Legal Disclaimer: Information, Not Legal Advice

Legal Information vs Legal Advice: The Difference

Legal information describes what the law generally says and how the legal system works: where records are kept, how to search a court portal, what a statute provides. Legal advice applies the law to your specific facts and recommends what you should do. Only a licensed attorney can give legal advice. Legal Journal publishes legal information only.

Our guides explain where and how to find official legal materials, from court records to case law to statutes, across everything linked from the Legal Journal homepage. They do not, and cannot, tell you whether you have a case, how a rule applies to your situation, or what your next step should be.

No Attorney-Client Relationship

Legal Journal is not a law firm, and no one who works on this site is acting as your attorney. Reading this site, following its guides, or contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship. Anything you send us is not privileged or confidential the way a communication with your own lawyer would be, so please do not send us details of a legal matter.

Accuracy and Currency of Content

We verify our guides against official sources and re-check links over time, as described in our editorial policy. Even so, the law changes, court portals are reorganized, and fees and procedures are updated without notice. We cannot guarantee that any page reflects the current state of the law or of a court's systems at the moment you read it. Before you rely on a rule, deadline, fee, or procedure, confirm it with the official source, the court clerk, or an attorney.

Court records are not consumer reports

Legal Journal hosts no court records. Our court-records pages link to the official government portals where records are held. Neither this site nor the records you reach through it constitute a consumer report under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Do not use court records found through this site to screen anyone for employment, housing, tenancy, credit, or insurance. Screening for those purposes is regulated by the FCRA and requires an FCRA-compliant consumer reporting agency and specific legal procedures, including notice and consent.

When You Need a Lawyer

If you are facing a deadline, have been sued or charged, are considering suing someone, or need to know how the law applies to your facts, general information is not enough. You need a licensed attorney in your state.

A reliable place to start is your state bar association, most of which run lawyer-referral services that connect the public with licensed attorneys, often with a low-cost initial consultation. Our state bar associations directory links to the official bar site for every state. Many bars also list free and low-cost legal aid options for people who cannot afford a private attorney.