Policies for Participation in Justice.org
Discussion Forums and List Servers
12 The AAJ Board of Governors approved the Amended
List Server Participation Agreement on February 15, 2007.
The Agreement was modified to better serve our legal community
within this association. For your convenience, the revised
provisions in that Agreement are highlighted below. Please
review before accepting the terms. Thank you.
I, [Your Name Will Appear Here, [AAJ member number], on [Current
Full Date], agree to the terms and conditions set forth below
as an agreement between myself and the American Association
for Justice (AAJ) regarding my participation in and the use
of the information shared in Justice.org's
List Servers and document libraries. This agreement supersedes
any previous similar agreements between myself and AAJ. I
understand that the use of the List Servers is a privilege
of AAJ membership which may be revoked if I breach the terms
of this agreement.
ENFORCEMENT
This agreement shall be enforced by the List Server Subcommittee
("Subcommittee") of the AAJ Section and Litigation
Group Coordination Committee ("SGLCC"). The
Subcommittee has the authority to suspend my access to the
List Servers. I have the right to appeal the suspension to
the SLGCC.
I am [User Full Name] and I take full personal responsibility
for any actions performed using my Justice.org
username and password.
USE OF INFORMATION
I have the right to make all information that I
post to any List Server available to my AAJ colleagues and
accept full responsibility for any copyright infringement
or any other legal actions which may be brought against AAJ
as a result of information that I post. Further, my AAJ colleagues
may use the information subject to the conditions and restrictions
placed on them by the provisions below. AAJ, the AAJ Exchange,
or their successors may load this information into searchable
databases or otherwise provide this information for fees or
other consideration to AAJ members and/or Exchange users.
My name, address, and other contact information may be included
in these searchable databases or other information collections.
COMMERCIAL PURPOSES
Under no circumstances will I use information obtained
from AAJ’s List Servers for commercial purposes that
are not connected with the practice of law on behalf of a
client or the administration and management of my law office.
I will not download information obtained from the List Servers
into any other document, database, or information retrieval
system except for those directly under my control and used
solely to support the litigation efforts in which I am engaged
or the administration and management of my law office.
I will not solicit clients through the AAJ List Servers.
I will not utilize AAJ’s List Servers to advertise programs
or activities that are not sponsored by AAJ or one of its
state TLA partner organizations. This includes announcements
of other organizations’ CLE programs.
I will not market to List Server users for any profit-making
venture. I will not offer items for sale for profit through
the List Servers except in connection with the administration
and management of my law office.
I will not market items for sale for charitable activities
or organizations through AAJ List Servers. I will
not sell or disseminate any listings of AAJ users to any person
or entity (profit or nonprofit). I will not provide any copy,
electronic or otherwise, of List Server communications or
the identity of participants to any other person or entity,
except to participants.
STANDARDS OF CONDUCT
I will conform to appropriate standards of conduct at all
times on AAJ’s List Servers. These standards include
but are not limited to the following:
1) I will not post or respond to messages that contain obscene,
offensive, inflammatory, libelous, derogatory language, and/or
personal attacks.
2) I will post messages to the appropriate forum to ensure
that my message reaches an audience interested in that type
of message. I will direct miscellaneous postings that may
be unfit for subject matter List Servers to the AAJ Members’
Meetroom List Server.
3) I will not exploit AAJ’s List Server to solicit
participation of AAJ members in non-AAJ administered list
servers or activities.
4) I will not post non-substantive replies, including messages
that indicate a simple “yes/no, me too, I agree/I disagree,
or thank you,” without substantive elaboration.
5) To improve clarity, I will edit replies before posting
them to a List Server, including deleting all irrelevant information
which add to the “noise” content of the message,
such as headers, footers, security notices, and extraneous
quoted material from the original message.
6) I will not send files or other attachments with List Server
messages. AAJ has made an online document library available
for each Section to allow Section members to upload and download
documents to Justice.org at anytime, free of charge.
RELEASING MESSAGES
I will not forward or distribute List Server messages to non-subscribers.
I will not allow others to use my list server subscription(s).
These materials are intended for the exclusive use of AAJ
members representing plaintiffs in civil actions or defendants
in criminal actions. I will not furnish materials to a defendant,
defense interest, criminal prosecutor, or any other person
not assisting in my case, except as required under the law.
If the materials are demanded or ordered to be produced during
discovery, I am urged to oppose the discovery, and contact
the AAJ Exchange. As with any Internet Web site, I understand
that Justice.org and its discussion List
Servers should not be regarded as a secure system and should
not be used for anything confidential in nature.
PARALEGAL AFFILIATE USE
In addition to all other provisions in this policy,
paralegal affiliates shall comply with the following to ensure
that each paralegal participates under the general direction
of an AAJ attorney: When posting a message on any List Server,
the paralegal’s List Server communication shall include
language that the paralegal affiliate’s communication
is under the general direction of the attorney, and include
the paralegal’s name, address, e-mail address, and telephone
number. All additional identifying information is prohibited.
An example of such a signature is as follows:
Terry Doe, paralegal
This communication is under the general direction of John
Smith, the sponsoring attorney of Terry Doe
1234 Main Street
Anytown, USA
(123) 456-7890
Each paralegal affiliate shall be sponsored by an
AAJ voting member and the sponsoring information shall be
verified annually by AAJ. Each paralegal affiliate properly
sponsored by an AAJ voting member may participate on the Discussion
Forum List Server. For a paralegal affiliate to participate
on a Section List Server, the sponsoring attorney and the
paralegal affiliate shall be a member of at least one Section.
For a paralegal affiliate to participate on a Litigation Group
List Server, provided that the Litigation Group allows paralegal
affiliate members, the sponsoring attorney shall be a member
of that Litigation Group.
DEFENSE USE PROHIBITED
I am aware that any use of materials obtained from Justice.org
to assist in the defense of a civil action or the
prosecution of a criminal action is explicitly prohibited
and any such use may expose the persons using these materials
in such a manner to ethical sanctions by AAJ and/or the appropriate
state or local bar association.
I will direct all messages for AAJ Staff requesting assistance,
information, or to unsubscribe from a list to listserver_support@justice.org
rather than to the List Servers.
IDENTIFICATION
Every message that I send through the List Servers will be
accompanied by information adequate to identify myself, which
shall include as a minimum, my name, firm name, city, state,
and e-mail address. With the posting of each message
to AAJ’s List Servers, I certify that I continue to
be qualified for Regular AAJ membership.
