Terms and Conditions of Use of HG Websites - Editorial Guidelines

HG.org, HierosGamos.org and HGExperts.com

The Terms and Conditions of Use set forth herein apply to the entire group of Websites owned, operated, licensed, or controlled by HG.org, HGExperts.com, and HierosGamos.org (hereafter referred to as “HG Websites”).

PLEASE READ THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE CAREFULLY BEFORE using HG Websites. By using this Website or any other Website owned, operated, licensed, or controlled by HG Websites, you signify your assent to these terms of use.

IF THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE IN FULL, YOU MUST IMMEDIATELY TERMINATE YOUR USE OF THIS SITE.

These terms periodically change. Your continued use of HG Websites following the posting of changes to these terms will mean you accept those changes.

HG Websites - Legal information

The purpose of HG Websites is to give the visitor links to other websites which could provide some information about laws and regulations; not to provide specific or general advice. The ideas, general principles and conclusions presented at this site may differ depending on local, state and federal laws and regulations and court cases. Because the law constantly changes and varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and is subject to varying interpretations, users are urged to consult professional legal counsel in his or her country, State or Province regarding the applicability any points of law discussed at these websites to any specific or general problem. This website should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice.

Changes to site and these terms and conditions

This Site and these Terms and Conditions may be changed by HG Websites with or without notice. Please review this link on a regular basis for changes. Continued use of this Site following any change constitutes your acceptance of the change.

HG Websites do not provide legal advice

The information contained at HG Websites has been prepared by HG Websites as a service to its users and the Internet community and is not intended to constitute legal advice. HG Websites has used reasonable efforts in collecting, preparing and providing quality information and material, but does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, adequacy or currency of the information contained in or linked to this Website or any other HG Website. Users of information from this Website or any other HG Websites Website or links do so at their own risk.

Any reference made by this Website or any other HG Website to any specific commercial product, process, or service (or provider of such product, process or service) by trade name, trademark, hyperlink, or otherwise, does not constitute or imply an endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by HG Websites. Content on this and any other HG Websites may be provided by third parties and users. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information expressed or made available by third parties, including information providers, users or others, are those of the respective author(s) or distributor(s) and do not necessarily state or reflect those of HG Websites.

Restrictions on use of materials

Unless otherwise noted, all materials, including images, illustrations, designs, icons, photographs, video clips, and written and other materials that are part of this Website or any other HG Websites are copyrights, trademarks, trade dress and/or other intellectual properties owned, controlled or licensed by HG Websites. No material from this Website or any other HG Websites may be copied, reproduced, framed, hyperlinked, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted, or distributed in any way, provided, however, you may download, where specifically permitted, one copy of the materials on any single computer for your personal, non-commercial use only, provided you keep intact all copyright and other proprietary notices.

Use of any robot, spider, other automatic device, or manual process to monitor or copy our Web pages or the content contained herein is strictly forbidden. Modification of the materials or use of the materials for any other purpose is a violation of HG Websites' copyright and other proprietary rights. For purposes of these terms, the use of any such material on any other Website or networked computer environment is prohibited. All trademarks, service marks, and trade names are proprietary to HG Websites.

Export. The U.S. export control laws regulate the export and re-export of technology originating in the United States. This includes the electronic transmission of information and software to foreign countries and to certain foreign nationals. User agrees to abide by these laws and their regulations -- including but not limited to the Export Administration Act and the Arms Export Control Act and not to transfer, by electronic transmission or otherwise, any Content derived from HG Websites to either a foreign national or a foreign destination in violation of such laws.

Usage by Children Under 13. HG Websites cannot prohibit minors from visiting this site. HG Websites must rely on parents, guardians and those responsible for supervising children under 13 to decide which materials are appropriate for such children to view and/or purchase.

HG Websites professional listings, banner advertisement, top of the directory position, additional cities

Content

HG Website is a website in which customers provide the information in the directories of professionals and firms. HG Websites does not refer attorneys to users. Because customer authentication on the Internet is difficult, HG Websites cannot and does not confirm that customers are who they claim to be.

HG Websites does not warrant the validity of the information, nor does it guarantee the quality of the work product. The determination of the need for legal services and the choice of a professional are extremely important decisions and should not be based solely upon advertisements or self-proclaimed expertise. Users should contact local bar associations.

