Please read these terms and conditions carefully.

The Legal Information Sheets provided by Freelawyer, as explained in further detail below, do not constitute legal advice. They are only a preliminary identification of some of the issues that may arise in relation to your particular situation and are based on the information that you have provided to us, which may be incomplete. Because the Legal Information Sheets are based on incomplete information, they may provide information which, had the full facts been known, prove to be incorrect. Small, subtle changes in your particular situation may have a significant and disproportionate effect on your legal position. In addition, the law is subject to the occasional statutory change, to constant changes brought about by case-law, and/or to 'reinterpretation' of existing precedents. This means that the information available on Our Site may not always be up-to-date.

For the reasons above, you must not place reliance on a Freelawyer Legal Information Sheet or any other legal information supplied by Our Site, where 'reliance' means the 'doing' or 'not doing' of any act due, in whole or in part, to the contents of any legal information provided by Our Site. In other words, you must ensure that you first consult a legally qualified 'live' person before you decide to act or not act upon your particular circumstances. Reliance upon the information provided by Our Site as the basis for your decision, either in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited.

Please note that you agree to enter the Agreement as it exists when you access Our Site. In other words, you enter into a new Agreement each time that you access Our Site and this applies to all Materials and to your access and use of Our Site or any part of it until you access Our Site again. We may amend this Agreement at any time by posting the amended terms on Our Site. The amended terms may have changed since the previous occasion that you visited Our Site and, for this reason, we strongly recommend that you check the Agreement on each visit. Except as stated below, all amended terms shall automatically be effective immediately when posted on Our Site. This Agreement may not be otherwise amended except if so agreed in writing and signed by you and us.

This Agreement was last revised on 25 September 2000.

1.1 We are giving you a personal, non-transferrable and non-exclusive licence to use the Materials and you may: (a) Search, view, copy and print out the Materials for your own personal use. (b) Bookmark any page or link to it so long as the page is presented within the frameset of Our Site. (c) Using an industry standard Internet browser and Internet connection only, operate (but not view or copy) the software used in the operation of Our Site for the purposes of viewing and searching the Materials.

1.2 Unless we agree expressly in writing you must not: (a) Make print outs or copies of the Materials available to anyone else except to show to your lawyer to discuss its contents. (b) Modify any of the Materials or any part of Our Site. (c) Link Our Site or any frameset in Our Site to any website that you may operate or be involved in except in the event that you are operating an industry standard internet browser or search engine.

1.3 Use of any Materials on Our Site is free except in certain circumstances, where you will be warned that you will have to pay for the Materials. You may also have to register with us or with one of our associated sites for such additional Materials.

1.4 This licence applies to all Materials on Our Site other than the Materials available by registration and/or payment of a subscription fee. The additional Materials are governed by specific, separate licences, which you will may be expected to enter.

1.5 If you would like permission to use any Materials on Our Site in a way not covered or permitted by this Agreement, for example where you may be considering using the Materials in a commercial context, please contact us at leon@freelawyer.co.uk . In all other circumstances, such commercial use is strictly prohibited.

2. Your Obligations

2.1 Our Site is provided solely for your own use and you will not, without our express written permission (which we may refuse in our sole discretion), transfer or sell or attempt to transfer or sell your access to or use of Our Site (or any part or facility of it) or any of your rights or obligations under this Agreement to any other person. Further, you will not use the Materials for the purposes of trade or practising a profession or for any other activity for the purpose of making a profit or for commercial use in any way, unless expressly permitted by us in writing.

2.2 You specifically agree that we are not responsible for: (a) unauthorised access to or alteration of your transmissions or data; or (b) any material or data sent or received or otherwise communicated by you in connection with the use of Our Site as made available to you.

2.3 Unless permitted by these terms or if we agree in writing, you shall not: (a) use Our Site fraudulently (including but not limited to the provision of your Information), in connection with or for purposes of a criminal offence, or otherwise unlawfully; (b) use Our Site in a way that does not comply with the terms of any legislation or any licence applicable to you or to cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety; (c) create a false identity for the purpose of misleading others as to your identity; (d) attempt to gain unauthorised access to Our Site or other networks connected to Our Site, through any means whatsoever; (e) make print outs or copies of the Materials available to anyone else except you may show it to your lawyer to discuss its contents; (f) modify any of the Materials or any part of Our Site; or (g) fail to take reasonable steps to ensure that no-one else uses the Materials in your name.

2.4 You acknowledge that all intellectual property in Our Site belongs to, or is licensed to us.

3. Disclaimer

3.1 We give you no warranty or assurance about Our Site. In particular: (a) Whilst we do everything we reasonably can to maintain the quality of the Materials on Our Site, they may be incorrect or out of date, and may not constitute a definitive or complete statement of the law or the legal market in any area. It is not possible for Freelawyer to provide a completely accurate statement of the law at any given time as the law changes from day to day. Therefore, you should not rely on the information on our site as being up to date. (b) Materials are not intended to constitute advice of any sort (legal or otherwise) in any specific situation but instead Our Site merely provides general information in particular fields. It is not possible for a system such as Freelawyer to take into account all individual circumstances. Small differences in circumstances can have a large effect on your legal position. We are providing the legal information on Our Site for information purposes only. THEREFORE THE INFORMATION ON OUR SITE CANNOT, DOES NOT AND SHOULD NOT REPLACE LEGAL ADVICE FROM A SOLICITOR. You should not place any reliance on the information provided and we strongly recommend that you seek legal advice in specific situations and conduct your own research into the suitability of law firms before appointing them. (c) All implied warranties and conditions are excluded, to the maximum extent permitted by law.

