THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS (THE “USER AGREEMENT”) ARE A LEGAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU (“YOU” OR “YOUR”) AND FRONTAD MEDIA INC. (“HOSTING PROVIDER”), GOVERNING YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE LAWBENCH.COM WEBSITE (THE “WEBSITE”). YOUR ACCESS AND USE OF THE WEBSITE CONSTITUTES YOUR AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND BY THE USER AGREEMENT. PLEASE READ THE USER AGREEMENT CAREFULLY. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE USER AGREEMENT, DO NOT USE THIS WEBSITE.
1. Purpose of Website.
This Website is a service made available by Hosting Provider. The purpose of the Website is to provide a forum for individuals to connect with law firms that have registered with the Website (“Lawyers”) to receive “legal information” but not legal advice. The legal information made available through this Website is for educational purposes only, and to give general information and a general understanding of the law in the United States, not to provide specific legal advice. “Legal advice” is the application of law to an individual's specific circumstances and is expressly prohibited on the Website by Hosting Provider. Although care has been taken to provide accurate and current information, the general principles and information presented at this Website may differ depending on local, state and federal laws, regulations, court cases, and varying interpretations of such matters by the Lawyers (defined below) hereon. Because the law constantly changes and varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and is subject to varying interpretations, the reader is urged to separately consult professional legal counsel in his or her state regarding the applicability of any points of law discussed at this Website to any specific problem. This Website should not be relied upon nor used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney who has separately agreed to engage with you as a client. The Website is not targeted towards, nor intended for use by anyone under the age of 18. By using this Website, you represent and warrant that you are 18 years of age or older. If you are not at least 18 years of age, do not use, access or register for the Website. Hosting Provider reserves the right to terminate your membership in the event that it becomes aware you are under 18. Use of the content or materials for any purpose not expressly set forth or permitted in this User Agreement is prohibited.
2. Lawyers on the Website...
This Website provides a list of Lawyers who may be willing to respond to user questions. The Lawyers provide the information displayed in the Lawyer profiles and in response to user questions. Hosting Provider does not review the content of the profiles or answers that are provided by the Lawyers or any links provided to other websites. The determination of the need for legal services, the choice of a lawyer or law firm, and any reliance whatsoever upon a lawyer’s comments on this Website, are important decisions and should not be based solely upon a Lawyer's profile or presence on this Website, self-proclaimed areas of practice, or answers to your questions. Hosting Provider is not responsible for any material or information contained in the linked sites or provided by Lawyers. A description or indication of limitation of practice by a Lawyer does not mean that any agency or board has certified such lawyer as a specialist or expert in any indicated field of law, nor does it mean that such lawyer is necessarily any more expert or competent than any other lawyer. All users of the Website must make their own independent investigation and evaluation of any Lawyer they might consider hiring for professional legal advice.
3. No Legal Advice or Attorney-Client Relationship; Release.
Information contained on or made available through the Website, including but not limited to Lawyers' answers, is not intended to and does not constitute legal advice, recommendations, mediation, or counseling under any circumstance and no attorney-client relationship is formed. Nothing submitted to this Website is treated as confidential. Hosting Provider does not warrant or guarantee the validity, accuracy, completeness, adequacy, legality, quality, usefulness, or currency of the information contained in or linked to the Website. Your use of information on the Website or materials linked from the Website is entirely at your own risk. Hosting Provider is not a law firm and the Website is not a Lawyer Referral Service. Hosting Provider does not check for conflicts between you and any Lawyer, does not receive any portion of any Lawyer’s fees, and any arrangements subsequently made by you and any Lawyer are strictly between you and such party and do not involve Hosting Provider in any way. Because we are a venue, in the event that you have a dispute with one or more users of the Website, including the Lawyers, you, on behalf of yourself (and any of your officers, directors, employees, agents, predecessors, successors and assigns), hereby irrevocably, release and discharge Hosting Provider, our officers, directors, employees, attorneys, predecessors, successors, assigns and agents from, against and in respect of all past, present and future claims, rights, actions, causes of action, suits, indemnification obligations, losses, liabilities, matters, issues, cost, and expenses, of any kind or nature whatsoever, including without limitation court costs and attorneys' fees, whether known or unknown, concealed or hidden, fixed or contingent, suspected or unsuspected, in law or in equity concerning, related to, or arising out of any such disputes. To ensure that the release provided in this User Agreement is fully enforceable in accordance with its terms, you knowingly and voluntarily waive any protection that you might have in relation to the release set forth in this section by virtue of §1542 of the California Civil Code, which provides: A GENERAL RELEASE DOES NOT EXTEND TO CLAIMS WHICH THE CREDITOR DOES NOT KNOW OR SUSPECT TO EXIST IN HIS FAVOR AT THE TIME OF EXECUTING THE RELEASE, WHICH IF KNOWN BY HIM MUST HAVE MATERIALLY AFFECTED HIS SETTLEMENT WITH THE DEBTOR. In addition, you hereby knowingly and voluntarily waive any protection that may exist under any comparable or similar statutes and/or principles of common law applicable in states other than California as it pertains to the enforcement of the release in this section.
