The Valorem Law Group has created the best disclaimer I’ve ever seen on a law firm’s website. Check it out:

(Normally we would put this in really small print, but several leading eye physicians have advised us to stick to larger fonts).

We’re lawyers. Although we assume that everyone will understand that the information on this site is intended to make you want to call and hire us immediately, we see that big firms have these fancy disclaimers and we sure like tugging on their capes…. So here goes:

1. The information on this site (and in the blog) is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship. Frankly, you don’t want it to do so either. Since the site can be viewed by any person on the planet, claiming that we have an attorney client relationship as a result of this site would lead to an immediate claim that you’ve waived the privilege. If you’re crazy enough to want that outcome, we don’t want to be your law firm. Even if you contact us through the site or post a comment to the blog, that does not give rise to an attorney-client relationship either. Don’t you feel better now?

2. Don’t send us any confidential information until we expressly agree that we have any attorney-client relationship with you. After all, we might have a conflict of interest (given our size, that is pretty unlikely, but you never know for sure). So be smart and safe and keep it confidential until we say it’s okay to send stuff to us.

3. The sites that we link to via hyperlinks are not under our control. Those sites are responsible for the content of those sites. The sun, the moon and the rotation of the Earth are not under our control either. We’re working on it, but don’t hold your breath, and don’t try to make us responsible for other sites, bad weather, global warming or any malady that befalls you. If you try, we may have to send our crack in-house security team to visit you.

4. We are normal people, which means we don’t do tax law. Nothing in the site refers to or mentions tax law. If you have a tax question, you’re in the wrong place. Find a tax lawyer. Preferably one with a personality. Again, don’t hold your breath.

5. The world is an ever-changing place, which means that content can become outdated quickly. While we hope to avoid having outdated material on our site, we can’t guarantee that everything is timely, so don’t rely on the timeliness or accuracy of the information on the site. (Only a lawyer would put out information to impress you and then say “don’t rely on it.” And while we don’t want to come across like other lawyers, we don’t want to have to update our website every night either.)

So there it is. We’ve done the lawyerly thing. Aren’t you glad we got that out of the way. Now back to the revolutionizing of the practice of law.