1. About the Website
1.1 Welcome to the Find a Family Lawyer website (the “Website”). The Website is intended to provide information about the Find a Family Lawyer mobile and web applications (the “Application Services”) and the client-intake and referral service (collectively, the “Application”). They are for use by self-represented litigants and members of the general public, legal practitioners and firms, judges and court personnel, medical specialists, allied health professionals, property agents and valuers, and others in the legal, business, insurance, accounting and forensic communities seeking to retain professional service providers (the “Services”).
1.2 The Website is operated by Find a Family Lawyer. Access to and use of the Website, or any of its associated Services, is provided by Find a Family Lawyer. Please read these terms and conditions (the “Terms”) carefully. By using, browsing and/or reading the Website, you signify that you have read, understood and agree to be bound by the Terms. If you do not agree with the Terms, you must cease usage of the Website, or any of its Services, immediately.
1.3 Find a Family Lawyer reserves the right to review and change any of the Terms by updating this page at its sole discretion. When Find a Family Lawyer updates the Terms, it will use reasonable endeavours to provide you with notice of updates. Any changes to the Terms take immediate effect from the date of their publication. Before you continue, we recommend you keep a copy of the Terms for your records.
2. Acceptance of the Terms
2.1 You accept the Terms by using or browsing the Website or accessing/using the Application or Services. You may also accept the Terms by clicking to accept or agree to the Terms where this option is made available to you by Find a Family Lawyer in the user interface and/or by your conduct in using the Services.
3. Copyright and Intellectual Property
3.1 The Website, the Services and all related products of Find a Family Lawyer are subject to copyright. The material on the Website is protected by copyright under the laws of Australia and international treaties. Unless otherwise indicated, all rights (including copyright) in the Services and compilation of the Website (including but not limited to text, graphics, logos, button icons, video images, audio clips, code, scripts, design elements and interactive features) are owned or controlled by Find a Family Lawyer or its contributors.
3.2 All trademarks, service marks and trade names are owned, registered and/or licensed by Find a Family Lawyer, who grants to you a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, revocable licence whilst you are a Member to:
- use the Website pursuant to the Terms; and
- copy and store the Website and the material contained in the Website in your device’s cache memory.
Find a Family Lawyer does not grant you any other rights whatsoever in relation to the Website or the Services. All other rights are expressly reserved.
3.3 Find a Family Lawyer retains all rights, title and interest in and to the Website and all related Services. Nothing you do on or in relation to the Website will transfer any:
- business name, trading name, domain name, trade mark, industrial design, patent, registered design or copyright;
- right to use or exploit a business name, trading name, domain name, trade mark or industrial design; or
- thing, system or process that is the subject of a patent, registered design or copyright (or an adaptation or modification of such), to you.
3.4 You may not, without the prior written permission of Find a Family Lawyer and the permission of any other relevant rights owners, broadcast, republish, upload to a third party, transmit, post, distribute, show or play in public, adapt or change in any way the Services or third-party Services for any purpose, unless otherwise provided by these Terms.
4. Privacy
Find a Family Lawyer takes your privacy seriously and any information provided through your use of the Website and/or Services is subject to the Find a Family Lawyer Privacy Policy, which is available in the Application and on the Website.
5. General Disclaimer
5.1 Nothing in the Terms limits or excludes any guarantees, warranties, representations or conditions implied or imposed by law, including the Australian Consumer Law (or any liability under them) which by law may not be limited or excluded.
5.2 Subject to this clause, and to the extent permitted by law:
- all terms, guarantees, warranties, representations or conditions which are not expressly stated in the Terms are excluded; and
- Find a Family Lawyer will not be liable for any loss - special, indirect or consequential loss or damage, loss of profit or opportunity, or damage to goodwill - arising out of or in connection with the Services or these Terms (including as a result of not being able to use the Services or the late supply of the Services), whether at common law, under contract, tort (including negligence), in equity, pursuant to statute or otherwise.
5.3 Use of the Website and the Services is at your own risk. Everything on the Website and the Services is provided to you “as is” and “as available” without warranty or condition of any kind. None of the affiliates, directors, officers, employees, agents, contributors and licensors of Find a Family Lawyer make any express or implied representation or warranty about the Services or any products or Services referred to on the Website. This includes (but is not limited to) loss or damage you might suffer as a result of any of the following:
- failure of performance, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, failure to correct defects, delay in operation or transmission, computer virus or other harmful component, loss of data, communication line failure, unlawful third-party conduct, or theft, destruction, alteration or unauthorised access to records;
- the accuracy, suitability or currency of any information on the Website, the Services, or any of its Services-related products (including third-party material and advertisements on the Website);
- costs incurred as a result of you using the Website, the Services or any of the products of Find a Family Lawyer; and
- the Services or operation in respect to links which are provided for your convenience.
6. Competitors
If you are in the business of providing similar Services for the purpose of providing them to users for a commercial gain, whether business users or domestic users, then you are a competitor of Find a Family Lawyer. Competitors are not permitted to use or access any information or content on our Website. If you breach this provision, Find a Family Lawyer may hold you fully responsible for any loss it sustains and hold you accountable for all profits you make from such a breach.
7. Limitation of Liability
7.1 Find a Family Lawyer’s total liability arising out of or in connection with the Services or these Terms, however arising, including under contract, tort (including negligence), in equity, under statute or otherwise, will not exceed the resupply of the Services to you.
7.2 You expressly understand and agree that Find a Family Lawyer, its affiliates, employees, agents, contributors and licensors shall not be liable to you for any direct, indirect, incidental, special consequential or exemplary damages which may be incurred by you, however caused and under any theory of liability. This includes but is not limited to any loss of profit (whether incurred directly or indirectly), any loss of goodwill or business reputation and any other intangible loss.
