CALIFORNIA COUNSEL GROUP, INC. WEBSITE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE
Last Updated: January 24, 2010
IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE CAREFULLY BEFORE ACCESSING THIS WEBSITE.
These Terms and Conditions of Use create a binding legal agreement between you and California Counsel Group, Inc. (“California Counsel Group,” “us” or “we”), which governs the terms and conditions that apply to your use of this website (this “Website”). BY USING THIS WEBSITE, YOU AGREE TO THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE AS SET FORTH BELOW. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO ALL OF THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE, PLEASE EXIT THIS WEBSITE.
California Counsel Group may modify this Website and the rules and regulations governing its use at any time and without notice, simply by posting a change, update or modification on this Website. Any such change, update or modification will be effective immediately upon posting on this Website. Your continued use of this Website after any such change, update or modification is made deems your acceptance of such change, update or modification.
1. Binding Effect. By accessing this Website, located at http://www.calcounselgroup.com, or by using any services provided in connection with this Website (the “Services”), you agree to abide by these Terms and Conditions of Use, as such Terms and Conditions of Use may be amended by California Counsel Group from time to time in its sole discretion. California Counsel Group will post a notice on this Website at any time that these Terms and Conditions of Use have been changed or otherwise updated. It is your responsibility to review these Terms and Conditions of Use periodically; and, if at any time you find that these Terms and Conditions of Use are unacceptable, you must immediately leave this Website and cease all use of the Services and this Website. YOU AGREE THAT, BY ACCESSING THIS WEBSITE AND/OR BY USING THE SERVICES, YOU REPRESENT THAT YOU ARE AT LEAST EIGHTEEN (18) YEARS OLD AND THAT YOU ARE LEGALLY ABLE TO ENTER INTO THIS AGREEMENT.
2. Notice Concerning Children. This Website is a general audience website, and we do not direct any of our content specifically at children who are under thirteen (13) years of age. We understand and are committed to respecting the sensitive nature of children’s privacy online. If we learn or have reason to suspect that a Website user is under age thirteen (13), we will promptly delete any personal information in that user’s profile.
3. No Legal Advice. The information contained in this Website is made available for general informational purposes only, and is not intended to constitute specific legal advice or to be a substitute for advice from qualified counsel. Without limiting the foregoing, the information contained in this Website may not reflect the most current legal developments. Accordingly, the information found on this Website is not promised or guaranteed to be correct or complete, and it may not be accurate in, or applicable to, your jurisdiction. Because the information is general in nature, it may not pertain to your specific circumstances, and you should not act or refrain from acting based on any of the information provided in this Website without first obtaining advice from professional counsel qualified in the applicable subject matter and jurisdictions. California Counsel Group expressly disclaims all liability in respect to actions taken or not taken based on any or all of the contents of this Website.
4. No Attorney-Client Relationship. California Counsel Group accepts clients only in accordance with certain formal procedures, and renders legal advice only after completion of those procedures. Such procedures include, among other things, executing an engagement letter and addressing professional responsibility conflicts as required by the California Bar Association. You agree that your (a) access to this Website, (b) use of the Services, (c) receipt of the information contained on this Website or (d) your transmission of electronic mail to addresses found on this Website, does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and California Counsel Group.
5. Other Matters of Professional Responsibility.
5.1 No Advertising or Solicitation. This Website is not intended to be an advertisement or solicitation, but it may be deemed an advertisement in certain jurisdictions.
5.2 Sensitive Communications. You agree that electronic mail sent by you to California Counsel Group will not be treated as confidential or invoke an attorney-client privilege; provided, however, that if you are an existing client of California Counsel Group and you send electronic mail to California Counsel Group pertaining to a matter in which California Counsel Group then represents you, such electronic mail may be entitled to be treated as confidential or privileged. Notwithstanding the foregoing, you acknowledge that electronic mail and the Internet are generally insecure media of communication, and California Counsel Group cannot guarantee the confidentiality of any electronic mail sent to or received by California Counsel Group, or of any information submitted by you to California Counsel Group through this Website.
5.3 Authorized Jurisdictions. California Counsel Group does not seek to represent anyone desiring representation based upon accessing this Website in a jurisdiction where this Website fails to comply with applicable laws and ethical rules of that jurisdiction. In addition, our attorneys do not seek to practice law in any jurisdiction in which they are not properly authorized to do so.
5.4 Principal Office; Responsible Attorney. To the extent that the requirements of the Bar Association in your jurisdiction require such designation, California Counsel Group’s principal office is located in San Diego, California. California Counsel Group’s responsible attorney for this Website is Carlos D. Heredia.
5.5 No Warranty of Results. This Website may contain descriptions of matters in which California Counsel Group successfully represented its clients. The results of these matters were dependent on their specific circumstances, and are in no way intended to be predictive of future results, even in similar circumstances, or offer any type of guarantee or assurance of outcome. Information pertaining to California Counsel Group clients may not reflect the opinions of such clients.
