You’re probably referring to a couple of specific disclaimers that you see repeatedly on attorney and law firm websites.
Disclaimers – Educational
The first disclaimer essentially states that any information posted on the website is for educational purposes only and does not, or was not intended to, constitute legal advice. This is a required disclaimer anytime a lawyer has a blog or any piece of content that could be used by a potential client. Basically, this covers anything useful on a lawyer’s website.
Lawyers have to ensure that they protect themselves from the “accidental client.” The accidental client is a person who thought they were receiving legal advice from the lawyer and that they were represented by this lawyer. That’s also why, a lot of the time, you’ll ask a lawyer a question in public and his or her answers will be utterly useless for you.
This disclaimer means that anything you do with the information you’ve gained is your problem, and you cannot turn around and sue the attorney because you used the information without any legal guidance. Lawyers may only be sued for malpractice by clients or heirs and assigns of clients. Therefore, no client means no lawsuit. This is the case even if you suffered harm because you relied on information provided by that lawyer’s blog.
Disclaimers – No Attorney-Client
The other major disclaimer is the one that states that there is no attorney-client relationship, nor any duty of confidentiality, until an engagement letter has been signed by both the attorney and the client. This one is important for you to understand because there may be implications to you.
One of the most important reasons an attorney puts this disclaimer on his or her website is when he or she has a contact form on the site. Without the disclaimer, the attorney runs the risk of being conflicted out of other cases merely because you sent a long message in that contact form outlining all of the facts (good or bad) of your case.
Both of these disclaimers seek to ensure that you realize that you are not a client until that attorney says you are a client. This generally includes agreeing to some fee because most attorneys do not work for free.
If you’d like to know the answers to more frequently asked questions, check out Answers from Inside, available now on Amazon.