HG Websites does not review the contents of the listings which are provided by the customers or any links to HG Websites; HG Websites is not responsible for any material or information contained in the linked sites or provided by customers.

A description or indication of limitation of practice by a professional does not mean that any agency or board has certified such professional as a specialist or expert in any indicated field of law practice, nor does it mean that such professional is necessarily any more expert or competent than any other professional. All potential clients are urged to make their own independent investigation and evaluation of any professional being considered.

Because User authentication on the Internet is difficult, HG Websites cannot and does not confirm that Users are who they claim to be. HG Websites does not warrant the truth or accuracy of what the experts have represented to HG Websites or what they have requested to be listed and made public on the Site. Specifically, without in any way limiting any other provision of this Agreement, HG Websites does not control, warrant, or guarantee the quality, safety or legality of the items advertised, the truth or accuracy of the listings, the ability of the experts to render expert services, or consumers of expert services to purchase them. HG Websites does not control, warrant, or guarantee that any User is who he or she claims to be or is not acting under false pretenses.

By using this Website, you are agreeing that under no circumstances will HG Websites or its affiliates, be responsible for (1) any information contained on or omitted from the site(s), (2) any person's reliance on any such information, whether or not the information is correct, current or complete, (3) the consequences of any action you or any other person takes or fails to take, whether or not based on information provided by or as a result of the use of the Website and their affiliates also have no responsibility for (4) any person's satisfaction with any expert, consultant, provider, attorney, professional or law firm, whether relating to competence, diligence, or otherwise, (5) the results of any information, testimony or services provided given by or representation from any expert, consultant, provider, attorney, professional, or law firm or (6) the failure or refusal of any expert, consultant, provider, attorney, professional or law firm to respond to you.

Listings

If you choose to register a password protected firm or individual profile with HG websites or advantage of such other services as may be offered only to users with a profile - you agree to: (a) provide true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself, your contact and office(s) information and (b) maintain and promptly update the Registration. We do not accept PO Boxes as addresses and or addresses that are not law firms offices. Data to keep it true, accurate, current and complete. If you provide any information that is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, HG websites have reasonable grounds to suspect that such information is untrue, HG websites has the right to suspend or terminate your account and refuse any and all current or future use of the Service (or any portion thereof). HG Websites is in no obligation to list a law firm, company or service. HG Websites reserves the right to list law firms, companies or services at its sole discretion. Premium listings include a 30 minutes service.

HG Websites reserves the right to remove any law firm, expert, recruiter, investigator, process server, court reporter or others listed on the HG sites at its sole discretion. HG Websites is in no obligation to sell its product to companies/firms if HG Websites feels that it is not in its best interest.

Free basic listings 

HG Websites reserve the right to remove any free listing without prior notice. Companies and Law Firms posting/registering misleading, incorrect or fraudulent information, and /or known/recognized as scammers, spammers will have their listing immediately deleted from our database and website without warning.

. Editorial Guidelines for Basic listings

We will remove without notice any submitted basic listing that:

  • Is improperly filed due to use of excessive capitalization, spelling errors or incorrect information
  • Incorrect email address - we send a confirmation notice by email and if the email is returned we delete the listing 
  • PO Box instead of address
  • Listing the practice area instead of name of firm
  • Contains email addresses from generic email servers such as hotmail.com or lycos.com
  • Includes a website URL or email address in the address fields or title
  • Is from a firm with no website
  • The firm is not found on the Internet (through their own website address or other listings, legal articles, bar associations, etc.)
  • Lists more than 20 areas of practice
  • List partnership law firm addresses as their own office(s)
  • Is from a company other than a law firm (associated service companies please follow the HG.org navigation links to your registration pages)

Removed basic listings: If your basic listing has been removed for one or more of the above reasons, simply create and submit a new basic listing with the updated information. Please note that we do not exchange emails about deleted basic listings.

Premium listings

Because we are committed to providing the best possible directory that contains valuable and accurate content for our visitors, we encourage you to follow our  Editorial Guidelines. We avoid any illicit  practices that may damage the quality of HG.org content. This is why we offer complimentary secretarial service and edit the premium listings.

Our team will choose the precise key words, add the relevant content, verify the accuracy of the all office addresses listed and verify the selection of areas of practice.  This data integrity check is done to ensure that you are represented correctly and the Premium listing receives the best possible search performance. 

You are welcome to update your listing at any time and at no cost. Should you do so, we encourage you to follow our editorial guidelines.

