have established guidelines for participation.
By joining and using this legal community, I agree to the terms and conditions set forth below as an agreement between myself and Trial Guides regarding my participation in, and the use of the information shared in, Trial Guides’ connected community platform (community.trialguides.com), including but not limited to list servers, document libraries, and community website. This agreement supersedes any previous similar agreements between Trial Guides and I.
Remember the Risks Whenever You Use the Internet
While we do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information that you transmit to us, including any client information you post. You are also solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your passwords or other account information. In addition, other internet sites or services that may be accessible through our site have separate data and privacy practices independent of us, and therefore we disclaim any responsibility or liability for their policies or actions. Please contact those vendors directly if you have any questions about their privacy policies.
Questions should be directed to communitymanager@trialguides.com
Policies for Participation in Trial Guides’ List Servers
I understand that the use of the list servers is a privilege of Trial Guides list server membership which may be revoked if I breach the terms of this agreement or if at any time it is determined that my participation on the list servers violates Trial Guides’ mission.
Enforcement — List server and discussion forum access shall be enforced by Trial Guides and the moderator of the list servers to which you belong. Trial Guides and the moderator have the authority to moderate or suspend my access to the list servers. I have the right to appeal the suspension to the moderator and then Trial Guides. I take full personal responsibility for any actions performed using my username, password, and email address registered with Trial Guides.
Use of Information — I have the right to make all information that I post to any list server available to my colleagues and accept full responsibility for any copyright infringement or any other legal actions which may be brought against Trial Guides as a result of information that I post. I agree not to post documents covered by a protective order either on the list server or in the Trial Guides document library. Further, my colleagues on the list servers may use the information subject to the conditions and restrictions placed on them by the provisions below. Trial Guides or their successors may load this information into searchable databases or otherwise provide this information for fees or other consideration to Trial Guides subscribers and/ list server users. My name, address, and other contact information may be included in these searchable databases or other information collections.
Commercial Purposes — Under no circumstances will I use information obtained from Trial Guides’ list servers for commercial purposes that are not connected with the practice of law on behalf of a client or the administration and management of my law office. Under no circumstance will I use information obtained from list servers to compete with Trial Guides or solicit Trial Guides’ customers.
I will not upload or download information obtained from the list servers, archives, or document databases into any other document, database, or information retrieval system except for those directly under my control and used solely to support the litigation efforts in which I am engaged or the administration and management of my law office. Information obtained cannot be licensed or sold to any outside party.
I will not solicit clients or lawyers through the Trial Guides list servers. I will not utilize Trial Guides’ list servers to advertise either free or paid programs, webinars, podcasts, blogs or activities that are not sponsored by Trial Guides. This includes announcements of other organizations’ CLE programs, publications, or services. Trial Guides will provide one list server solely for that purpose and announcements cannot be made on any other Trial Guides list server.
I will not market to list server users for any profit-making venture. I will not offer items or services for sale for profit through the list servers except in connection with the administration and management of my law office.
I will not market items for sale for charitable activities or organizations through Trial Guides’ list servers. I will not sell or disseminate any listings of Trial Guides users to any person or entity (profit or nonprofit). I will not provide any copy, electronic or otherwise, of list server communications or the identity of participants to any other person or entity, except to participants.
Standards of Conduct — I will conform to appropriate standards of conduct at all times on Trial Guides’ list servers. These standards include but are not limited to the following:
- I will not post or respond to messages that contain obscene, offensive, inflammatory, libelous, racist, sexist, or derogatory language, and/or personal attacks.
- I will post messages to the appropriate forum to ensure that my message reaches an audience interested in that type of message.
- I will not exploit the Trial Guides list servers to solicit participation of Trial Guides members in non-Trial Guides administered list servers or activities.
- I will not post non-substantive replies, including messages that indicate a simple “yes/no, me too, I agree/I disagree, or thank you,” without substantive elaboration.
- I will search the archive before requesting that an attachment be recirculated.
- To improve clarity, I will edit replies before posting them to a list server, including deleting all irrelevant information which add to the “noise” content of the message, such as headers, footers, security notices, and extraneous quoted material from the original message.
- I will not post messages regarding legislative, regulatory, or other advocacy efforts.
