This page explains how TortRule researches, writes, checks and updates every article. Our goal is simple: never publish a case, deadline or dollar amount we cannot back up.
1. Sources we use
We build each article from primary sources first:
- Court records: dockets, complaints, orders and approved settlement agreements, including Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) records.
- Official settlement administrator websites named in court-approved notices.
- Government agencies: FDA recall and safety notices, the Department of Justice, the FTC, state attorneys general and state workers’ compensation boards.
- Company statements and SEC filings, labeled as the company’s own position.
News reports help us find stories, but we confirm key facts against the underlying record before we publish them.
2. What we will not publish
- Settlement amounts, per-person payouts or deadlines that no court or official administrator has announced.
- Claim forms or sign-up links that do not come from the official settlement website.
- Medical claims about what a drug or product causes beyond what courts, regulators or peer-reviewed findings state.
- Rumors presented as fact. When something is reported but unconfirmed, we label it that way.
3. Lawsuit vs. settlement
A lawsuit being filed does not mean anyone will be paid. Every article states the current stage clearly: filed, consolidated, in trial, settled, approved or paying out. If no settlement exists, we say so at the top of the page.
4. Fact-checking
Before an article goes live, a second review checks every case name, court, date, amount and deadline against its source. Anything that cannot be confirmed is removed or clearly marked as unverified.
5. Updates and dates
Lawsuits change often. Each article carries a dated “Latest update” note and a short record of what changed. We review our most-read pages on a regular schedule and update them when courts or administrators post new information.
6. Independence
TortRule is not a law firm and does not refer readers to lawyers in exchange for payment. We may show advertising to keep the site free. Advertisers do not decide what we cover or what we say.
7. Corrections
If we get something wrong, we fix it and note the change on the page. See our Corrections page to report an error.