How guides are written.
House Legal is a library of published legal guides. Every reader sees the same guide. Nothing on the site is written for a particular person.
What a guide contains
Each guide follows the same structure: a short introduction, a quick summary, a plain-English explanation, key terms, how the law works, clearly labelled hypothetical examples, common questions with general answers, important distinctions, the primary sources relied on, related guides, the jurisdiction covered, and the date it was last updated.
Sources
Guides cite primary authority (statutes, regulations, court rules, cases, and official agency guidance) and link to official or widely used free copies where possible. Secondary sources, such as restatements, are labelled separately. The Sources page lists every source cited in the library.
Jurisdiction
Every guide states the jurisdiction it covers, such as U.S. federal law, a single state, or several countries in general terms. Law can differ materially between places, and a guide is not a statement of the law everywhere.
How guides are produced, and their review status
House Legal’s editorial process uses AI assistance to draft and organize guides. Each guide shows its editorial status. Guides marked “Not yet reviewed by a licensed attorney” have not been checked by a lawyer and may contain errors; guides reviewed by a licensed attorney name the reviewer. Each guide also shows when it was last updated, and saved-guide alerts tell readers when a guide changes.
What search does
Search matches the words you type against the text of published guides using a fixed index and returns the closest guides. It does not use AI, does not compose an answer, and does not interpret or store what you type. If you describe a situation in the search box, it is treated only as a list of words to look up.
What House Legal does not do
- It does not answer individual legal questions or analyze anyone’s facts or documents.
- It does not recommend what anyone should do, assess whether anyone has a claim, or predict outcomes.
- It is not a law firm, does not represent anyone, and does not create an attorney-client relationship.
For advice about a specific situation, consult a licensed attorney. Legal aid organizations, court self-help centers, and state bar lawyer referral services can help people find one. The guide Finding a public defender or free legal help explains the options.
Corrections
If you find an error or an outdated statement in a guide, email staff@houselegal.org with the guide’s address. Please don’t include details of your own legal matter; we can’t respond to individual questions.