6. Privacy Policy. California Counsel Group respects your privacy and, to the extent practicable, permits you to control the treatment of your personal information. A complete statement of California Counsel Group’s current Privacy Policy can be found by clicking here. California Counsel Group’s Privacy Policy is expressly incorporated into these Terms and Conditions of Use by this reference.
When you elect to open an account to use or access certain features of this Website or the Services, you must complete the account registration process by providing the complete and accurate information requested on the registration form. You may be asked to provide a user name and password. You are entirely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password. You may not use the account, username or password of someone else at any time. You agree to notify California Counsel Group immediately upon any unauthorized use of your account, user name or password. California Counsel Group shall not be liable for any loss that you incur as a result of someone else using your password, either with or without your knowledge. You may be held liable for any losses incurred by California Counsel Group, its affiliates, partners, officers, directors, employees, consultants, agents and representatives due to someone else’s use of your account or password.
7. California Counsel Group’s Proprietary Rights. You acknowledge and agree that this Website, the Services and the materials accessed through this Website are and shall remain the property of California Counsel Group and/or its licensors, and are protected by copyright, trademark and/or other proprietary rights and laws. Except as expressly authorized in advance by California Counsel Group, you agree not to copy, distribute, transmit, display, perform or create derivative works of this Website or any of the materials accessed through this Website, provided that, subject to your compliance with these Terms and Conditions of Use, California Counsel Group grants to you a limited, personal, revocable, non-transferable and non-sublicensable license to (a) access this Website and the materials available therein via the Internet solely for purposes of viewing such materials and (b) download or print out pages of this Website for your personal, non-commercial use.
Trade names, trademarks and service marks of California Counsel Group or its affiliates include, without limitation, "California Counsel Group," "CCG," “calcounselgroup.com” and any associated logos. All trade names, trademarks and service marks on this Website that are not owned by California Counsel Group or its affiliates are the property of their respective owners. The trade names, trademarks and service marks owned by California Counsel Group or its affiliates, whether registered or unregistered, may not be used in connection with any product or service that is not a product or service of California Counsel Group or one of its affiliates, or in any other manner that is likely to cause confusion or dilution. Nothing on this Website should be construed as granting, by implication, estoppel or otherwise, any right or license to use any trade names, trademarks or service marks of California Counsel Group or its affiliates without prior express written permission of California Counsel Group or its relevant affiliates.
8. User Content. You grant to California Counsel Group a license to use the materials that you post to this Website or the Services. By posting, downloading, displaying, performing, transmitting or otherwise distributing information or other content (“User Content”) to this Website or the Services, you are granting to California Counsel Group, its affiliates, officers, directors, employees, consultants, agents and representatives the irrevocable right to use, copy, modify, publish, perform, transmit, display, reproduce, edit, translate and reformat such User Content via any media in accordance with California Counsel Group’s Privacy Policy, and you waive any moral rights that you may have in such User Content. Subject to California Counsel Group’s Privacy Policy, California Counsel Group shall be free to use User Content, including any ideas, concepts, know-how or techniques contained in such User Content, for any reason whatsoever. You will not be compensated for any User Content. You agree that California Counsel Group may publish or otherwise disclose your name in connection with your User Content. By posting such User Content on this Website or the Services, you warrant and represent that you own the rights to such User Content, or are otherwise authorized to post, distribute, display, perform or transmit User Content.
9. Compliance with Intellectual Property Laws. When accessing this Website or using the Services, you agree to obey the law and to respect the intellectual property rights of others. Your use of this Website and the Services is at all times governed by and subject to laws regarding copyright ownership and use of intellectual property. You agree not to upload, download, display, perform, transmit or otherwise distribute any information or content (collectively, “Content”) in violation of any third-party’s copyrights, trademarks or other intellectual property or proprietary rights. You agree to abide by laws regarding copyright ownership and use of intellectual property, and you shall be solely responsible for any violations of any relevant laws and for any infringements of third-party rights caused by any Content that you provide or transmit, or that is provided or transmitted using your User ID. The burden of proving that any Content does not violate any laws or third-party rights rests solely with you.
10. Inappropriate Content. You agree not to upload, download, display, perform, transmit or otherwise distribute or make available any Content that: (a) is libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, abusive or threatening; (b) advocates or encourages conduct that could constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability or otherwise violate any applicable local, state, national or foreign law or regulation; or (c) advertises or otherwise solicits funds or that is a solicitation for goods or services. California Counsel Group reserves the right to terminate your receipt, transmission or other distribution of any such Content using the Services, and, if applicable, to delete any such Content from its servers. California Counsel Group intends to cooperate fully with any law enforcement officials or agencies in the investigation of any violation of these Terms and Conditions of Use or of any applicable laws.
