Privacy policy

01In short

• What you type into the consultation form is emailed to the firm. The website doesn't keep a copy.
• If you use the chat assistant, what you type is sent to OpenAI to write the replies. The firm receives it only if you ask for a callback and tick the box to send it.
• The site doesn't sell your information, share it for advertising, or run advertising trackers.
• Google Analytics counts visits, and Cloudflare Turnstile checks that a form was sent by a person. Neither receives what you type into the form.
• Anything you send before the firm represents you may not be privileged or confidential, so keep it general.

02Who this policy covers

This policy covers the website www.schnallfamilylaw.com, published by David Schnall, PLLC (“the firm”). The firm's contact details are at the end of this page.

03What you send the firm

The free-consultation form asks for:

• your name and phone number (required);
• your email address, the kind of matter and a message (all optional);
• your confirmation that you have read the notice about the attorney-client relationship.

With it, the form sends the address of the page you sent it from. If you call or email the firm instead, it receives whatever you choose to tell it.

The firm uses this information to answer your request, arrange and prepare for your consultation, and, if it represents you, to handle your matter.

04How the form reaches the firm

When you press send, the website's server checks the request to filter out spam, then emails it to the firm's mailbox, a Google Gmail account. Nothing you typed is saved on the website's server.

To stop repeated submissions, the server keeps a scrambled, one-way code made from your IP address (not the address itself), together with the times of recent requests. It contains nothing you typed.

05Spam protection: Cloudflare Turnstile

When you start filling in the form or open the chat assistant, the page loads Cloudflare Turnstile, a check that tells people from automated spam, usually without asking you to do anything. To run it, Cloudflare receives technical information about your browser and your IP address, which it handles under Cloudflare's privacy policy (opens in a new tab). It does not receive what you type into the form or the chat. If JavaScript is off, the form still works and Turnstile isn't loaded.

06Analytics: Google Analytics

The site uses Google Analytics to count visits and see which pages help people. It loads a few seconds after a page opens, or when you first scroll or tap, and records the pages you view and general interactions such as scrolling and clicks on outside links, along with your device type and approximate location. Google Analytics doesn't log or store IP addresses.

The site also reports three things of its own:

• a tap on the phone number or email address, and where on the page it was;
• a tap on a consultation or chat button, and where on the page it was;
• a sent consultation request, with only the kind of matter chosen.

None of them includes your name, phone number, email address or message. Google signals and ad personalization are turned off. Google handles this data under Google's privacy policy (opens in a new tab), and keeps the detailed data for no longer than the retention period set in the firm's account (at most 14 months).

If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, the site doesn't load Google Analytics at all.

07The chat assistant

The “Chat with us” button opens an automated assistant. Nothing happens until you open it and send a message. It gives general information from this website's pages, not legal advice, and it can be wrong. It may ask a few optional questions (what's happening in a sentence or two, whether a court date is coming up or papers were served, and your borough or county) so it can point you to the right information; you can skip any of them.

What you type is sent to OpenAI, the company whose AI model (GPT-6 Luna) writes the replies, together with the conversation so far and the website's own published text. OpenAI uses it to write the reply. OpenAI doesn’t use data sent through its API to train its models (the firm hasn’t opted in to share it). The site asks OpenAI not to store the conversation. OpenAI keeps its abuse-monitoring logs for up to 30 days, longer only when the law requires it or to protect its services or others from harm. It handles the data under OpenAI’s privacy policy (opens in a new tab).

The website's server doesn't keep the conversation. Your browser keeps it in this tab's session storage, so it follows you from page to page, and deletes it when you close the tab. To stop abuse, the server keeps the same scrambled code made from your IP address as the form does, with the times of recent messages, and a running total of the day's usage. Your first message is checked by Cloudflare Turnstile.

The firm receives nothing from the chat unless you ask for a callback. If you do, the chat shows a short form, filled in from what you've said, for you to check and complete. Only after you tick the box and press Send are your name, phone number, email (if given), the kind of matter, borough, next court date, whether you've been served with papers, the other party's name (optional, only so the firm can check it has never represented them), your description of what's happening and the best time to call, a short summary written by the assistant and the chat conversation emailed to the firm, the same way as the form. The firm never emails you a copy or a confirmation.

Please keep what you type general: no details of abuse, evidence, or anything you wouldn't want repeated.

08Cookies and browser storage

The site itself sets no cookies. Google Analytics sets its own (named _ga and _ga_ followed by an ID), which recognize a returning browser for up to two years.

When you send the form, the site notes the kind of matter in your browser's session storage so the thank-you page can report the request to Google Analytics; the thank-you page deletes it straight away.

09What the site doesn’t do

• No advertising pixels, retargeting or social media plugins, and no chat widget from an outside service: the chat assistant is the site’s own, described above.
• No outside fonts or map services: the fonts are served from the site itself, and the maps are pictures drawn in advance. The “Directions” links open Google Maps, where Google's policy applies.
• No selling, renting or sharing of personal information for anyone's marketing.

10Who else handles your information

Only the service providers that run the site, its chat assistant and its email:

• the website's hosting provider, whose servers send the form's email and, like most web servers, keep short technical logs (IP address, browser, page requested, time) for security;
• Google, for the firm's email (Gmail) and for Google Analytics;
• OpenAI, for the chat assistant's replies;
• Cloudflare, for Turnstile.

Otherwise, the firm discloses personal information only when the law requires it.

11How long it’s kept

Consultation requests stay in the firm's email for as long as the firm needs them to respond to you and to meet its legal and professional obligations. The site keeps no chat conversations (your browser deletes its copy when you close the tab; OpenAI keeps them as described above); a callback request from the chat is kept like a form request. Analytics data is kept as described above. The hosting provider keeps its server logs for a limited time.

12Your choices

• Call (212) 371-2407 instead of using the form, and keep anything you write general.
• Block or delete cookies in your browser, turn on Global Privacy Control, or install Google's opt-out add-on (opens in a new tab).
• Ask the firm what information it holds about you, or ask it to correct or delete it, subject to its legal and professional obligations.

13Security

The site is served only over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection, and the form is checked before anything is sent. No method of sending information over the internet is completely secure, which is one more reason to keep the details of your situation for the consultation (see the disclaimer).

14Children

The site is meant for adults. It isn't directed to children under 13, and the firm doesn't knowingly collect their personal information through it.

15Changes and questions

If this policy changes, the date at the top of the page changes with it. Questions about it, or requests about your information, can go to davidschnallesq@gmail.com or (212) 371-2407.