Terms of use

These terms apply to bench-watch.org, published by By Racheal Blackmore LLC. By using the site you agree to them.

Journalism, not legal advice

Bench Watch reports on court proceedings for general information. Nothing on this site is legal advice, and reading it or contacting us doesn't create a lawyer-client relationship. Court records and proceedings change; check the official record and consult a lawyer before relying on anything here.

Our content

We or our contributors own the stories, case summaries, graphics and other original material on Bench Watch, and copyright protects them. You may share links and quote brief excerpts with credit and a link to the original. Republishing whole stories requires our permission. Court documents and government works we link to are public records and are not ours.

How we use AI tools

We use AI tools to help us research, transcribe court video, draft and check our work, and build this site. Before anything is published, every fact, quote and date is checked against the court record and the sources we cite. We never use AI to create images, video or audio of real people or events. If you find a mistake, email corrections@bench-watch.org and we'll fix it.

Your submissions

If you send us tips, documents or other material, you confirm you have the right to share it. You allow us to use it in our reporting, subject to any confidentiality we agree to in writing.

Copyright complaints

If you believe material on Bench Watch infringes your copyright, send a notice under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to our designated agent at legal@bench-watch.org or 3003 East Michigan Avenue, Suite 1018, Lansing, MI 48912. Include the work you believe was infringed, the page where it appears, your contact information, a statement that you believe in good faith the use is not authorized, and a statement under penalty of perjury that your notice is accurate and you are authorized to act. We respond promptly and remove infringing material from repeat infringers.

Acceptable use

Do not use the site to break the law, harass anyone, or disrupt the site. Automated access must respect our robots.txt file and must not overload the site.

Disclaimers

We work hard to be accurate and correct errors under our corrections policy. The site is otherwise provided “as is,” without warranties. To the extent the law allows, we are not liable for indirect or consequential damages from your use of the site.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of Michigan, without regard to conflict-of-law rules.

Changes

We may update these terms. The date at the top of this page shows the latest version.