Cookie Policy
Last updated: February 2026
1. What Are Cookies
Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites work more efficiently, provide a better user experience, and supply information to the owners of the site. Cookies can be "persistent" (remaining on your device until they expire or are deleted) or "session" cookies (deleted when you close your browser).
2. How We Use Cookies
FederalLawyer.com uses cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
- Essential Cookies: These cookies are necessary for the website to function properly. They enable core functionality such as security, session management, and authentication. You cannot opt out of essential cookies as the site cannot function without them.
- Authentication Cookies: We use session cookies to keep you logged in while you browse the site. These cookies store your authentication state so you don't need to log in on every page.
- Analytics Cookies: We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors interact with our website. These cookies collect information about page views, time spent on pages, and navigation patterns. This data helps us improve the site's content and user experience. Google Analytics cookies include: _ga, _ga_*, _gid, and _gat.
- Preference Cookies: These cookies remember your preferences and settings, such as your preferred theme (light/dark mode), search filters, and language preferences.
- Advertising Attribution Cookies: When you click on a sponsored listing or display advertisement, we store attribution data in your browser's session storage to track the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. This data is used to provide advertisers with aggregated performance metrics and does not contain personally identifiable information.
- Payment Processing Cookies: When you make a purchase (premium listing, CLE class, etc.), Stripe, our payment processor, may set cookies necessary to process the transaction securely.
3. Third-Party Cookies
In addition to our own cookies, we may also use various third-party cookies to report usage statistics of the site and deliver advertisements on and through the site. Third parties that may set cookies on our site include:
- Google Analytics: Web analytics service that tracks and reports website traffic
- Google Search Console: Webmaster tools for monitoring site performance in search results
- Stripe: Payment processing for premium listings, CLE purchases, and advertising
- Mux: Video streaming infrastructure for live streams and CLE content
4. Session Storage and Local Storage
In addition to cookies, we use browser session storage and local storage for certain functionality:
- Ad Attribution: When you click on a sponsored ad, we store the ad identifier and click ID in session storage to attribute subsequent actions (such as contacting a lawyer) to the ad campaign. This data is automatically cleared when you close your browser tab.
- Theme Preference: Your light/dark mode preference is stored in local storage so it persists across visits.
- Search History: Recent search queries may be stored locally to improve your search experience.
5. Managing Cookies
Most web browsers allow you to control cookies through their settings. You can typically find these settings in the "Options" or "Preferences" menu of your browser. You can set your browser to refuse all cookies, accept only first-party cookies, or delete cookies when you close your browser.
Please note that if you disable or refuse cookies, some parts of FederalLawyer.com may become inaccessible or not function properly. Essential cookies cannot be disabled as they are required for the site to operate.
To opt out of Google Analytics tracking, you can install the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
6. Cookie Retention Periods
| Cookie Type | Duration | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Session Cookie | Browser session | Authentication |
| _ga | 2 years | Google Analytics user distinction |
| _gid | 24 hours | Google Analytics user distinction |
| _gat | 1 minute | Google Analytics request throttling |
| Theme preference | Persistent | UI preference (local storage) |
| Ad attribution | Browser session | Advertising conversion tracking |
7. Updates to This Policy
We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. We encourage you to review this page periodically for the latest information on our cookie practices.
8. Contact Us
If you have any questions about our use of cookies, please contact us through our Contact page.