Community Rules & Etiquette and Privacy Guidelines

Thank you for being part of our community. To ensure the best possible experience for all members, we have established some basic guidelines for participation.

By joining and using this community, you agree that you have read and will follow these rules and guidelines. You also agree to reserve discussions and shared files and content to that best suited to the medium. This is a great medium with which to solicit the advice of your peers, benefit from their experience, and participate in an ongoing conversation. Questions should be directed to our member services department via the Contact Us link on this site.

Please take a moment to acquaint yourself with these important guidelines. If you have questions, contact the member services department. In order to preserve an environment that encourages both civil and fruitful dialogue, we reserve the right to suspend or terminate membership in this community for anyone who violate these rules.

The Rules

• Respect others. Focus on the content of posts and not on the people making them. Please extend the benefit of the doubt to newer guests and members; there’s no such thing as a stupid question.


• Respect the purpose of the community. Use the community to share successes, challenges, constructive feedback, questions, and goals instead of products or services that you provide. If you’ve found a product or service helpful, please share your experience with the group in a respectful way.


• Use caution when discussing products. Information posted on the discussion groups and in the libraries is available for all to see, and comments are subject to libel, slander, and antitrust laws.


• All defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials are strictly prohibited. Do not post anything that you would not want the world to see or that you would not want anyone to know came from you.


• Respect intellectual property. Post content that you have personally created or have permission to use and have properly attributed to the content creator.


• When posting items in our collaborative environment, please indicate if the item is not available for reuse. It’s also advisable to contact the owner of any material if you would like to reuse it.


• Post your message or documents only to the most appropriate communities. This helps ensure all messages receive the best response by eliminating "noise."

Discussion Group Etiquette

• State concisely and clearly the topic of your comments in the subject line. This allows members to respond more appropriately to your posting and makes it easier for members to search the archives by subject.


• Send messages such as "thanks for the information" or "me, too" to individuals, not to the entire list. Do this by using the "Reply to Sender" link in every message.


• Do not send administrative messages, such as “remove me from the list,” to the group. Instead, use the web interface to change your settings or to remove yourself from a list. If you are changing email addresses, you do not need to remove yourself from the list and rejoin under your new email address. Simply change your settings.

The Legal Stuff

This site is provided as a service for the members of American College of Trial Lawyers.  American College of Trial Lawyers is not responsible for the opinions and information posted on this site by others. We disclaim all warranties with regard to information posted on this site, whether posted by American College of Trial Lawyers or any third party; this disclaimer includes all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness. In no event shall American College of Trial Lawyers be liable for any special, indirect, or consequential damages or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data, or profits, arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of any information posted on this site.

Do not post any defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials.  Do not post any information or other material protected by copyright without the permission of the copyright owner. By posting material, the posting party warrants and represents that he or she owns the copyright with respect to such material or has received permission from the copyright owner. In addition, the posting party grants American College of Trial Lawyers and users of this site the nonexclusive right and license to display, copy, publish, distribute, transmit, print, and use such information or other material.

Messages should not be posted if they encourage or facilitate members to arrive at any agreement that either expressly or impliedly leads to price fixing, a boycott of another's business, or other conduct intended to illegally restrict free trade. Messages that encourage or facilitate an agreement about the following subjects are inappropriate: prices, discounts, or terms or conditions of sale; salaries; profits, profit margins, or cost data; market shares, sales territories, or markets; allocation of customers or territories; or selection, rejection, or termination of customers or suppliers.

American College of Trial Lawyers does not actively monitor the site for inappropriate postings and does not on its own undertake editorial control of postings. However, in the event that any inappropriate posting is brought to the attention of American College of Trial Lawyers we will take all appropriate action.

American College of Trial Lawyers reserves the right to terminate access to any user who does not abide by these guidelines.


Privacy Policy

Any personal information you provide to us including and similar to your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address will not be released, sold, or rented to any entities or individuals outside of our organization except as noted below.

With Whom Do We Share the Personal Information We Collect Through This Site:

Our Service Providers
We may share your personal information with companies (including our affiliates) that perform services on our behalf, for example, companies that help process credit card payments. Our service providers are required by contract to protect the confidentiality of the personal information we share with them and to use it only to provide specific services on our behalf.

Business Transfers
Your personal information may be transferred to another entity (either an affiliated entity or an unrelated third party) in connection with a merger, reorganization, dissolution or similar corporate event. If such a transfer were ever to occur, the acquiring entity’s use of your personal information will still be subject to this Privacy Policy.

Government and Legal Disclosures
We may disclose the personal information we collect through this Site, when we, in good faith, believe disclosure is appropriate to comply with the law (or a court order or subpoena); to prevent or investigate a possible crime, such as fraud or identity theft; to enforce our Terms and Conditions or other agreements that govern your use of this Site; or to protect the rights, property or safety of our company, our users, or others.

External Sites
We are not responsible for the content of external internet sites. You are advised to read the privacy policy of external sites before disclosing any personal information.

Cookies
A "cookie" is a small data text file that is placed in your browser and allows us to recognize you each time you visit this site (personalization, etc). Cookies themselves do not contain any personal information, and we do not use cookies to collect personal information. Cookies may also be used by 3rd party content providers such as news-feeds.

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 and you are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of any 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 and others directly if you have any questions about their privacy policies.  For any other information please contact us using the Contact Us page.

The American College of Trial Lawyers (“ACTL,”, “we,” or “us”) knows that you care how your information is used and shared. This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) describes our policies with respect to information that ACTL collects through the website at www.actl.com (“Website”). 

