Terms of use

These terms apply when you use counselado.com, in English or Spanish. By using the site, you agree to them. If you do not agree, please do not use the site.

Who we are

Counselado is an independent legal information site and a directory of law firms across the United States, built state by state, with Texas first. The site is operated by Web Leveling, based in Harris County, Texas. "We", "us" and "our" mean the operator of counselado.com; "you" means anyone who uses the site.

What Counselado is and is not

Counselado publishes general information about legal questions and lists law firms. It is not a law firm and not a lawyer referral service. It does not give legal advice, represent anyone, evaluate cases or recommend a particular lawyer. The disclaimer has the short version.

• Guides are general information. They explain terms, steps and questions to ask. They are not advice about your situation, and nobody who writes or edits them is your lawyer.
• No attorney-client relationship. Reading the site, using the contact form or contacting a firm through a listing does not create an attorney-client relationship with Counselado or, by itself, with any firm. A lawyer-client relationship begins only when a lawyer agrees to represent you.
• Counselado does not match or refer you. Nothing on the site selects a lawyer for you, guarantees that a firm is available or promises any result.
• Laws and deadlines differ and change. Laws, court rules and filing deadlines vary by state and are updated, sometimes without notice. A guide may not reflect current law where you live. Deadlines such as statutes of limitations can apply to your matter, so if it is urgent, contact a lawyer directly instead of waiting on this site.

If you find a fact that has changed, tell us through the contact form.

The law firm directory

The directory lists law firms with details such as name, address, phone, website and hours, drawn from public business data, including Google Business Profile details and Google's own category for each business. A firm is placed under the practice area that matches Google's category. Each listing is information for you to follow up on. It is not an endorsement, a recommendation, a ranking or a check of a firm's licenses, credentials, experience or results. Counselado does not verify any of those unless the listing says it did, and then it names the source and the date.

Any agreement you make with a firm is between you and that firm. Ask the firm about its fees, its experience with your kind of matter and whether it is licensed in your state before you decide. Firm names and logos belong to their owners and appear only to identify a business; no affiliation is implied.

A firm can ask for a correction or removal through the contact form, sending the listing's link, the detail that is wrong and the correct detail from an email address or phone number the firm publishes.

Sponsored listings and how Counselado is paid

Counselado is paid by law firms and not by readers. Firms can choose paid directory plans, Pro and Sponsored, for flat monthly or yearly fees for advertising and presentation. The fee never depends on inquiries, calls, clicks, clients signed or case outcomes, and Counselado takes no percentage of anything a firm earns. Sponsored listings carry the label "Sponsored" on the listing. A paid plan is not an endorsement, a recommendation or a certification of any kind, and it never buys reviews, badges or credentials. Sponsored and featured placements are attorney advertising; the attorney advertising page explains them.

The affiliate and advertising disclosure explains how the site is paid and what happens if an affiliate link is added.

For law firms

If you list a firm or buy a plan, you confirm that:

• the information and any content you supply are accurate, current and yours to give us;
• every license, certification and credential you claim is held and in good standing, and your advertising follows the rules of each state where you practice;
• you answer for the copy and images you supply, and for the compliance of your own advertising, including any filing, disclosure or disclaimer your state requires;
• a paid plan buys advertising and presentation, and Counselado promises no inquiries, clients or results.

Payments are made through Square payment links, and Square handles your card details. We may correct, suspend or remove a listing that breaks these terms or the law.

Things you send us

When you send a message, a correction, listing details or, when reviews are available, a review, you confirm that what you send is accurate, that it is yours to send, and that it breaks no law and no one else's rights. You keep ownership of what you send. You give us permission to use it to run the site, and, for a review, to publish it under the review guidelines. If you send ideas or suggestions about the site, we may use them without any obligation to you.

Please do not send confidential or time-sensitive information, details of your case, court papers, Social Security numbers or bank account numbers through the contact form. Nobody at Counselado can act on a legal matter sent that way. Questions about your own situation belong with a lawyer.

Rules for using the site

When you use the site, you agree not to:

• break any law, or help anyone else break one;
• send false or misleading information, or pretend to be someone else, including falsely speaking for a firm in the directory;
• send spam, malware or anything harmful through a form;
• copy, scrape or harvest the site or its directory in bulk by automated means, except for search engines indexing public pages under the robots.txt file;
• use the site's content to train or build artificial intelligence models or datasets without our written permission;
• try to get around security features, disrupt the site or overload it; or
• harass, threaten or defame anyone, including firms and lawyers in the directory.

We may block access, remove material or refuse service to anyone who breaks these rules.

Our content and trademarks

The site's text, data compilations, design, graphics, photos and code belong to Counselado or to those who licensed them to us, and are protected by copyright and other laws. You may read, print and share single pages for your own personal use, as long as you keep our name and any copyright notice, and you may link to any public page. For any other use, such as republishing a guide, ask us first through the contact form.

Counselado and its logo are our marks; please do not use them in a way that suggests we endorse you or your business. Other names and logos on the site belong to their owners.

Copyright notices

If you believe material on the site infringes your copyright, send a notice through the contact form or to the email address in the privacy policy. A designated agent for notices will be listed on the copyright page when registered. The notice should identify the work, the page where the material appears, your contact details, a statement that you believe in good faith the use is not authorized, a statement that your notice is accurate and that you are the owner or authorized to act for the owner, and your signature. We will review it and remove material that infringes.

Links to other websites

The site links to state bars, courts, government agencies, law firms' own websites and other sources. We do not control those websites and are not responsible for their content, services, privacy practices or availability.

Disclaimer of warranties

We provide the site and everything on it "as is" and "as available". To the fullest extent the law allows, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, non-infringement, accuracy and completeness, and any warranty that the site will be uninterrupted, secure or free of errors. Some places do not allow certain warranties to be excluded, so some of these exclusions may not apply to you.

Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent the law allows, Counselado and its owner, contractors and agents will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for lost profits, data or goodwill, arising from or related to the site. That includes a decision you make from a guide, a missed deadline, a lost claim, the outcome of a legal matter or a problem with a firm or lawyer found through the directory.

To the fullest extent the law allows, our total liability for all claims related to the site is limited to the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the claim arose. Some places do not allow these limits, so some may not apply to you. Nothing in these terms limits liability that the law does not allow to be limited.

Indemnity

To the extent the law allows, you agree to defend and hold harmless Counselado and its owner, contractors and agents from claims, losses and costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees, arising from your breach of these terms, what you send us or your misuse of the site or of directory information.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms as the site changes and will change the date on the page each time. If you keep using the site after a change, the updated terms apply.

General terms

If any part of these terms cannot be enforced, the rest still applies. If we do not enforce a part of these terms, we have not given up the right to enforce it later. These terms, with the privacy policy and the cookie policy, are the whole agreement between you and us about the site. Plans sold to law firms may carry their own written terms.

Governing law and contact

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas, without regard to its conflict of law rules. Any dispute about the site or these terms is heard in the state or federal courts located in Harris County, Texas, unless the law where you live gives you the right to bring it elsewhere.

Questions about these terms can go through the contact form. These terms are also available in Spanish. If the two versions differ, the English version controls.