I. REGULAR & SUSTAINING NCVBA MEMBERSHIP
Membership in the National Crime Victim Bar Association (NCVBA) is limited to trial lawyers who primarily practice on behalf of injured plaintiffs. The NCVBA strongly recommends that its members also be members of the American Association for Justice and their state trial lawyer association.
II. ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP
Associate membership is available for professionals who support or advocate for victims and survivors and for attorneys who are not engaged in the civil legal representation of victims and survivors but who advocate for them through nonprofit or litigation support work. Associate members shall not have access to the Members Only section of the NCVBA website or the listserve.
III. PREREQUISITES
Members may not be engaged in the practice of insurance defense litigation in personal injury or wrongful death cases or in the defense of cases in which crime victims are plaintiffs. Attorneys who have engaged in insurance defense litigation or in the defense of cases in which crime victims are plaintiffs but have ceased to so practices are not excluded from membership by reason of their past practice.
IV. EXCLUSIONS
Attorneys who practice criminal defense that includes the defense of those charged with sexual offenses, including but not limited to sexual battery, rape, sexual assault, pedophilia, sex trafficking and/or child pornography or sexual exploitation are excluded from NCVBA membership.
Attorneys who engage in the defense of negligent security, premises security, premises liability or cases in which a sexual offense, including but not limited to cases where sexual assault is an element of the claim, and those who defend Title 9 cases or state law equivalent statutes are excluded from membership.
If the member is in a law firm where the firm handles such cases, the member must agree not to share any information gained by or through membership with any other attorney, staff or paralegal in the firm, and must not participate or assist in the handling of such cases.
Membership is personal to the individual attorney. The information obtained through or from membership, including documents (electronic or otherwise) may not be shared with any attorney who is not a member in good standing of the NCVBA.
V. PROHIBITIONS
NCVBA members are strictly prohibited from using their NCVBA membership to obtain data, strategies, experts, materials or to gain strategic or tactical advantage in any matter or case which would benefit a defendant in a civil or criminal case.
A violation of the confidentiality provisions of the NCVBA constitutes an ethical violation and may subject the member to sanctions, including expulsion from NCVBA and action by bar authorities.
VI. LISTSERVE
Policies for Participation in NCVBA Discussion Forums and List Servers
In joining the NCVBA, I understand that I will have access to a members-only listserv. I acknowledge and agree to the terms and conditions set forth below as an agreement between myself and the National Crime Victim Bar Association (NCVBA) regarding my participation in and the use of the information shared in any NCVBA List Servers and document libraries. This agreement supersedes any previous similar agreements between myself and NCVBA. I understand that the use of the List Servers is a privilege of NCVBA membership which may be revoked if I breach the terms of this agreement or if at any time it is determined that my participation on NCVBA list servers does not support NCVBA’s mission.
ENFORCEMENT
This agreement shall be enforced by the NCVBA Advisory Board or the Executive Director, both of which have the authority to suspend my access to the List Servers.
I take full personal responsibility for any actions performed using my NCVBA username and password.
USE OF INFORMATION
I have the right to make all information that I post to any List Server available to my NCVBA colleagues and accept full responsibility for any copyright infringement or any other legal actions which may be brought against NCVBA as a result of information that I post. Further, my NCVBA colleagues may use the information subject to the conditions and restrictions placed on them by the provisions below. NCVBA, or their successors may load this information into searchable databases or otherwise provide this information for fees or other consideration to NCVBA members. My name, address, and other contact information may be included in these searchable databases or other information collections.
COMMERCIAL PURPOSES
Under no circumstances will I use information obtained from NCVBA’s List Servers for commercial purposes that are not connected with the practice of law on behalf of a client or the administration and management of my law office.
I will not download information obtained from the List Servers into any other document, database, or information retrieval system except for those directly under my control and used solely to support the litigation efforts in which I am engaged or the administration and management of my law office.