4. Our Obligations

4.1 We will provide you with access to Our Site in accordance with the terms and subject to the conditions of this Agreement.

4.2 We will ensure that Your Information (as defined below) is treated in accordance with standards that are not less than the standards required by the Data Protection legislation applicable in the United Kingdom.

4.3 We will provide Our Site with the reasonable skill and care of a competent provider of services over the Internet. We do not promise that Our Site will be error-free or fault-free. If you notice that there is an error with respect to your access to or use of Our Site, you should report it to Our Site at once. Once an error or a fault in Our Site is reported to us, we will correct such error or repair such reported fault as soon as we reasonably can.

4.4 Occasionally we may change the technical specifications of Our Site or suspend Our Site for operational reasons such as repair, maintenance or improvement or because of an emergency. We will restore Our Site as soon as we reasonably can after any change or suspension.

4.5 We warrant that you will not infringe any third party rights by using the Materials on Our Site on these terms.

4.6 We will take reasonable steps to ensure that the Materials are free of any viruses, but we recommend that you use your own virus protection software.

4.7 Our Site or any part thereof may not be compatible with your browser or computer configuration and we do not warrant in any way that it is.

5. Membership Eligibility.

5.1 Our services are available only to Users who can form legally binding contracts under applicable law. Without limiting the foregoing, Our Site is not available to minors. If you do not qualify, please do not use Our Site. Further, Our Site is not available to temporarily or indefinitely suspended Users.

6. Freelawyer is only a conduit.

6.1 Our Site acts as the conduit for Users, who may be lawyers, experts, investigators, consumers or other persons, to converse and interact in relation to a number of legal fields. However, because we are not involved in the actual discussions or interaction between Users, we have no editorial control over the content or quality of such discussions or interaction.

6.2 Because user authentication on the Internet is difficult, we cannot and do not confirm each User's purported identity.

6.3 Because we are not involved in the actual communication between Users, in the event that you have a dispute with one or more Users, you indemnify us (and our officers, directors, agents, subsidiaries and employees) against claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential) and whether incurred directly or indirectly of every kind and nature, known and unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed and undisclosed, arising out of or in any way connected with such disputes.

6.4 We do not control the information provided by other Users which is made available through our system. You may find other User's information to be offensive, harmful, inaccurate, or deceptive. Please use caution, common sense, and practice safe trading when using Our Site. Please note that there are also legal risks of dealing with foreign nationals, underage persons or people acting under false pretence.

6.5 Please note that all legal information provided on Our Site applies only to legal matters within England and Wales.

6.6 Without limiting any other remedies, we may suspend or terminate your access if you are found (by conviction, civil judgment or decision, insurance or escrow investigation, or otherwise) to have engaged in fraudulent activity in connection with Our Site.

7. Your Information.

7.1 "Your Information" is defined as any information you provide to us or other Users when using Our Site, in any public message area (including the Legal Café or the feedback area) or through any email feature. You are solely responsible for Your Information, and we act as a passive conduit for your online distribution and publication of Your Information.

7.2 Your Information (or any items listed therein): (a) shall not be false, inaccurate or misleading; (b) shall not be fraudulent or involve the sale of counterfeit or stolen items; (c) shall not infringe any third party's copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary rights or rights of publicity or privacy; (d) shall not violate any law, statute, ordinance or regulation; (e) shall not be defamatory, libellous, unlawfully threatening or harassing; (f) shall not be obscene or contain pornography; (g) shall not contain any viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time bombs, cancelbots or other computer programming routines that are intended to damage, detrimentally interfere with, surreptitiously intercept or expropriate Our Site or any part thereof; (h) shall not create liability for us or cause us to lose (in whole or in part) the services of our ISPs or other suppliers; and (i) shall not link directly or indirectly to or include descriptions of goods or services that are prohibited under this Agreement.

7.3 Solely so that we are not violating any rights you might have in Your Information, you agree to grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, sub-licensable (through multiple tiers) right to exercise the copyright and publicity rights (but no other rights) you have in Your Information. We will only use Your Information in accordance with our privacy policy.

8. Privacy Policy and Data Protection Issues

8.1 It is our policy to respect the privacy of our Users. We will not disclose Your Information except if we are specifically required to do so by law, or in response to a valid, legal request by a law enforcement or governmental authority or as may otherwise be authorised by you.

8.2 We shall adhere to the privacy policy referred to in this clause 8 and by agreeing to these terms and conditions, you also are explicitly consenting to us handling Your Information as provided under this policy.