4. Limited License; Permitted Uses.
You are granted a non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license (1) to access and use the Website strictly in accordance with this User Agreement; (2) to use the Website and Lawyers' answers solely for internal, personal, non-commercial informational purposes; and (3) to print out discrete information and search results from the Website and Lawyers' answers solely for internal, personal, non-commercial purposes and provided that you maintain all copyright and other notices contained therein.
5. Restrictions and Prohibitions on Use.
Your license to access and use the Website are subject to the following restrictions and prohibitions on use. You may not (1) copy, print (except for the express limited purpose permitted by paragraph 4, above), republish, display, publicly perform, publish, transmit, distribute, sell, rent, lease, loan or otherwise make available in any form or by any means all or any portion of the Website or any information or materials retrieved therefrom; (2) use any materials from the Website to develop, or as a component of, an information storage and retrieval system, database, infobase, or similar information resource (in any media now existing or hereafter developed), that is offered for commercial distribution of any kind, including through sale, license, lease, rental, subscription, or any other commercial distribution mechanism; (3) modify, adapt, edit, create compilations or derivative works of the Lawyers' answers or any other materials from the Website; (4) use any materials from the Website in any manner that may infringe any copyright, intellectual property right, proprietary right, or property right of Hosting Provider or any third parties; (5) remove, change, or obscure any copyright notice or other proprietary notice or terms of use contained in the Website; (6) make any portion of the Website available through any timesharing system, service bureau, the Internet, or any other technology now existing or developed in the future; (7) remove, disable, defeat, or change any functionality or appearance of the Website; (8) decompile, disassemble, or reverse engineer any Website software or use any network monitoring or discovery software to determine the site architecture; (9) use any automatic or manual process to harvest information from the Website; (10) use the Website for the purpose of gathering information for or transmitting (a) unsolicited commercial email; (b) email that makes use of Hosting Provider's name or trademarks, including in connection with invalid or forged headers, invalid or nonexistent domain names, or other means of deceptive addressing; and (c) unsolicited telephone calls or facsimile transmissions; (11) use the Website in a manner that violates any state or federal law regulating commercial email, facsimile transmissions or telephone solicitations; and (12) export or re-export the Website or any portion thereof, or any software available on or through the Website, in violation of the export control laws and regulations of the United States.
6. Intellectual Property Rights.
You agree that all right, title, and interest (including all copyrights, trademarks, service marks, patents, and other intellectual property rights) in this Website and its content belong to Hosting Provider, or its licensors, as applicable. Except for the limited license contained in paragraph 4 above, nothing in this User Agreement grants or should be construed to grant any licenses or rights, by implication, estoppel or otherwise, under copyright or other intellectual property rights.
