Rules & Etiquette and Privacy Guidelines
Your use of the list serve is taken as an agreement to follow this code and guidelines.
Our listserv is a private forum for TCDLA Members designed to facilitate candid discussions, share resources, and support one another in our common mission of criminal defense. Unauthorized disclosure of listserv content undermines the integrity of this space and compromises the effectiveness of our collective work.
Sharing any content from the listserv with non-members—whether through screenshots, forwarding emails, or other means—is strictly prohibited. Such actions violate our membership terms and may result in disciplinary measures, including suspension or revocation of access.
All listserv users are prohibited from forwarding, sharing, sending, revealing, screenshotting, or relaying in any way any materials/posts to any person not on this listserv. Violation of this policy can result in loss of listserv privileges at the discretion of the monitors and could result in a penalty of up to $2500 per violation and/or potential civil liability.
Furthermore, all listserv users are reminded to abide by the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct and in particular users shall follow Rule 1.05 of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct as it relates to privileged information. You are also required to read Opinion 673 and adhere that opinion’s guidelines related to disclosures of confidential client information.
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 those 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. Technical questions on association management issues should be directed to our helpdesk.
WARNING: You are advised that answers to queries posted on this listserv have not been verified, and therefore should not take the place of valid legal research. Attachments received have not been scanned for viruses. Please do not use the listserv to engage in any of the following: patently racist, sexist, or homophobic comments, profanity, personal conversations, personal attacks, "Thank you’ s", dirty or off-color jokes, advertisements (including other entities' seminar information, unless cleared by TCDLA staff first), and purely political rhetoric. (i.e., political issues unrelated to the law or promotion of judicial candidates). If you have a concern or issue about particular content, please contact a Listserv Committee member or TCDLA Executive Director Melissa Schank directly. Participation in the listserv is a privilege, and violation of the rules can result in suspension or removal. Play nice!
Discussion Group Etiquette
- Include a signature tag on all messages. Include your name, affiliation, location.
- 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.
- Be cognizant of Ethics Opinion 673 and do not violate Rule 1.05 of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct.
- Include only the relevant portions of the original message in your reply. Delete any header information and put your response before the original posting.
- Only send a message to the entire list when it contains information that everyone can benefit from.
- 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 to the left of every message.
- Do not send administrative messages, such as remove me from the list. Instead, use the web interface to change your settings or to remove yourself from a list. If you are changing e-mail addresses, you do not need to remove yourself from the list and rejoin under your new e-mail address. Simply change your settings.
- For non-attorney members of this listserv (such as investigators, law-students, and experts, etc.) you are agreeing by participating to follow the same rules as to non-disclosure and confidentiality of information on the listserv as attorney members. Also, the listserv is not a forum for unsolicited advertisement for your services.
Warn other listserv subscribers of lengthy messages either in the subject line or at the beginning of the message body with a line that says, "Long Message."
We urge all members to respect the confidentiality of this forum and to immediately report any suspected breaches to TCDLA.
The Legal Stuff
This site is provided as a service for the members of Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association 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 Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association or any third party; this disclaimer includes all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness. In no event shall Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association 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 Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association 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.
Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association 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 Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association we will take all appropriate action.
Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association reserves the right to terminate access to any user who does not abide by these guidelines.
Privacy Policy
We respect your privacy
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 newsfeeds.
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.