8.3 The Privacy Statement posted on Our Site shall form a part of this Agreement, provided, however, that in the event of a conflict between the terms of the Privacy Statement and this Agreement, this Agreement shall take precedence. We may change our privacy policy from time to time and our changes are effective after we provide you with at least thirty (30) days' notice of the changes by posting the changes on Our Site.

8.4 By accepting the terms and conditions of this Agreement, you acknowledge that, we (or others acting on our behalf) must store, host, and otherwise process Your Information. You also acknowledge that we may send such data outside of the your national jurisdiction for such processing (including, in the case of Users resident in the European Union, outside of the European Economic Area) by parties acting on our behalf and that as a result you might no longer have any rights under the data protection legislation applicable in your jurisdiction.

8.5 This Clause 8 will remain in effect after the termination of this Agreement.

9. Feedback.

9.1 We have established a User-initiated feedback system to help you to choose which law firm should act on your behalf. You agree not to take any actions that may undermine the integrity of the feedback system.

9.2 You acknowledge that the feedback on Our Site consists of comments left by Users and that the feedback does not convey a law firm's full profile. Because the feedback ratings are not designed for any purpose other than for obtaining a general review of the performance of a particular law firm, you agree that such ratings are not a definitive rating of a particular law firm, that Freelawyer in no way endorses a law firm that has received positive feedback and that the lack of feedback in respect of a particular law firm does not signify that the law firm has a low reputation. You understand that, due to the reliance of the feedback system on the input of users, Freelawyer cannot guarantee its integrity.

10. Breach.

10.1 Without limiting other remedies, we may immediately issue a warning to you, or terminate your licence to access or use Our Site: (a) if you breach any terms of this Agreement or of the documents it incorporates by reference; (b) if we are unable to verify or authenticate any of Your Information in any circumstances where you have provided Your Information; or (c) if we believe that your actions may cause legal liability for you, our users or us.

11. Effect of Termination

11.1 On becoming aware that your licence has been terminated, you must take reasonable steps to delete any Materials or any part of Our Site copied to any hard disk or other permanent storage device and must not make any further use of such Materials.

12. Limitation of liability

12.1 We accept liability for death or personal injury resulting from our negligence and nothing in this Agreement, including without limitation sections 12.2 and 12.3, shall apply to limit or exclude such liability.

12.2 We are not liable to you, either in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise for direct or indirect loss of profits, business or anticipated savings, or for any indirect or consequential loss or damage or for any destruction of data, however such loss may be suffered.

12.3 Our liability to you in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise in relation to or arising out of this Agreement is limited to £1,000 for any one incident or series of related incidents.

12.4 You agree and acknowledge that you are in a better position than us to foresee and evaluate any potential damage or loss that you may suffer in connection with Our Site. Therefore we cannot adequately insure in respect of any such liabilities.

12.5 If we are unable to perform any obligation under this Agreement because of a matter beyond our reasonable control such as lightning, flood, exceptionally severe weather, fire, explosion, war, civil disorder, industrial disputes (whether or not involving our employees), or acts of local or central Government or other competent authorities, or other events beyond the reasonable control of our suppliers, we will have no liability for that failure to perform.

12.6 Each provision of this Agreement excluding or limiting liability operates separately. If any provision or part or a provision is held by a court to be unreasonable or inapplicable, the other parts shall continue to apply.

13. Indemnity

13.1 You agree to indemnify and hold us and our subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, agents, and employees, harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable lawyers' fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of your breach of any terms of this Agreement or of the documents it incorporates by reference, or your violation of any law or the rights of a third party.

14. No Agency

14.1 You and Freelawyer are independent contractors, and no agency, partnership, joint venture, employee-employer or franchiser-franchisee relationship is intended or created by this Agreement.

15. Admissibility in Legal Proceedings

15.1 A printed version of this Agreement shall be admissible in judicial or administrative proceedings based upon or relating to this Agreement to the same extent and subject to the same conditions as other business documents and records originally generated and maintained in printed form.

16. Law

16.1 This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales, and each of the parties submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

17. General.

17.1 If any provision of this Agreement is held to be invalid or unenforceable, such provision shall be struck out and the remaining provisions shall remain enforceable. Headings are for reference purposes only and in no way define, limit, construe or describe the scope or extent of such section. Our failure to act with respect to a breach by you or others does not waive our right to act with respect to subsequent or similar breaches. This Agreement sets forth the entire understanding and agreement between us concerning its subject matter.

18. Definitions

"Legal Information Sheet" means the pages of legal information provided on Our Site.

"Materials" means the text, graphics, data and any other information presented on Our Site that form part of the standard Freelawyer service from time to time.

"User" means a legal person (whether an individual, a company or any other legal entity) who makes use of or accesses Our Site for the purpose of using the Materials.

"You" means the User we make this Agreement with, and includes anyone reasonably appearing to us to be acting with that User's authority or permission.

"We/us" means Freelawyer Limited whose registered office is at Temple Bar House, 23-28 Fleet Street, London EC4Y 1AA.

19. Copyright Notice