Content Standards & No-Refund Policy

This policy applies to every paid placement submitted to The Authors’ Chamber (authors.thelawtoknow.com), including both the Authored Placement and Business Card products. It supplements, and does not replace, the general Terms of Service for TheLawToKnow, operated by Tsvety, doing business as TheLawToKnow. Every submission requires a photo of the author or business, uploaded directly at submission.

1. Content Standards

Every submission — profile, bio, article, and any sponsored link destination — must meet these minimum standards. A submission does not meet these standards if it contains, promotes, or links to:

• Hate speech or discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disability, or national origin;
• Incitement or calls to violence, or threats against any person or group;
• Harassment, defamation, or knowingly false statements about a real person or organization;
• Content that is illegal in the United States or misrepresents the submitter’s credentials, identity, or right to practice;
• Sexually explicit material;
• Plagiarized content or material that infringes another party’s copyright or trademark; or
• Spam, malware, or deceptive practices, including a sponsored-link destination that is unrelated to, or misrepresents, the submitter’s stated profile or practice.

2. Publication Standards (Authored Placement)

An article submitted for the Authored Placement product must also meet these minimum standards to be approved:

• Genuinely legal content — an academic or practical legal issue of real importance and relevance;
• Professionally written, in clear and correct English;
• Factually correct and current — not outdated law or superseded authority;
• At least approximately 3,000 words;
• Original work reflecting the author’s own research, analysis, and rigor — AI tools may assist with drafting or editing, but the article may not be generated by AI alone, without substantive human authorship;
• Not plagiarized, and not previously published elsewhere in substantially the same form; and
• Submitted as plain text. Tables, images, and other rich formatting do not survive submission and will be rejected if they render as garbled or unreadable text.

A submitter may write about any legal topic and take any position — these standards are about quality, originality, and relevance, not viewpoint.

3. Reputational Discretion

Separately from Sections 1 and 2, TheLawToKnow may also decline to publish, or remove after publication, a submission that does not violate either section but that, in TheLawToKnow’s sole judgment, could reasonably harm the reputation or public standing of TheLawToKnow as the publisher and public presenter of that submission’s content. This is a separate, broader discretion and does not require an actual Section 1 or 2 violation to apply.

4. Right to Resubmit

If a submission is declined or removed solely under Section 3 — and does not also violate Section 1 or 2 — the submitter may resubmit one replacement article or profile that meets these standards, to be published in the original submission’s place, at no additional charge. This right to resubmit does not apply where a submission is declined or removed for violating Section 1 or 2; see Section 5.

5. No-Refund Policy

The placement price is only ever collected once a submission has already met Sections 1 and 2 — see Section 6 — which makes a post-payment decline for violating those sections rare. Should one occur — for example, a violation discovered only after publication — payment for that placement is non-refundable. This is separate from, and in addition to, the general final-sale policy in Section 5 of the Terms of Service: it applies specifically because the submitter’s own content violated these standards, not because of any failure of the Service itself. A decline or removal under Section 1 or 2 does not entitle the submitter to a refund, a credit, or the resubmission right described in Section 4.

A decline or removal made solely under Section 3 does not forfeit payment — the resubmission right in Section 4 applies instead.

The $2 submission review fee described in Section 6 is separately non-refundable, regardless of the review outcome, including a decline under Sections 1 or 2 and a Section 3 decline that carries the resubmission right above — that right covers the placement price, not the review fee itself.

This policy exists because TheLawToKnow, as publisher, can be held responsible for content it publishes. Reviewing and, where necessary, declining or removing a submission is how that responsibility is met — payment retained under this section compensates for that review and for the risk the submission would otherwise have created, not as a penalty.

6. Review Process & Submission Fee

Submitting requires a $2 review fee, paid at the time of submission. This fee confirms a genuine submission and deters spam. If the submission is later approved, the $2 counts toward the placement price shown at submission — you only pay the remaining balance to publish. The fee itself is always non-refundable, whatever the review outcome; see Section 5.

Every submission is then reviewed by hand. A submission that meets Sections 1 and 2 is approved, and the submitter is sent a link to pay the remaining placement price; publication follows immediately once that payment clears. A submission that does not meet these standards is declined, and no further payment beyond the review fee is ever requested for it. TheLawToKnow retains sole discretion under Sections 1, 2, and 3 to decline, edit, or remove any submission, whether that determination is made before publication or afterward, including in response to a complaint from a reader or a third party.

7. Contact

Questions about this policy, or a complaint about a published submission, can be sent to support@thelawtoknow.com.