Editorial Guidelines for Premium Listings:

Law firms, solo practitioners and their representative should not use any feature that is deceptive, misleading, manipulative, or that is likely to confuse the viewer. Main examples of misrepresentation are use of trade names or location (Ex. Divorce Center or Best Attorneys), selection of incorrect areas of practice and services, incorrect accreditation and representative clients, and location(s) where they do not have the license to practice, listing other law firms (partnership) as your own office.
 
Please note that we are aware law offices do use d/b/a names. However, in the interest of presenting the most unambiguous and accurate information possible to our visitors and your potential clients, we will not allow extremely generic Law Firm names in our listings. Instead, we provide you with the option of using these types of names in the titles of your Premium listings.

    Example: Your law firm is registered and incorporated with the Texas Secretary of State as "The Law Office of John Doe, PLLC" and you do business as "Bankruptcy Attorneys of Amarillo, Texas". In your Premium listing, your Law Firm name should appear as "The Law Office of John Doe, PLLC". Your listing title will be "Bankruptcy Attorneys of Amarillo, Texas". In this instance, if you try to list your law firm name as "Bankruptcy Attorneys of Amarillo, Texas" your listing will not be approved.

If you believe that the actual name your law firm is registered under may be disallowed by our editorial team because of its generic nature, but is indeed the only legal name your law firm uses (and the only name presented on your website), please let us know beforehand. We will do our best to verify the information and, if it meets our guidelines, we will allow it.

Premium listings must comply with the same following provisions imposed on Basic listings and will be reviewed by our team for comformity before being posted.
  • Use only standard capitalization (Example: "Law Firm Name" or "Main Street" - No excessive capitalization such as "LAW FIRM NAME" or "MAIN STREET").
  • Check the spelling of your title and other information in your listing.
  • Use the English spelling for your city. 
  • Include a valid email address - We send a confirmation notice by email and if the email is returned we will delete the listing. 
  • Use only a full physical address - No PO Boxes.
  • You may not list your firm if you do not have a website - We only list law firms with valid websites.
  • Do not use a generic name for your firm such as "Divorce Center LLC" or a practice area instead of the name of your firm.
  • Enter the correct information in the appropriate fields and do not enter a website URL or email address in the address or title fields. 
  • We must be able to locate your law firm and your attorneys on the Internet through your firm's website, other directories, legal articles, bar associations, etc.
    • To ensure delivery of important emails to your inbox regarding your HG.org listing, please add directories@hg.org and anne.lang@hg.org to your email address book or your safe list. For instructions please visit Email Whitelist Instructions.
If we notice that the Premium listing does not follow our Editorial Guidelines or uses one or more of the following practices we reserve the right to change the content without notice or remove it from our directories without compensation until the listing is corrected.

  • Incorrect name of law firm, use of area(s) of practice and or location as the law firm name
  • Incorrect selection use of practice area(s) – Practice areas selected in your listing must appear in your website
  • Repetitive keywords in the description of your firm and services in order to lure search engines
  • Invalid office location(s) - Additional offices require registration with local bar associations to be considered valid
  • Listing of a PO Box instead of valid physical legal office address
  • Listing “Partner" law firms offices as your own offices
  • Should your partner law firm(s) wish to be listed on HG.org, they need to purchase a Premium listing of their own or list their practice with a free Basic listing
  • Listing multiple website URL’s for a single law firm in the additional information fields
  • Not presenting a full bio of at least one attorney in the listing and the firm's website
  • Listing incorrect or invalid bar association affiliation(s).

    If we notice that the Premium listing does not follow our Editorial Guidelines we reserve the right to change the content without notice. A listing may be removed from our directories until corrected if the infringement is repetitive or obviously deceptive. The subscription will not be extended during that timeframe.

    Premium listings allow one law firm name for all offices. Law firm directories are for law firms and their attorneys only. We do not list legal consultants in the law firm directories. 

    If the content of a listing is found fraudulent and/or posted by scammers, spammers or other companies intending to commit fraud and/or copied other law firms/companies content in their listing or website HG Websites reserves the right to remove any law firm, expert, recruiter, investigator, process server, court reporter or others listed on the HG sites at its sole discretion without refund.


    Banners and Top of Directory Position

    Customers may purchase advertising.

    Premium Listings, banners, and top of the directory positions are not refundable. Any offer is valid for a period of 5 days from the receipt of an email or invoice. Terms are subject to change without notice after the 5 day period.