7.3 Find a Family Lawyer is not responsible or liable in any manner for any Website content (including Your Content or third-party content) posted on the Website or in connection with the Services, whether posted or caused by Members or users of the Website.
7.4 The Website provides an introductory and referral platform for Members as both users and service providers. Every introduction and referral is based on the search terms and parameters each user and/or Member considers relevant to their own needs.
7.5 You understand and agree that the Services provided by the Website are an introductory and referral service only. You acknowledge that the ultimate decision to accept and engage a Member or service provider or accept and deliver professional services to a client remains solely with you. Find a Family Lawyer’s responsibilities are limited to facilitating the availability of the Website and the Services for which it accepts no liability howsoever arising.
7.6 Find a Family Lawyer is not a party to any agreement entered into between Members, between a Member and a service provider, or any user of the Website with any other party. Find a Family Lawyer has no control over the conduct of Members, service providers and other users of the Website and Services. You acknowledge that Find a Family Lawyer disclaims all liability in this regard.
7.7 Any arrangement entered into by a Member or user is solely between the Member(s) and/or the user and the service providers. It is strictly and expressly not part of your agreement with Find a Family Lawyer.
8. Termination of Contract
8.1 The Terms will continue to apply until terminated by either you or by Find a Family Lawyer as set out below.
8.2 If you want to terminate the Terms, you may do so by:
- notifying Find a Family Lawyer at any time; and
- closing your accounts for all of the Services which you use, where Find a Family Lawyer has made this option available to you.
Your notice should be sent, in writing, via the “Contact Us” link on our homepage.
8.3 Find a Family Lawyer may at any time terminate the Terms with you if:
- you have breached any provision of the Terms or intend to breach any provision;
- Find a Family Lawyer is required to do so by law; or
- the provision of the Services to you by Find a Family Lawyer is, at Find a Family Lawyer’s sole discretion, no longer commercially viable or it considers it appropriate to do so.
8.4 Subject to local applicable laws, Find a Family Lawyer reserves the right to discontinue or cancel your membership at any time and may suspend or deny, in its sole discretion, your access to all or any portion of the Website or the Services without notice if you breach any provision of the Terms or any applicable law or if your conduct impacts Find a Family Lawyer’s name or reputation or violates the rights of another party.
9. Indemnity
9.1 You agree to indemnify Find a Family Lawyer, its affiliates, employees, agents, contributors, third-party content providers and licensors from and against:
- all actions, suits, claims, demands, liabilities, costs, expenses, loss and damage (including legal fees on a full indemnity basis) incurred, suffered or arising out of or in connection with Your Content or your use of the Website;
- any direct or indirect consequences of you accessing, using or transacting on the Website or attempts to do so; and/or
- any breach of the Terms.
10. Dispute Resolution
10.1 If a dispute arises out of or relates to the Terms, either party may not commence any Tribunal or Court proceedings in relation to the dispute, unless the following clauses have been complied with (except where urgent interlocutory relief is sought).
10.2 Notice: A party claiming a dispute (“Dispute”) has arisen must give written notice to the other party detailing the nature of the dispute, the desired outcome and the action required to settle the Dispute.
10.3 Resolution: On receipt of that notice (“Notice”) by the other party, the parties (“Parties”) must:
- within 30 days of the Notice, endeavour in good faith to resolve the Dispute expeditiously by negotiation or such other means upon which they may mutually agree;
- if, 14 days after the date of the Notice, the Dispute has not been resolved, the Parties must either agree upon selection of a mediator or request that an appropriate mediator be appointed by the President of the Australian Mediation Association or their nominee;
- the Parties are equally liable for the fees and reasonable expenses of a mediator and the cost of the venue of the mediation and, without limiting the foregoing, undertake to pay any amounts requested by the mediator as a pre-condition to the mediation commencing. The Parties must each pay their own costs associated with the mediation;
- the mediation will be held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
10.4 Confidential: All communications concerning negotiations made by the Parties arising out of and in connection with this dispute resolution clause are confidential and, to the extent possible, must be treated as “without prejudice” negotiations for the purpose of applicable laws of evidence.
10.5 Termination of Mediation: If 30 days have elapsed after the start of a mediation of the Dispute and the Dispute has not been resolved, either Party may ask the mediator to terminate the mediation and the mediator must do so.
11. Venue and Jurisdiction
The Services offered by Find a Family Lawyer are intended to be viewed by residents of Australia. In the event of any dispute arising out of or in relation to the Website, you agree that the exclusive venue for resolving any dispute shall be in the courts of New South Wales, Australia.
12. Governing Law
The Terms are governed by the laws of New South Wales, Australia. Any dispute, controversy, proceeding or claim of whatever nature arising out of or in any way relating to the Terms and the rights created hereby shall be governed, interpreted and construed by, under and pursuant to the laws of New South Wales, Australia, without reference to conflict of law principles, notwithstanding mandatory rules. The validity of this governing law clause is not contested. The Terms shall be binding to the benefit of the parties hereto and their successors and assigns.
13. Independent Legal Advice
Both parties confirm and declare that the provisions of the Terms are fair and reasonable and both parties have taken the opportunity to obtain independent legal advice and declare the Terms are not against public policy on the grounds of inequality or bargaining power or general grounds of restraint of trade.
14. Severance
If any part of these Terms is found to be void or unenforceable by a Court of competent jurisdiction, that part shall be severed and the rest of the Terms shall remain in force.