7. Policy on Unsolicited Commercial Email.
Hosting Provider does not authorize the use of the Website for purpose of gathering information for or transmitting unsolicited bulk commercial email over the Internet to Lawyers or other third parties. Internet email sent to or through Hosting Provider's computer systems or to Lawyers or other third parties containing invalid or forged headers, invalid or non-existent domain names or other deceptive addressing is deemed counterfeit; the sending or attempt to send counterfeit email to or through the Provider's computer systems is strictly prohibited. Email that is relayed to or through the Provider's computer systems from a third party's mail servers without permission of such third party, or which employs a similar device to hide the real source of the email is also strictly prohibited. Hosting Provider prohibits anyone from sending email to or through its computer systems that violates this User Agreement. Hosting Provider prohibits the harvesting of email addresses from the Website for the purpose of sending unsolicited bulk commercial email.
8. No Solicitation.
You shall not distribute on or through the Website or to any persons or entities identified via the Website any content or material containing solicitations or advertising of any kind without the express prior written permission of the Hosting Provider. Lawyers and law firms are prohibited from soliciting employment from prospective clients through the Website or any of its interactive features. In interactive forums made available through this Website, you may discuss or recommend third-party Websites, goods or services, so long as you have no financial interest in and receive no direct or indirect benefit from such Websites, products or services, or the recommendation of such. In no event may any person or entity solicit any Lawyers or create a directory of lawyers, law firms, or answers through this Website or with data retrieved from this Website.
9. Postings.
You agree not to post, publish, upload, or distribute in the interactive areas on this Website any messages, data, information, text, graphics, links, or other material ("Postings") which are intentionally, unintentionally, or may reasonably be considered to be:
- false, inaccurate or misleading;
- defamatory, libelous, abusive, hateful, racially or religiously biased or offensive, unlawfully threatening or unlawfully harassing to any individual, partnership or corporation;
- pornographic or obscene;
- infringing on any third party's copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary rights or rights of publicity or privacy;
- anything that would constitute or encourage a criminal offense;
- in violation of any local, state, federal, or international law, statute, ordinance or regulation (including, but not limited to, those governing export control, consumer protection, unfair competition, anti-discrimination or false advertising, or the regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, any rules of any securities exchange such as the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange, or the NASDAQ);
- information for which you were compensated or granted any consideration by any third party;
- information that references addresses, email addresses, contact information or phone numbers, other than your own; or
- that contains any computer viruses, worms or other potentially damaging computer programs or files.
Hosting Provider may delete your Posting or terminate your account at any time for any reason without permission from you. Participants shall not misrepresent their identity or their affiliation with any person or entity.
10. Attorney Ethics Notice.
If you are an attorney, participating in any aspect of this Website, including but not limited to, message boards, chat rooms, or emails, you acknowledge that rules of professional conduct apply to all aspects of your participation and that you will abide by such rules. The rules include, but are not limited to, the rules relating to advertising, solicitation of clients, unauthorized practice of law, and misrepresentations of fact. Hosting Provider disclaims all responsibility for your compliance with these rules. You further agree and acknowledge that when you participate in any interactive area on the Website, including but not limited to emails, chat groups, and message boards, you will provide general legal information only, and will not offer legal advice and will not solicit employment from prospective clients.
11. Copyrights - Copyright Infringement.
All content available on this Website, including site design, text, graphics, interfaces, and the selection of arrangements thereof is copyrighted by Hosting Provider, with all rights reserved, or is the property of Hosting Provider or third parties protected by intellectual property rights. Hosting Provider has registered an agent with the United States Copyright Office in accordance with the terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (the "Act") and avails itself of the protections under the Act. Hosting Provider reserves the right to remove any content or links that allegedly infringe another person's copyright. Hosting Provider will terminate, in appropriate circumstances, any subscriber or user accounts that might exist with respect to Hosting Provider's system or network who are repeat offenders of another's copyrights.
If you believe content on the Website infringes your copyright, you should send notice of copyright infringement to Hosting Provider’s Copyright Agent. Your notice must meet the requirements of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (as required under 17 U.S.C. §512) by providing the following information:
- An identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed;
- An identification of the material that you claim is infringing so that we may locate it on the site;
- Your address, telephone number and email address;
- A statement by you that you have a good-faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent or the law;
- A statement by you that the above information in your notice is accurate, made under penalty of perjury, and that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest involved; and
- Your signature.
