LawFiles.net helps non-attorneys begin to find information about legal issues, such as answers to legal questions.

One way that the LawFiles.net website helps non-attorneys begin to find answers is by allowing users to search and browse the LawFiles.net database for prior questions and answers. Users can do so by clicking on the "Search Q&A Database" link or the "Browse Q&A by Category" link.

These options allow users to look up past questions submitted by other users by state, type of question and keywords. The database of questions and answers grows every day as questions from people like you are posted and answered by the participating attorneys. Something that may not be in the database today, could perhaps be there tomorrow.

Another way that the LawFiles.net website helps non-attorneys begin to find answers is by allowing users to submit their legal questions to us and have them posted to the LawFiles.net website, so that the attorneys using our website may attempt to answer them. To submit a question just click on the "Ask A Question" link and complete the required form. Please note that despite our efforts, unfortunately not all questions can be answered this way since there are not always attorneys available who serve clients in a particular state or in a particular legal area.

The LawFiles.net website also helps non-attorneys begin to find answers by allowing users to search our database for a lawyer. This lawyer search capability allows users to find attorneys in particular geographic locations by the type of attorney (e.g., civil lawyer or criminal lawyer), who have particular specialties (e.g., estate planning, tax, etc.), or who are located in a specific state. Users can narrow their search using keywords or by sorting the results. In addition, users can review the past replies by individual attorneys by following the link on any individual attorney's profile. This may help you evaluate and decide whether you want to follow up with individual attorneys further.

The LawFiles.net website also helps non-attorneys begin to find answers by listing legal resources (such as law firms, legal directories, etc.) that our users might find helpful. These resources are listed by legal category on our "Legal Resources" page.

One other way that the LawFiles.net website helps non-attorneys begin to find answers is by maintaining a legal articles page. The LawFiles.net legal articles page provides links to law articles relevant legal categories and law articles pulled off of other websites. These legal articles cover basic legal issues and law-related happenings.

To search for prior questions and answers, go to the "Search Q&A Database" page. From there you can select whether you want to search our entire legal database of past legal questions and answers by keywords, legal category, or jurisdiction. Just enter the search criteria and the results will be displayed to you.

To search using KEYWORDS, enter a list of words separate by SPACES (no punctuation). The search engine will look for records containing ALL keywords. For example, if you enter the keywords "florida retirement", the search engine could return a record containing the sentence:

"Are there special issues that should be considered when someone in retirement wants to move to Florida?"

You can restrict the search by legal category, state, and more.

Posting a legal question simply means that you are sending us a question, which may be posted on the LawFiles.net website. To post a question, simply go to the "Ask A Question" page. You will be taken to a question form that you will need to fill out. Please read all the instructions on the question form before submitting your legal question. Please note that we may be unable to properly handle your legal question if you do not fill out all of the required information on the legal question submission form.

Legal questions submitted by users result in an email notification being sent to the user acknowledging that their legal question was received.

Legal questions will then be reviewed by our legal editors. Our legal editors try to review submitted questions for grammar, spelling, and style. The legal editors also try to review the law questions to eliminate redundant or offensive questions. The legal editors may make changes to the qustion or they may accept or reject the legal question.

The legal questions that are accepted by the editors are then automatically forwarded to various attorneys who have signed up to reply to questions for the legal category and geographic location selected by the user. Lawyers are only notified of the question information, not the user's personal contact information, and are able to reply to the legal question.

Legal questions that do not recieve any replies within a certain time period will be deleted.

Generally, you can post any law-related question that deals with any of the legal categories available on the legal question input form. However, there are certain types of legal questions that typically aren't answered. Below you will also find a list of the types of legal questions that generally we will not allow to be posted on the LawFiles.net website and which, if posted, do not get answered.

If you send us any of the following types of legal questions, there is a high probability that they will not be accepted and/or will not be answered:

1. Tell me everything I need to know about...
2. Where can I look up...
3. Should I invest in/sell...
4. My brother is missing, where can I find him...
5. Can you recommend any sites that deal with...
6. Questions that are vague
7. Questions written in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS
8. Questions that contain names of people or YOUR NAME
9. "I have an assignment due for school and I was wondering..."
10. Any question that for any reason we deem inappropriate
11. Any legal question posted more than once in 90 days

This also depends. If your legal question is not answered by anyone within 30 to 60 days, it typically gets deleted from our system. At that time you could go back to the LawFiles.net website and re-post your legal question again. There is a chance that new attorneys who could answer your legal question, may have joined the website by that time.

It does not cost anything to ask a question or get an answer. The LawFiles.net website is offered as a public service. We hope that the advertising revenues will help defray the costs of operating the site.

That all depends. Some users may receive a couple of replies within a few hours from posting their question, others may receive one reply after several days and a few users may never receive an answer to their question.

Unfortunately, no. Despite our efforts, not all questions can be answered since there are not always attorneys available who practice in a particular state or legal area or who are willing to respond to legal questions. Also remember that no information found at this site, in the database or in the responses from attorneys on the website can replace a live in person meeting or telephone consultation with a "real live" legal lawyer about your particular case, problem, or question. The information you find here or in the answers should just be a starting point in finding your legal answers. No response or communication connected with this site should be construed as legal, tax, or investment advice nor can any such communication be used to avoid the imposition of taxes or penalties thereon.

