Legal

Terms of Service

Last updated August 2026

Plain-language summary

This is an informational website, not a service you pay for or log into. Use it to learn, don't misuse it, don't rely on it in place of an actual lawyer or your state's bar authority, and understand that we're not liable if something here turns out to be outdated. The full terms below explain this in more legally precise language.

1. Acceptance of these terms

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the Reading the Law website, located at readingthelaw.org (the "Site"), operated by Reading the Law ("we," "us," or "our"). By accessing or using the Site, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you don't agree to them, please don't use the Site.

2. What this Site is

The Site provides general educational information about legal apprenticeship ("reading the law" or "law office study") programs in the United States, including state-by-state program summaries, a FAQ, and planning resources. We're also building a future matchmaking feature intended to connect aspiring apprentices with attorneys and judges open to sponsoring one; where that feature isn't yet live, any related page describes it as a work in progress and links out to a third-party waitlist form. The Site displays third-party advertising served by Google AdSense to help support hosting and development; see our Privacy Policy for how that works.

3. Not legal advice, no attorney-client relationship

Nothing on this Site is legal advice, and using the Site doesn't create an attorney-client relationship between you and us or anyone associated with the Site. Bar admission rules change and vary by jurisdiction. Always confirm current requirements directly with the official bar admissions authority in the state where you intend to practice before making decisions. See our full Legal Disclaimer for more detail.

4. Eligibility

You may use the Site only if you're legally able to form a binding contract in your jurisdiction and aren't barred from receiving services under the laws of any applicable jurisdiction. The Site isn't directed at children, and we don't knowingly collect information from anyone under 13.

5. Acceptable use

When using the Site, you agree not to:

  • Use the Site for any unlawful purpose or in violation of these Terms.
  • Scrape, crawl, or harvest content from the Site at a scale or in a manner that degrades the Site for other users, except as permitted by robots.txt or with our prior written consent.
  • Attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Site, its underlying infrastructure, or any connected systems.
  • Interfere with or disrupt the Site's operation, including by introducing malware or attempting a denial-of-service attack.
  • Misrepresent your identity or affiliation, or impersonate any person or entity, in connection with the Site.
  • Use any waitlist, contact form, or contact address linked from the Site to send spam or unsolicited commercial communications.

6. Intellectual property

The text, design, graphics, and other original content on the Site are owned by us or our licensors and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to view and use the Site for your own personal, non-commercial, informational purposes. You may not reproduce, redistribute, publicly display, or create derivative works from Site content for commercial purposes without our prior written permission. This license doesn't extend to the names, rules, or content of any third-party governing body we reference or link to, such as a state bar or board of bar examiners; those remain the property of their respective owners.

7. Third-party links and services

The Site links to third-party websites and services we don't control, including official state bar and court websites, and a third-party waitlist form (currently hosted on Google Forms) for our planned matchmaking platform. We aren't responsible for the content, accuracy, availability, or privacy practices of any third-party site or service. Your use of any third-party site or service is governed by that third party's own terms and privacy policy, not ours. See our Privacy Policy for more on how third-party services handle information submitted through the Site.

8. No warranty

The Site and all content on it are provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, or accuracy. We don't warrant that the Site will be uninterrupted, error-free, or secure, or that information on the Site is complete, current, or free of mistakes.

9. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we and our contributors won't be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of profits, data, goodwill, or other intangible losses, arising out of or relating to your access to or use of, or inability to access or use, the Site, even if we've been advised of the possibility of such damages. Some jurisdictions don't allow certain limitations on liability, so some of the above limitations may not apply to you.

10. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of your violation of these Terms or your misuse of the Site.

11. Changes to the Site or these Terms

We may modify, suspend, or discontinue the Site, or any part of it, at any time without notice. We may also update these Terms from time to time; the "Last updated" date at the top of this page reflects the most recent revision. Continuing to use the Site after changes take effect means you accept the updated Terms.

12. Termination

We may restrict, suspend, or terminate your access to the Site at any time, for any reason, including if we believe you've violated these Terms.

13. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws applicable to the operator of this Site, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. (Site operator's note: this section is a placeholder. Fill in a specific governing-law and venue clause, appropriate to where you're based, before relying on this page for a live business.)

14. Severability and entire agreement

If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect. These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and Legal Disclaimer, make up the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Site.

15. Contact

Questions about these Terms can be sent to [email protected].