    Banner advertising and top of the directory position are for our Premium subscribers only. If a Premium listing is not renewed, the remaining portion of the banner and/or top of the directory position subscription will be prorated and applied to the renewal of the Premium listing, and the banner and/or top of the directory position will be removed from HG Websites without prior notice.

    If a monthly installment is not paid, the advertising program will be put offline. If the monthly installment is not reinstated by providing a new credit card within 10 business days, the advertising program will be considered terminated and be available to other customers.

    Logo HG

    An HG.org or HGExperts.com client, in good standing, may use one of the logos below if the client complies with the following conditions:

    • The logo may not be changed or altered in any way.  It must be displayed in the same way as shown and cannot be reproduced unless such reproduction is identical to the logo provided by HG.org.
    • Clients may use logo only on their letterhead, business cards and similar documents or websites, and products not for sale on which the name and address of the client or the client’s business is displayed.
    • The logo may not be used in any way which suggests or implies approval by HG.org of any product or practice.  This includes any use that the public might interpret as an endorsement or approval by HG.org of a client or a client’s business or which might be taken to support or encourage a client’s sale of product or service.
    • Logos may not be used on advertisements or service literature.
    • No person, company or client gains any rights whatsoever in the logos or their use; it remains the property of HG.org LLC.  HG.org LLC reserves the right in its sole and absolute discretion to require the logos removal from any location or thing HG.org feels does not comply with this policy, or which could or does discredit the company.
    • Any unauthorized use of the logos may result in legal action and the imposition of damages.

      Any information about HG.org products and services might be changed at any time without prior warning. 

    Employment center

    The Employment Center is intended for individuals seeking employment and for employers or recruiters seeking candidates for employment. This site may be used only for lawful purposes within the stated context of HG Websites intended and acceptable use. HG Websites reserves the right to decline requests for any service and to cancel or suspend any service at any time at our discretion.

    Job Postings and Resumes

    Posting a job with HG Websites constitutes acceptance of our fees, terms and conditions. Additionally, employer, recruiter and member representatives agree that all postings are bona fide openings. All subscribed employers or recruiters retain sole responsibility for the contents of its postings and all applicable laws, regulations and standards, including equal opportunity requirements. Any violation is the sole responsibility of member and/or its representative. No refunds available once positions are posted. Job seekers should provide accurate information when submitting a resume on HG Websites. Employers will use your resume for pre-qualification and communication, so it is important that this information be complete and accurate. Resumes posted will expire after three months-modifying your resume will reset the expiration date. It is recommended that you update your resume once a month.

    Relationship:

    All users of this site agree that no employment or agency relationship exists between the user and Employment Center or any of HG Websites.

    Ownership, license & restrictions on use

    As between HG Websites and you, all right, title and interest (including all copyrights, trademarks and other intellectual property rights) in this Site belongs to HG Websites, its licensors, or listees. In addition, the names, images, pictures, logos and icons identifying HG Websites' products and services in many countries are proprietary marks of HG Websites and/or its subsidiaries or affiliates. Except as expressly provided below, nothing contained herein shall be construed as conferring any license or right, by implication, estoppels or otherwise, under copyright or other intellectual property rights.

    Users are hereby granted a nonexclusive, nontransferable, limited license to view and use information retrieved from this Site provided solely for your personal, informational, non-commercial purposes, and provided you do not remove or obscure the copyright notice or other notices. Except as expressly provided above, no part of this Site, including but not limited to materials retrieved there from and the underlying code, may be reproduced, republished, copied, transmitted, or distributed in any form or by any means. In no event shall materials from this Site be stored in any information storage and retrieval system without prior written permission from HG Websites.

    Use, duplication, or disclosure by or for the United States Government is subject to the restrictions set forth in DFARS 252.227-7013 (c)1)(ii) and FAR 52.227-19.

    Linking

    You may provide links all pages of this Site, provided (a) you do not remove or obscure, by framing or otherwise, advertisements, the copyright notice, or other notices on this Site, (b) you give HG Websites notice of such link by contacting HG.org, Inc (http://www.hg.org/link-hg.html), and (c) you discontinue providing hot links to this Site if notified by HG.org, Inc.