11. Copyright Infringement. California Counsel Group has in place certain legally mandated procedures regarding allegations of copyright infringement occurring on this Website or with the Services. California Counsel Group has adopted a policy that provides for the immediate suspension and/or termination of any Website user or user of the Services who is found to have infringed on the rights of California Counsel Group or of a third-party, or otherwise violated any intellectual property laws or regulations. California Counsel Group’s policy is to investigate any allegations of copyright infringement brought to its attention. If you have evidence, know, or have a good faith belief that your rights or the rights of a third-party have been violated, and you want California Counsel Group to delete, edit or disable the material in question, you must provide California Counsel Group with proper notification of the alleged violation(s). Such notification must contain all of the following information: (a) a physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the exclusive right that is allegedly infringed; (b) identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works; (c) identification of the material that is claimed to be infringed or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed, or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit California Counsel Group to locate the material; (d) information reasonably sufficient to permit California Counsel Group to contact you, such as an address, telephone number and if available, an electronic mail address at which you may be contacted; (e) a statement that you have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent or the law; and (f) a statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed. For such notification to be effective, it must be received by California Counsel Group at the following address:
California Counsel Group, Inc.
2468 Historic Decatur Road, Suite 130
San Diego, CA 92106
Attention: Corporate Secretary
12. Alleged Violations. California Counsel Group reserves the right to terminate your use of this Website and/or the Services at any time in its sole discretion. To ensure that California Counsel Group provides a high quality experience for you and for other users of this Website and the Services, you agree that California Counsel Group or its representatives may access your account and records on a case-by-case basis to investigate complaints or allegations of abuse, infringement of third-party rights or other unauthorized uses of this Website or the Services. California Counsel Group does not intend to disclose the existence or occurrence of such an investigation unless required by law, but California Counsel Group reserves the right to terminate your account or your access to this Website immediately, with or without notice to you, and without liability to you, if California Counsel Group believes that you: (a) have violated any of the Terms and Conditions of Use; (b) furnished California Counsel Group with false or misleading information; or (c) interfered with the use of this Website or the Services by others.
13. NO WARRANTIES. CALIFORNIA COUNSEL GROUP HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES. THIS WEBSITE IS PROVIDED TO YOU “AS IS.” YOUR ACCESS AND USE OF THIS WEBSITE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY THE LAWS AND RULES OF PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE APPLICABLE JURISDICTION, CALIFORNIA COUNSEL GROUP DISCLAIMS ALL CONDITIONS, REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, ACCURACY OF INFORMATIONAL CONTENT, SYSTEM INTEGRATION, NON-INFRINGEMENT OF THIRD-PARTY RIGHTS, QUIET ENJOYMENT AND UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE OPERATION.
14. LIMITED LIABILITY. CALIFORNIA COUNSEL GROUP’S LIABILITY TO YOU IS LIMITED. TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY THE LAWS AND RULES OF PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE APPLICABLE JURISDICTION, CALIFORNIA COUNSEL GROUP DISCLAIMS LIABILITY FOR ANY LOST PROFITS OR INCOME, LOST BUSINESS, LOST DATA OR FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE, SPECIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES ARISING FROM OR RELATING TO THIS WEBSITE. THIS LIMITATION SHALL APPLY REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE DAMAGES ARISE OUT OF BREACH OF CONTRACT, TORT OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY OR FORM OF ACTION.
15. Affiliated Websites and Links. California Counsel Group has no control over, and no liability for any third-party websites or materials. From time to time, California Counsel Group may work with a number of partners and/or affiliates whose Internet websites may be linked with this Website. Because neither California Counsel Group nor this Website has control over the content and performance of these third-party websites, California Counsel Group makes no guarantees about the accuracy, currency, content or quality of the information provided by such websites, and California Counsel Group assumes no responsibility for unintended, objectionable, inaccurate, misleading or unlawful content that may reside on those websites. Similarly, from time to time, in connection with your use of this Website, you may have access to content items (including, but not limited to, other websites) that are owned by third parties. You acknowledge and agree that California Counsel Group makes no guarantees about, and assumes no responsibility for, the accuracy, currency, content or quality of this third-party content, and that, unless expressly provided otherwise, these Terms and Conditions of Use shall govern your use of any and all third-party content. Unless otherwise set forth in a written agreement between you and California Counsel Group, you must adhere to California Counsel Group’s linking policy, which is as follows: (i) any link to this Website must be a text only link clearly marked “California Counsel Group Website;” (ii) the appearance, position and other aspects of the link may not be such as to damage or dilute the goodwill associated with California Counsel Group’s names and trademarks; (iii) the link must “point” to http://www.calcounselgroup.com and not to other pages within this Website; (iv) the appearance, position and other attributes of the link may not create the false appearance that your organization or entity is sponsored by, affiliated with, or associated with California Counsel Group; (v) when selected by a user, the link must display this Website on full-screen and not within a “frame” on the linking website; and (vi) California Counsel Group reserves the right to revoke its consent to the link at any time and in its sole discretion.