The notice should be mailed to:
FrontAd Media Inc.
2350, Mission College Blvd.,Suite 1140
Santa Clara, CA 95054
USA
Alternatively, you can send an email to with the subject "Copyright Notices".
Upon receipt of notice as described above, Hosting Provider will take whatever action, in its sole discretion, it deems appropriate, including removal of the challenged content from the Website.
12. License of Your Content to Hosting Provider.
By uploading content to or submitting any materials for use on the Website, you grant (or warrant that the owner of such rights has expressly granted) Hosting Provider a worldwide, perpetual, royalty-free, irrevocable, transferable, non-exclusive right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, delete in its entirety, create derivative works from and/or sell and/or and distribute such materials or incorporate such materials into any form, medium, or technology now known or later developed throughout the universe without compensation to you. In addition, you warrant that all "moral rights" that you may have in those materials have been voluntarily waived by you. None of the materials shall be subject to any obligation of confidence on the part of Hosting Provider, its agents, subsidiaries, affiliates, co-brand partners or other partners and their respective directors, officers and employees. Hosting Provider reserves the right to change, condense or delete any content on the Website that Hosting Provider deems, in its sole discretion, to violate the content guidelines or any other provision of this User Agreement.
13. Linking to the Website.
You may provide links only to the homepage of this Website, provided (a) you do not remove or obscure, by framing or otherwise, advertisements, the copyright notice, or other notices on the Website, (b) you give Hosting Provider notice of such link by sending an e-mail to and (c) you discontinue providing links to this Website immediately upon request by Hosting Provider. If you wish to provide links to a section within the Website, you should forward your request to Hosting Provider at . Alternatively, you can send your request using the Contact Us form.
14. Advertisers.
This Website may contain advertising and sponsorship. Advertisers and sponsors are responsible for ensuring that material submitted for inclusion on the Website is accurate and complies with applicable laws. Hosting Provider will not be responsible for the illegality of or any error or inaccuracy in any advertiser's or sponsor's materials.
15. Registration.
Certain sections of this Website may require you to register. If registration is requested, you agree to provide Hosting Provider with accurate, complete registration information. Your registration must be done using accurate information, even if the feature permits you to post a question anonymously or interact using a screen name. It is your responsibility to inform Provider of any changes to that information by emailing . Each registration is for your personal use only, unless specifically designated otherwise on the registration page and you are responsible for preventing unauthorized use of your password. You agree not to disclose your password to any third party. You agree to take sole responsibility for any activities or actions under your password, whether or not you have authorized such activities or actions. If you believe there has been unauthorized use of your password, you must notify Hosting Provider immediately by emailing . Alternatively, you can use the Contact Us form to notify us.
16. Third-Party Content.
Third-party content may appear on this Website or may be accessible via links from this Website. Hosting Provider shall not be responsible for and assumes no liability for any mistakes, misstatements of law, defamation, omissions, falsehood, obscenity, pornography or profanity in the statements, opinions, representations or any other form of content contained in any third-party content appearing on the Website. You understand that the information and opinions in the third-party content represent solely the thoughts of the author and is neither endorsed by nor does it reflect the belief of Hosting Provider.
17. DISCLAIMER. Hosting Provider does not represent or warrant that the Website will be error-free, free of viruses or other harmful components, or that defects will be corrected. Hosting Provider does not warrant or represent that the information available on or through the Website will be correct, accurate, timely, or otherwise reliable. Hosting Provider may make improvements and/or changes to its features, functionality or content of the Website at any time. THE WEBSITE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS " BASIS. HOSTING PROVIDER EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. HOSTING PROVIDER DISCLAIMS ALL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY LOSS, INJURY, CLAIM, LIABILITY, OR DAMAGE OF ANY KIND RESULTING FROM, ARISING OUT OF OR ANY WAY RELATED TO (A) ANY ERRORS IN OR OMISSIONS FROM THIS SITE AND ITS CONTENT, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO TECHNICAL INACCURACIES AND TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS, (B) ANY THIRD PARTY WEBSITES OR CONTENT THEREIN DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY ACCESSED THROUGH LINKS IN THIS SITE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY ERRORS IN OR OMISSIONS THEREFROM, (C) THE UNAVAILABILITY OF THIS SITE OR ANY PORTION THEREOF, (D) YOUR USE OF THIS SITE, OR (E) YOUR USE OF ANY EQUIPMENT OR SOFTWARE IN CONNECTION WITH THIS SITE.
18. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY AND DAMAGES. PROVIDER SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS, INJURY, CLAIM, LIABILITY, OR DAMAGE OF ANY KIND RESULTING FROM YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE. PROVIDER SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ATTORNEYS' FEES) IN ANY WAY DUE TO, RESULTING FROM, OR ARISING IN CONNECTION WITH (A) THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE WEBSITE OR THE CONTENT; AND (B) YOUR PARTICIPATION IN CHAT ROOMS, MESSAGE BOARDS, OR EMAIL FORUMS. TO THE EXTENT THIS LIMITATION ON LIABILITY IS PROHIBITED, PROVIDER'S SOLE OBLIGATION TO YOU FOR DAMAGES SHALL BE LIMITED TO US$100.00.
19. Unlawful Activity.
Hosting Provider reserves the right to investigate complaints or reported violations of our User Agreement and to take any action we deem appropriate, including but not limited to, reporting any suspected unlawful activity to law enforcement officials, regulators, or other third parties and disclosing any information necessary or appropriate to such persons or entities relating to your profiles, e-mail addresses, usage history, posted materials, IP addresses, and traffic information.
20. Indemnification.
You are solely liable for any content, messages or other information you transmit, provide or upload to the Website. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Hosting Provider from any third party claim, action, demand, loss, or damages (including attorney's fees and costs) arising out of or relating to your violation of this User Agreement, your use of the Website, or your violation of any rights of a third party.
21. Remedies for Violations.
Hosting Provider reserves the right to seek all remedies available at law and in equity for violations of this User Agreement, including but not limited to the right to block access from a particular Internet address to the Website and its features.
22. Governing Law, Jurisdiction and Arbitration.
This User Agreement is governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California without regard to conflict of laws. Any action arising out of or relating to these terms shall be shall be settled by binding arbitration in San Jose County, California in accordance with the American Arbitration Association's commercial arbitration rules. Any such claim shall be arbitrated on an individual basis, not consolidated with another party's claim. Each of us may conduct discovery per California CCPA §1283.05 and §1283.1. Judgment on the arbitration award may be entered into any court with jurisdiction, and the arbitrator's award shall not be appealable or reviewable except as permitted by California law. However, (a) each of us may seek interim relief from a San Jose County, California court to protect the party's rights or property while arbitration is pending, and (b) at our option, we may bypass arbitration in cases of fraud or other crimes against us, interference with our technical operations or violations of our rights or property. You hereby consent and submit to the personal jurisdiction of such courts for the purpose of litigating any such action.
23. Privacy.
Your use of the Website is also subject to Hosting Provider's Privacy Policy, which you can access by clicking here: Privacy Policy.
24. Severability of Provisions.
This User Agreement incorporates by reference all notices and disclaimers contained on the Website and constitute the entire agreement between you and Hosting Provider with respect to access to and use of the Website. If any provision of this User Agreement is found unlawful, void or unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from the remaining provisions and shall not affect their validity and enforceability. The failure of either party to enforce any rights hereunder shall not constitute a waiver of any terms or conditions of this User Agreement.
25. Assignment.
You agree that this User Agreement and all agreements and information incorporated herein may be automatically assigned by Hosting Provider, in its sole discretion, to a third party. You may not assign your obligations to another entity.
26. Modifications to this User Agreement.
Hosting Provider reserves the right to amend this User Agreement at any time. Updated versions of the User Agreement will appear on this Website and are effective immediately. You are responsible for regularly reviewing the User Agreement. Continued use of the Website after any such changes constitutes your consent to such changes.
Last Updated: 1 March 2010, 12:01 AM Pacific Time