Terms of Use

Acceptance of these terms

These terms govern access to and use of this website. Using the site indicates acceptance of them. If you do not accept them, do not use the site.

These terms may be revised. The version published here is the operative one, and continued use after a revision indicates acceptance of the revised version. A revision does not apply retroactively to a dispute that arose before it was published.

What this site is

This site publishes general information about how evidence in digital marketing disputes is analyzed: what records advertising, analytics and commerce systems generate, who holds them, how long they survive, what they can support, and what they cannot settle. It describes a practice and the method that practice uses.

It is written for attorneys and other professionals who are deciding whether to retain an expert and what to ask for. It is not written as a substitute for advice on any matter, and it does not describe the facts of, or express any view about, any actual dispute.

No legal advice, and no relationship created

Nothing on this site is legal advice. The publisher is not an attorney, does not practice law, and does not advise on the merits of any claim or defense. Reading these pages, sending a message through the form, or corresponding by email does not create an attorney-client relationship, and no such relationship can be created by this site at all.

Reading this site also does not create an expert engagement. An engagement in this practice begins only when a conflict check has cleared and a written engagement letter has been agreed. Until both have happened, no work is being performed, no opinion is being formed, and no duty is owed in any matter.

Unsolicited material and confidentiality

Do not send confidential, privileged or work-product material through this site or by email before a conflict check has cleared and terms have been agreed. Material sent before then cannot be treated as confidential, and sending it may itself create a problem — for the sender rather than for the site — including the possibility that an expert becomes unavailable to the sending party in the matter.

A first message should identify the parties, counsel and the entities likely to feature, and should stop there. This is stated on the contact page as well, and it is repeated here because it is the term of use most likely to matter to a reader.

Accuracy, currency, and the sources relied on

The content here is prepared with care and traces to primary sources: rule text, published opinions, platform documentation and the publications of standards and industry bodies. Those sources change. Platforms rewrite their documentation without notice, alter what a metric counts, and change retention periods; procedural and evidentiary rules are amended; and a decision described here may be appealed, superseded or distinguished after publication.

No representation is made that any page is current, complete or applicable to a particular matter or jurisdiction. Where something on this site matters to a decision, verify it against the primary source and against the law of the relevant forum before relying on it.

Ownership of the content

The text, structure, design, artwork and code of this site are the property of the publisher and are protected by copyright. Reading, printing, quoting with attribution, and circulating a page to colleagues or within a firm for professional purposes are all permitted and are the point of publishing it.

Republication of substantial portions, commercial redistribution, systematic copying, framing the content within another site, and automated harvesting for the purpose of building a competing publication or training a commercial model are not permitted without written permission. Quoting a passage and attributing it to this site is always permitted; passing the analysis off as someone else’s work is not.

Uses that are not permitted

Do not use this site to interfere with its operation or that of the server hosting it, to attempt unauthorized access to any system, or to transmit malicious code.

Two further restrictions are specific to what this site publishes. Do not present any page here as an expert opinion in a pending or contemplated matter; an opinion is formed on a specific record under a written engagement, and nothing published for a general audience qualifies. And do not offer any page here as evidence of a standard of care in digital marketing — these pages say expressly that no general licensure or single agreed body of practice exists in this field, and quoting them for the opposite proposition misstates them.

Third-party sites and references

This site refers to and links to materials published by courts, rulemaking bodies, regulators, standards organizations and advertising platforms. Those references are made because a primary source is better than a summary of one. The publisher does not control those sites, is not responsible for their content or availability, and does not endorse any product, service or organization by citing its documentation.

References to other practice sites operated by the publisher are made so that a reader lands on the site that actually covers the subject. Each of those sites has its own terms.

Disclaimer of warranties and limitation of liability

This site is provided as it is, without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including any implied warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, or non-infringement. No warranty is given that the site will be available without interruption or that it will be free of errors.

To the fullest extent the law permits, the publisher is not liable for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, revenue, data or goodwill, arising out of access to or use of this site or reliance on anything published here — including any decision made or not made in a legal matter on the strength of it. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain exclusions, and in those jurisdictions liability is limited to the least amount the law permits.

Indemnity, governing law, and the rest

You agree to indemnify the publisher against claims, losses and expenses arising from your use of this site in breach of these terms or in violation of any law or third-party right.

These terms are governed by the law of the state in which the publisher resides, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules, and any dispute arising out of them or out of use of the site is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts sitting in that state. If a provision of these terms is held unenforceable, the rest remains in force and the unenforceable provision is applied to the greatest extent the law permits. A failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of it. These terms, together with the privacy policy and the disclaimer, are the entire agreement governing use of this site.

Questions about these terms go to the address published on the contact page.