16. Electronic Mail. Subject to Section 5.2 of these Terms and Conditions of Use, you may send electronic mail to those addresses made available on this Website for the purposes of: (a) requesting alerts or other news notification services; (b) submitting voluntary survey responses; (c) responding to or making inquiries regarding California Counsel Group events; (d) requesting information regarding California Counsel Group or legal or other services offered by California Counsel Group; and (e) inquiring about employment opportunities with California Counsel Group. You agree to cease sending electronic mail to any California Counsel Group electronic address upon our request.
17. Prohibited Uses. California Counsel Group imposes certain restrictions on your permissible use of this Website and the Services. You are prohibited from violating or attempting to violate any security features of this Website or the Services, including, without limitation: (a) accessing content or data not intended for you, or logging onto a server or account that you are not authorized to access; (b) attempting to probe, scan or test the vulnerability of the Services, this Website or any associated system or network, or to breach security or authentication measures without proper authorization; (c) interfering or attempting to interfere with service to any user, host or network, including, without limitation, by means of submitting a virus to this Website or the Services, overloading, “flooding,” “spamming,” “mail bombing” or “crashing;” (d) using this Website or the Services to send unsolicited e-mail, including, without limitation, promotions or advertisements for products or services; (e) forging any TCP/IP packet header or any part of the header information in any e-mail or in any posting using the Services; or (f) attempting to modify, reverse-engineer, decompile, disassemble or otherwise reduce or attempt to reduce to a human-perceivable form any of the source code used by California Counsel Group in providing this Website or the Services. Any violation of system or network security may subject you to civil and/or criminal liability.
18. Indemnity. You agree to indemnify California Counsel Group for certain of your acts and omissions. You agree to defend, indemnify and hold California Counsel Group, its affiliates and its suppliers, and each of their respective partners, officers, directors, employees, consultants, agents and representatives, from and against all claims, losses, costs, damages, liabilities and expenses (including but not limited to attorneys’ fees) arising out of: (a) your activities in connection with this Website; (b) any violation of these Terms and Conditions of Use by you; (c) any improper or unauthorized use of the Website materials or the Services by you; or (d) any allegation that anything you transmit through or in connection with this Website infringes or otherwise violates the copyright, trademark, trade secret, privacy or other rights of any third-party.
19. Copyright. This Website is protected by U.S. and foreign copyright laws. Except for your information and personal, non-commercial use as authorized herein, you may not modify, reproduce or distribute the design or layout of this Website or individual sections of the design or layout of this Website or any of the content within this Website without California Counsel Group’s prior written permission.
20. Governing Law. These Terms and Conditions of Use shall be construed in accordance with and governed by the laws of the United States and the State of California, without reference to their rules regarding conflicts of law. You hereby irrevocably consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state or federal courts in San Diego, California in all disputes arising out of or related to the use of this Website or the Services.
21. Severability; Waiver. If, for whatever reason, a court of competent jurisdiction finds any term or condition in these Terms and Conditions of Use to be unenforceable, then all other terms and conditions will remain unaffected and in full force and effect. No waiver of any breach of any provision of these Terms and Conditions of Use shall constitute a waiver of any prior, concurrent or subsequent breach of the same or any other provisions hereof, and no waiver shall be effective unless made in writing and signed by an authorized representative of the waiving party.
22. No License. Nothing contained on this Website should be understood as granting you a license to use any of the trademarks, service marks or logos owned by California Counsel Group or by any third-party.
23. California Use Only. This Website is controlled and operated by California Counsel Group from its offices in the State of California. California Counsel Group makes no representation that any of the materials or services to which you have been given access to are available or appropriate for use in other locations. Your use of, or access to, this Website should not be construed as California Counsel Group’s purposefully availing itself of the benefits or privilege of doing business in any state or jurisdiction other than California.
24. Modifications. California Counsel Group may, in its sole discretion and without prior notice: (a) revise these Terms and Conditions of Use; (b) modify this Website and/or the Services; and/or (c) discontinue this Website and/or the Services at any time. California Counsel Group shall post any revisions to these Terms and Conditions of Use to this Website, and the revisions shall be effective immediately upon such posting. You agree to review these Terms and Conditions of Use and other online policies posted on this Website periodically to be aware of any revisions. You agree that, by continuing to use or access this Website following notice of any revision, you shall abide by any such revision.
25. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. BY ACCESSING THIS WEBSITE OR USING THE SERVICES, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THEM.
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