    Links to other websites and services

    To the extent that this Website and any other HG Websites contain links to outside services and resources, HG Websites does not control the availability and content of those outside services and resources. Any concerns regarding any such service or resource, or any link thereto, should be directed to the particular service or resource. 

    Copyright, permitted uses, restrictions on use

    Copyrights

    Material available in HG Websites is protected by copyright law. Copyright (c) 1995 - 2010 HG Websites. All rights reserved.

    Trademarks

    Listed below are trademarks for HG Websites. Nothing contained on this site should be construed as granting any license or right to use any Trademark displayed on this site without the express written permission of HG Websites or such third party may own the Trademark.

    The HG.org, HGExperts.com and HierosGamos.org are registered trademarks.

    Banners

    Banner advertisements are created using the art or pictures that are found on you website. In accepting our banner, you acknowledge that you have the copyright to such images or pictures. If you do not have the copyright, you need to notify HG.org upon placing of an order for the banner.

    Articles

    Submitted articles might be edited if found necessary, and submitting an article doesn't guarantee its publication.

    By submitting an article you acknowledge that you have full ownership and copyright of the work and you agree that HG.org and HGExperts.com may feature it on their Web sites as long as you are provided with proper credit.

    Logos, Pictures, Listing Content

    Listing advertisements are created using the art or pictures and content that are found on you website. In accepting our banner, you acknowledge that you have the copyright to such images or pictures. If you do not have the copyright, you need to notify HG.org upon placing of an order for the banner.

    Listing, Employment Ad and Article Content

    Any listing, article or employment ad containing repetition of keywords or similar spamming tricks or technique in order to try improving search engine ranking will be removed without notice from our directories. Premium listings will be reinstated after proper cleaning of the keyword stuffing.

    Juridiction

     

    Unless otherwise specified, and except for clearly international offerings, the materials in this Website and any other HG Websites are presented solely for the purpose of promoting publications and other products available in the United States, its territories, possessions, and protectorates. HG Websites are controlled and operated from its offices in the State of Texas. HG Websites makes no representation that materials in any of HG Websites are appropriate or available for use in other locations. Those who choose to access any HG Websites from other locations do so on their own initiative and are responsible for establishing the usability or correctness of any information or materials under any or all jurisdictions and the compliance of that information or material with local laws, if and to the extent local laws are applicable.

    These terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Texas. You agree that any action at law or in equity arising out of or relating to these terms shall be filed only in the state or federal courts located in Harris and you hereby consent and submit to the personal jurisdiction of such courts for the purposes of litigating any such action. If any provision of these terms shall be unlawful, void, or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from these terms and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions. This is the entire agreement between us relating to the subject matter herein and shall not be modified except as provided herein or in writing, signed by HG Websites.

    Disclaimer

    THE MATERIALS IN HG WEBSITES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE PURSUANT TO APPLICABLE LAW, HG WEBSITES DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. HG WEBSITES DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS CONTAINED IN THE MATERIALS WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THIS SITE OR ANY OTHER HG WEBSITE OR THE SERVER(S) THAT MAKES HG WEBSITES AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. HG WEBSITES DOES NOT WARRANT OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE OR THE RESULTS OF THE USE OF THE MATERIALS IN THIS WEBSITE OR ANY OTHER HG WEBSITES IN TERMS OF THEIR CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE. YOU (AND NOT HG WEBSITES) ASSUME THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR, OR CORRECTION. APPLICABLE LAW MAY NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO THE ABOVE EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

    Limitation of liability

    UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, NEGLIGENCE, SHALL HG WEBSITES BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES THAT RESULT FROM THE USE OF, OR THE INABILITY TO USE, THE MATERIALS IN THIS WEBSITE OR ANY OTHER HG WEBSITES, EVEN IF HG WEBSITES OR A HG WEBSITES AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. APPLICABLE LAW MAY NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY OR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IN NO EVENT SHALL HG WEBSITE'S TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL DAMAGES, LOSSES, AND CAUSES OF ACTION (WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, NEGLIGENCE), OR OTHERWISE) EXCEED THE AMOUNT PAID BY YOU, IF ANY, FOR ACCESSING THIS SITE OR ANY OTHER WEBSITE(S).

    Entire agreement; severability

    These Terms and Conditions incorporate by reference any notices contained on this Site and constitute the entire agreement with respect to your access to and use of this Site. If any provision of these Terms and Conditions is unlawful, void or unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from the remaining provisions and shall not affect their validity and enforceability.