- I will not post messages asking that my notification settings be changed. I will manage my email settings through the community site, community.trialguides.com. These settings are available under Community Notifications in My Profile.
Releasing Messages — I shall not forward or distribute list server messages to non-subscribers, and I shall not copy (CC or BCC) non-subscribers on my messages. I shall not allow others to use or access my list server subscription(s). These materials are intended for the exclusive use of Trial Guides members representing plaintiffs in civil actions. I shall not furnish materials to a defendant, defense interest, insurance company, or any other person not assisting in my case.
I understand that any information I send out to list server participants may be subject to disclosure if so ordered by a court, and that Trial Guides recommends not including anything in a list server message that would be harmful to my client’s case if obtained by opposing counsel. If the materials are requested to be produced during discovery, I shall oppose the discovery on relevancy and other appropriate grounds and contact Trial Guides immediately. As with any website, I understand that www.TrialGuides.com and its discussion list servers should not be regarded as a secure system and should not be used for anything confidential in nature.
Trial Guides Does Not Endorse Any List Server Statement — Neither accepting money for a subscription to a specific list server, nor the pre-qualification for access to a specific Trial Guides list server can be construed as Trial Guides endorsing any statement by you or any other member. Trial Guides shall not accept any liability for statements made by you or any other member of a Trial Guides list server.
Access to Specific List Server — Access to a specific list server is limited to members who are subscribers and do not practice defense work in the list server’s specific area of practice. Membership in a specific list server entitles members to access only that specific list server, and only documents in that list server’s document library. A member whose practice, temporarily or permanently, does not meet these criteria, is obliged to inform Trial Guides at communitymanager@trialguides.com of this change in status within ten days of said change and will be removed from access or participation in this list server. A failure to notify Trial Guides of a change in status will be grounds for a report to your state bar for an ethics complaint. We take the security of our list servers very seriously.
Access to Medical Malpractice List Server — Access to the Trial Guides Medical Malpractice list server is limited to Trial Guides Medical Malpractice list server subscribers who, while participating on the Trial Guides Medical Malpractice list server, will not represent or work for any insurance company, hospital, physician, self-insured defendant in tort or workers’ compensation matters, and/or any other comparable entity in any medical negligence case, and will not for any portion of his or her practice represent defense interests of any kind—excluding the representation as personal counsel of a physician in a case which involves potential liability in excess of the physician’s insurance coverage. A member whose practice, temporarily or permanently, does not meet these criteria, is obliged to contact communitymanager@trialguides.com and inform them of this change in status within ten days of said change and will be removed from access or participation in this list server. A failure to notify Trial Guides of a change in status will be grounds for a report to your state bar for an ethics complaint. We take the security of our list servers very seriously.
If, based on the above, you are ineligible for the Trial Guides Medical Malpractice list server, but nonetheless want to participate, you may appeal your removal. Please contact Trial Guides at communitymanager@trialguides.com for more information.
Paralegal List Servers — In addition to all other provisions in this policy, paralegal subscribers shall comply with the following to ensure that each paralegal participates under the general direction of a Trial Guides list server subscriber attorney: When posting a message on any Paralegal List Server, the paralegal’s list server communication shall include language that the paralegal affiliate’s communication is under the general direction of the attorney, and include the paralegal’s name, address, e-mail address, and telephone number. All additional identifying information is prohibited.
An example of such a signature is as follows:
Jane Doe, paralegal
This communication is under the general direction of Mary Smith, the sponsoring attorney of Jane Doe
1234 Main Street
Anytown, USA
(123) 456-7890
Each Paralegal List Server Subscriber shall be sponsored by a Trial Guides list server subscriber attorney and the sponsoring information shall be verified annually by Trial Guides. Each paralegal affiliate properly sponsored by Trial Guides list server subscriber attorney may participate on the Paralegal Discussion Forum List Server. Paralegals are not allowed to participate in lawyer list servers.
Defense Use Prohibited — I am aware that any use of materials obtained from trialguides.com to assist in the defense of a civil action or the prosecution of a criminal action is explicitly prohibited and is an ethics violation. Any such use may expose the persons using these materials in such a manner to ethical sanctions by Trial Guides and/or the appropriate state or local bar association. Again, Trial Guides takes the security of our list servers very seriously in order to protect the usefulness of the list servers for its subscribing members.