I will not solicit clients through the NCVBA List Servers. I will not utilize NCVBA’s List Servers to advertise programs or activities that are not sponsored by NCVBA, AAJ or a state TLA. This includes announcements of other organizations’ CLE programs.
I will not market to List Server users for any profit-making venture. I will not offer items for sale for profit through the List Servers except in connection with the administration and management of my law office.
I will not market items for sale for charitable activities or organizations through NCVBA List Servers. I will not sell or disseminate any listings of NCVBA users to any person or entity (profit or nonprofit). I will not provide any copy, electronic or otherwise, of List Server communications or the identity of participants to any other person or entity, except to participants.
STANDARDS OF CONDUCT
I will conform to appropriate standards of conduct at all times on NCVBA’s List Servers. These standards include but are not limited to the following:
1) I will not post or respond to messages that contain obscene, offensive, inflammatory, libelous, derogatory language, and/or personal attacks.
2) I will post messages to the appropriate forum to ensure that my message reaches an audience interested in that type of message.
3) I will not exploit NCVBA’s List Servers to solicit participation of NCVBA members in non-NCVBA administered list servers or activities.
4) I will not post non-substantive replies, including messages that indicate a simple “yes/no, me too, I agree/I disagree, or thank you,” without substantive elaboration.
5) To improve clarity, I will edit replies before posting them to a List Server, including deleting all irrelevant information which add to the “noise” content of the message, such as headers, footers, security notices, and extraneous quoted material from the original message.
6) I will not post messages regarding legislative, regulatory, or other advocacy efforts that are contrary or could be deemed contrary to NCVBA’s mission or run counter to NCVBA’s strategic objectives.
RELEASING MESSAGES
I will not forward or distribute List Server messages to non-subscribers. I will not allow others to use or access my list server subscription(s). These materials are intended for the exclusive use of NCVBA members representing plaintiffs in civil actions. I will not furnish materials to a defendant, defense interest, or any other person not assisting in my case, except as required under the law. I understand that any information I send out to list server participants may be subject to disclosure in discovery and that NCVBA recommends not including anything in a list server message that would be harmful to my client’s case if obtained by opposing counsel. If the materials are requested to be produced during discovery, I am urged to oppose the discovery on relevancy and other appropriate grounds and contact NCVBA. I understand that NCVBA List Servers should not be regarded as a secure system and should not be used for anything confidential in nature.
PARALEGAL AFFILIATE USE
In addition to all other provisions in this policy, paralegal affiliates shall comply with the following to ensure that each paralegal participates under the general direction of an NCVBA attorney: When posting a message on any List Server, the paralegal’s List Server communication shall include language that the paralegal affiliate’s communication is under the general direction of the attorney, and include the paralegal’s name, address, e-mail address, and telephone number. All additional identifying information is prohibited.
An example of such a signature is as follows:
Terry Doe, paralegal
This communication is under the general direction of John Smith, the sponsoring attorney of Terry Doe
1234 Main Street
Anytown, USA
(123) 456-7890
Each paralegal affiliate shall be sponsored by an NCVBA attorney member and the sponsoring information shall be verified annually by NCVBA. Each paralegal affiliate properly sponsored by an NCVBA voting member may participate on the Discussion Forum List Server.
DEFENSE USE PROHIBITED
I am aware that any use of materials obtained from NCVBA to assist in the defense of a civil action or criminal action is explicitly prohibited, with the exception of defense on behalf of victims of crime, and any such use may expose the persons using these materials in such a manner to ethical sanctions by NCVBA and/or the appropriate state or local bar association.
I will direct all messages for NCVBA Staff requesting assistance, information, or to unsubscribe from a list to appropriate NCVBA staff rather than to the List Servers.
IDENTIFICATION
Every message that I send through the List Servers will be accompanied by information adequate to identify myself, which shall include as a minimum, my name, firm name, city, state, and e-mail address. With the posting of each message to NCVBA’s List Servers, I certify that I continue to be qualified for Attorney NCVBA membership.