Legal Hotline publishes legal information for five countries — Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand. People read these pages at stressful moments and act on what they learn, so we hold the content to a simple standard: researched from primary sources, specific to the reader's jurisdiction, dated, and honest about what it is and is not. This page explains how the content is produced, checked and maintained — and how to tell us when something needs fixing.
Free legal information. Not legal advice. Available 24/7.
Our pages are researched from primary sources: the legislation itself, the courts and tribunals, government guidance, and official legal-aid and regulator publications. Where a page states a figure — a time limit, a fee, a penalty range, a threshold — that figure is taken from a primary source, and the key sources are listed at the end of the page in a "Sources & further reading" section so you can check them yourself.
Legal Hotline is built by Platfirm AI. We use advanced AI research and drafting tools to help produce our content — the same class of technology that answers our phone lines — working from the primary sources above. Drafts are checked for accuracy against those sources before publication, and every substantive page shows the date it was last updated. We correct errors when we find them or when readers report them, and we review pages when the law changes rather than leaving stale figures standing.
Law is local. The United Kingdom alone contains three legal systems — England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland — and Australia, the United States and Canada vary by state, territory and province. Our pages say which jurisdiction they cover, and where a rule differs inside a country, the page says so rather than papering over the difference.
Everything on this site is general legal information: how the law and the courts work, in plain English. It is not legal advice about your specific situation, reading it does not create a lawyer-client relationship, and Legal Hotline is not a law firm. Where your situation needs advice, the right step is a consultation with a qualified lawyer in your jurisdiction — which you can book through our service for a fixed fee, or arrange anywhere else you choose. Some areas, such as immigration advice in the United Kingdom, are legally restricted to regulated advisers — our pages in those areas explain the law generally and point you to the regulated help.
If you spot something out of date or wrong, tell us at admin@platfirm.ai. Corrections are made to the page itself and the "last updated" date reflects the change.
Legal Hotline is operated by Platfirm AI Pty Ltd (ABN 24 679 859 744). Cabrank Legal Hotline is a registered business name of Platfirm AI Pty Ltd. You can read more about the service here.
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Free legal information. Not legal advice.