I will direct all messages for Trial Guides staff requesting assistance, information, or to unsubscribe from a list to communitymanager@trialguides.com rather than to the list servers.
Identification — Every message that I send through the list servers will be accompanied by information adequate to identify myself, which shall include as a minimum, my name, firm name, city, state, and email address. With the posting of each message to Trial Guides’ list servers, I certify that I continue to work 100 percent of the time as civil plaintiff lawyer and that I am a paid subscriber to the specific list server.
Policies for Accessing Trial Guides List Server Document Library
Trial Guides list server documents or records ("items") obtained from the list server document libraries contain one or more of the following: depositions, legal briefs, case abstracts, legal references, intelligence on experts, verdicts and settlements, instances of litigation abuse, documents, topic papers, and more.
Conditions of Use — I certify that any query is made on behalf of a plaintiff and I am in no way associated with any defendants or defense interests in this matter ("defense interests"). I certify that I practice full time as a plaintiff lawyer, and am a paying subscriber to the applicable Trial Guides list server. I agree that I seek admission to the document library for the sole and exclusive purpose of assisting clients of my law firm in the prosecution of their cases, and for the purpose of sharing knowledge of our firm with other attorneys concerned on behalf of their clients with common questions of law and fact.
Privileged Attorney Work Product — Information in the document library is being provided to me on a customized basis as a subscriber of the Trial Guides list server for the limited purpose of use in the prosecution of my client's rights in a particular civil case, and consultation on common questions of law and fact. By requesting this information, I acknowledge that the customized results I receive become my attorney work-product, as the document library site and/or the Trial Guides list server staff operate solely as my agents in compiling information for my case. The items I download become my work product; they are prepared in anticipation of litigation and are intended for my exclusive use.
Disclosure — Any and all document library items and communications SHALL NOT be disclosed to nonmembers of Trial Guides list servers, or a member of Trial Guides list server community who could directly or indirectly be identified as representing a defense interest, a defendant, or any other person not assisting in your case. Document library materials shall not be resold under any circumstance. In particular, it must be emphasized that Trial Guides list server users are not to disclose information upon a Request for Production of Documents, Interrogatories, or a Motion to Compel Discovery. Document library materials SHALL NOT be disclosed in this type of a judicial process, without first asserting all available defenses against production including (but not limited to) (a) A defense arguing that my selection of Trial Guides document library materials represents my work product; (b) A defense arguing that any and all corporate documents acquired directly or indirectly through the Trial Guides document library (and now sought by the defense) are accessible at less cost and greater efficiency by contacting the corporation itself; (c) A defense arguing that disclosing Trial Guides document library materials before trial and early in the discovery process is premature, as I have not yet determined what Trial Guides document library materials, if any, will be used at trial.
Additionally, Trial Guides recommends you contact defense counsel, and inform defense counsel that if Trial Guides document library materials are sought, you will seek similar materials that defense counsel has acquired through the Defense Research Institute, the Products Liability Counsel, and all other defense-side litigation support entities you can identify. If your Trial Guides Document Library materials are requested by any of the aforementioned interests, it is essential to preserve the privilege you may properly assert. Accordingly, if your materials are requested, or if you have questions about the production of Trial Guides document library materials, contact Trial Guides immediately.
Indemnification — The signer agrees to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Trial Guides from all claims, damages, costs and attorney’s fees that Trial Guides may incur or be found liable to pay as a consequence of any posting from the member's account to any Trial Guides list server and/or any donation of materials from the member to the document library. "No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider." —Communications Decency Act of 1996, Section 230(c)(1). The signer agrees that Trial Guides shall not be considered liable for any statements made by the signer or content posted into a document library, as Trial Guides is simply licensing interactive computer services for its customers to communicate within and is not making any statement or endorsing any statement made, or violating any copyright in content posted by a member.
No Contractual Rights — This agreement does not give the signer any contractual rights, due process rights, or property rights which may be enforced by the member or his or her firm in the event access rights are terminated, but merely serves as the signer’s acceptance of the terms of access. This agreement does not oblige Trial Guides to make a pro rata refund of fees in the event the signer’s list server membership is terminated. The signer’s obligation to adhere to the above terms survives the termination of his or her access rights and his or her Trial Guides list server membership.