Please note that despite our efforts, unfortunately not all questions can be answered since there are not always attorneys available who serve clients in a particular state or work in a particular legal area. There may be many attorneys participating on the website, but there are also fifty states, a couple of territories and possessions and dozens of areas practice, so it won't always be possible to cover all states in all practice areas. However, the "network" grows all the time and if there is not a particular attorney participating today, there may be one soon.

Absolutely not. Please remember that no adviser-client or attorney-client relationship is established (i.e. those who respond to your questions by using this website will not be your or anyone's adviser or attorney) until you have met with that person outside of the website and they have reviewed the situation, decided to accept the case and entered into a written representation/retainer agreement with the you or a third party. Basically, the responding attorneys will not be representing anyone just because this information has been transmitted to us or them or even because we or they may have given you an answer to a question.

The replies sent to your email account will include a link at the bottom, asking you to follow that link to not receive further emails. If you cannot locate that email or link, then you can email us and we will remove your email address from our database. Be sure to include your contact information and your email address in the body of the email when sending emails to us.

Although we try our best to answer many questions, there are many other legal resources available on the Internet. Many of these resources can be found on our other pages. Our legal directory page has links to several such resources organized by subject matter. On those pages you can find links to various other resources. Our LawFiles.net Legal Articles page is another resource that provides Internet users with legal information.

The LawFiles.net website is called a BBS because that is what it is. A Bulletin Board System consists of a forum for people to post questions, answers and comments about particular subjects. We like to think that it is the best legal BBS on the web today.

Generally no. We try our best to ensure users privacy. Users PERSONAL INFORMATION such as name, address, email address, phone, etc., are concealed from ALL OTHER USERS and PARTICIPATING ATTORNEYS unless users include this information in the body of the questions they submit. We will try to ensure that only the website administrators have access to your personal information. However, we are not responsible for any information any user may include in the body of their question or any other information users submit to the LawFiles.net website.

Due to the nature of the Internet, you must understand that by giving us permission to post your legal question on the BBS website, you may risk losing some of your confidentiality. As such, we ask that you please not post any personal information in the body of your questions or any information that may otherwise disclose your identity.

We like to think of this website as not too different than calling a legal question and answer show on the radio or submitting a question to a legal columnist in a newspaper. You are letting a lot of people know about your question, so that you can obtain an answer. Some people may recognize you and may find out about your question... but in return you may get an answer. One of the main obvious differences is that with the BBS there is a more "permanent" record of your question, except that no one (but the website administrators) will know your name (unless you provide your name in the body of your question). Please think about it carefully before submitting a question.

You can report objectionable content by sending an email to this address. When sending these emails, remember to be as specific as possible.

LawFiles.net has been used by many wonderful attorneys who opt to respond to legal questions submitted by users over the internet. These attorneys should be commended for taking the time out of their busy schedules to volunteer to help answer questions.

LawFiles.net allows attorneys to receive and reply to legal questions submitted by users. Once a question is posted for the "legal category" and "location" selected by the attorney (and after the questions pass the limited screening by our legal editors), the attorneys are sent an automated email notifying them of the new law question. At that point, the attorneys can chose to reply to the question by following the link in the email, or, they can opt not to reply to the question. Any replies from attorneys will be included in our question and answer database and will be searchable by other inquiring minds, so that others may learn from the information provided.

The public side of the LawFiles.net attorney network also includes a "locate an attorney" function. Participating attorneys are able to include their contact and practice information in this database. This allows members of the public to locate and, if they desire, to retain individual attorneys.

No, it does not cost attorneys (or users) anything to participate in the LawFiles.net website or to have your contact information included in our attorney directory.

To join LawFiles simply go to the Membership Application page and fill out the short online form. Your information will be transmitted to us and, generally, your application will be reviewed and approved within 24 hours. We may need to follow up with you individually if the information provided is incomplete.

You will get the ability to participate in this all-volunteer project and to be able to answer legal questions from users who could end up retaining your services. LawFiles.net can also serve as another way to "do business" on the web. Today you see many services that ask you to pay an exorbitant fee to simply be listed in an online directory or website. LawFiles.net gives attorneys the opportunity to be on a very high traffic website that attracts people with genuine legal questions and/or interest by having something of value to offer for free and not simply a listing of attorneys who pay to be on the website. This can be a great way to indirectly market yourself and your practice.

Generally, there are no requirements for staying in the website. However, reducing idle accounts will make the LawFiles.net a more valuable resource. As such, attorneys that do not use the website for periods of time may be sent an email asking them if they would like to continue their accounts. Attorney accounts may be deleted by LawFiles.net for inactivity.

Attorneys are notified by email when a new question arrives for their particular geographic and practice areas. Also, attorneys can login to the website and select the "View My Questions" link from the navigation menu. The "View My Questions" link will take you to a page that lists questions in your geographic and practice area that no other attorney has answered and that were submitted in the last thirty days.

Attorneys can log in to the site and select the "View My Answers" link from the bottom left menu. The "View My Questions" link will take you to a page that lists your prior replies.

You can retrieve your password by clicking here. Once you enter your email address, your password will be emailed to you.

No, you cannot edit your responses. However, you can send us an email and we will try to delete any response that you are not happy with; however, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to remove the response in as timely a fashion as you would like. Thus, you should be careful to not submit responses over the website until you are satisfied with the response.

Yes, you can participate without using email. In that case, you will need to go to your LawFiles.net administrative page, select "edit my profile," and remove your email address. You will still be able to login and review and reply to legal questions and other replies. Please note, we are more apt to delete ide accounts if there is no email address listed.

You can report objectionable content by sending an email to this address. When sending these emails, remember to be as specific as possible.