By visiting www.actl.com you are accepting the practices described in this Policy.

Privacy Policy Support.  If you have an inquiry or concern about our Policy, please contact us using the contact information below.

Changes in this Policy.  ACTL may amend this Policy at any time without notice.  Changes to this Policy may affect our use of personally identifiable information that you provided us prior to our notification to you of the changes.  Please visit our Website to obtain current information about our Policy.

ACTL uses various technologies to protect the confidentiality, security, and integrity of information volunteered or collected from users of the Website. We do not require anyone to divulge any personally identifiable information to use the Website. ACTL on occasion requires a user to register, when for example certain products are purchased. ACTL will not collect personal information about you unless the information is provided voluntarily by you.

I. Information ACTL Collects
The information we collect generally includes: (1) personal information you supply and (2) tracking information collected as you navigate through the Website.

Information Collected from You 
We may collect and store personally identifiable information that you provide to us.  The personally identifiable information we request from you may include your: (i) country of residence; (ii) first, middle, and last name; (iii) age and date of birth; (iv) highest level of education attained; (v) job title; (vi) home or office phone and fax numbers; (vii) employer's name and address; (viii) home or office address; (ix) home or office e-mail address; (x) ACTL Fellow identification number, user ID, and password; and (xi) credit card information (only if purchases are made).

Information Collected Through Technology 
Primarily to tailor the Website to your needs, ACTL collects information using technology, such as IP addresses and cookies. For example, your IP address provides ACTL with non-personally identifiable information about how you entered the Internet, namely through your Internet service provider, your company, or some other source, and can permit ACTL to identify the frequency with which you visit the Website. Standard features in Internet browser software such as "cookies" allow Websites to track certain user activities by assigning each of our visitors a unique number that resides on your computer. ACTL uses cookies to make the Website more interesting and useful (for example, cookies let us know which of our sites you have been visiting and which you have not).

II. How ACTL Uses That Information
ACTL uses your personally identifiable information for the purposes for which it was submitted.  For example, ACTL uses the information collected to enable a user to: (i) purchase ACTL educational materials for purposes of obtaining Continuing Legal Education (“CLE”) credit, (ii) pay membership dues, (iii) make charitable contributions to the Foundation II of the ACTL (“Foundation”), (iv) to purchase other ACTL or Foundation products, (v) to receive ACTL publications and product and/or service announcements, and (vi) to participate in ACTL sponsored meetings, programs, and activities.  We do not undertake to maintain any information about you for a duration greater than necessary to provide services to you or as provided by law, rule or regulation.

In the event that you choose to participate in the ACTL Roster you acknowledge that your name, location, contact information (phone number, e-mail address), specialty/areas of legal concentration, will be available to search, access and view by the Fellows of the ACTL. 

ACTL may use information about use of the Website and aggregated information about you and other visitors to our Website in order to improve our Website and develop content and services that may be of interest to you and for its other business purposes.

III. Security Measures Taken to Protect Personally Identifiable Information

ACTL uses firewalls, vulnerability scans, and secure server encryption technology to protect personally identifiable information. ACTL also employs internal physical and technologic security measures to detect and block unauthorized intrusions to its computer systems.  However, while we employ reasonable security measures to protect your personal information, please be aware that no method of electronic transmission is completely infallible, and we cannot guarantee its absolute safety.

IV. Information Sharing with Third Parties
Limited personally identifiable information we request from you (namely, your name and home or office address) is never shared or sold to third parties. All information gathered from you by use of the ACTL website is strictly held for use by the College or its State or Province Committees.

We may also provide your information to third parties to accomplish the purpose for which the information was submitted, such as providing your personally identifiable information to credit card processors to process a purchase.

We may disclose specific information in response to a valid court order, subpoena, government investigation, or as otherwise required by law, to enforce our Website policies, or to protect our or others' rights, property, or safety.  We reserve the right to report to law enforcement agencies any activities that we, in good faith, believe to be unlawful.  We may share information to prevent illegal uses of the Website, or defend ourselves against third-party claims.  We may also share information with companies assisting in fraud protection or investigation.  We do not provide information to these agencies or companies for marketing or commercial purposes.

V. Updating Contact Information and Opt-Out Choices
ACTL enables users of its Website and interactive educational products to update contact information and to opt out of the collection of personally identifiable information or particular communications or services by e-mail, telephone, or regular mail. Please use the contact information listed below. Due to production, mailing, and system timelines, it may take some time to process your request.  In addition, we may still use your information to communicate with you for other purposes, such as for customer service.

VI. Questions or Comments
If you have any questions or comments about the American College of Trial Lawyers’ privacy policy, please contact us at:

American College of Trial Lawyers
1300 Dove St., Suite 150
Newport Beach, CA  92660
Tel: 949-752-1801
E-mail: NationalOffice@actl.com

VII. Miscellaneous
International Users.  This Website is operated, in whole or in part, from the United States.  By using this Website, regardless of where you live in the world, you consent to have your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States, and allow ACTL to use and collect your personal information in accordance with this Policy.

Third Party Links. The Website may also contain links to other third party websites that are not under our control.  These websites may have their own policies or no policies at all, regarding privacy.  You should seek and review these policies before providing information to these websites.  ACTL has no responsibility for linked websites and provides these links solely for the convenience and information of our visitors. ACTL also maintains a strict “no-spam” policy and fully complies with CAN-SPAM Act regulations.