Terms of Use

Welcome to the Association of Business Trial Lawyers (“ABTL”) Web Site (the “Site”). This Site is owned and operated by ABTL. Your access to the Site and use of the services provided on the Site is governed by the terms and conditions of this Terms of Use (the “Agreement”), which may be updated by ABTL from time to time. You can review the most current version of this Agreement any time at: http://www.abtl.org.

Please read the terms and conditions of this Agreement carefully. By accessing the Site or using any of the services provided on the Site, you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of this Agreement, and your continued access of the Site and/or use of such services constitute your acceptance of any additional or different terms and conditions added to this Agreement in the future.

1. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICE 
ABTL offers through its web site an array of services for attorneys, practitioners, judges and others in related professions. (All of the services offered from time to time through the Site are collectively referred to herein as the “Services.”) Access to certain Member Services is or will be password restricted to users who are members registered with ABTL, who have accepted this Terms of Service Agreement, and who have paid the applicable fees for ABTL membership (“Members”). 

Unless explicitly stated otherwise, any new features that augment or enhance the current Services, including the release of new ABTL services or properties, shall be subject to this Agreement. ABTL is under no obligation to update the Site, the Services or any information or data contained on the Site or used in connection with the Services. ABTL reserves the right at any time and from time to time to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the Services (or any part thereof) without notice or liability to you or any third party.

2. YOUR REGISTRATION OBLIGATIONS 
You agree to: (a) provide true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself and your company (as applicable) as prompted by the applicable registration form (such information being the “Registration Data”) and (b) maintain and promptly update the Registration Data to keep it true, accurate, current and complete. If you provide any information that is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, or if ABTL has reasonable grounds to suspect that such information is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, ABTL has the right to suspend or terminate your account and refuse any and all current or future use of the Member Services (or any portion thereof). 

3. ABTL PRIVACY POLICY 
All information about you including your Registration Data and any information stored or transmitted in any way on the Site or through the use of the Services is subject to our Privacy Policy. For more information, please see our full Privacy Policy at http://www.abtl.org. 

4. MEMBER ACCOUNT, PASSWORD AND SECURITY 
Members will receive a password and account designation upon completing the registration process, subject to payment of the applicable fees in accordance with the terms and conditions of this Agreement. You agree to: (i) maintain the confidentiality of your password, (ii) take full responsibility for all activities you engage in while accessing the Site or that occur under your password or account, (iii) immediately notify ABTL of any unauthorized use of your password or account or any other breach of security, and (iv) ensure that you exit from your account at the end of each session. ABTL is not responsible for any loss or damage arising from your failure to comply with these requirements.

5. USER AND MEMBER CONDUCT 
You, and not ABTL, are solely responsible for all information, data, text or other communications or materials (“Content”) that you transmit or receive by any method on the Site or through the use of the Services. You acknowledge that ABTL does not pre-screen Content posted on the Site or transmitted through the Services and is not obligated or responsible to verify the accuracy, reliability, timeliness or appropriateness of such Content. Without limiting the foregoing, you also agree that ABTL may in its sole discretion refuse to post, store or transmit any Content submitted by you, or move, remove, edit or modify any Content on the Site as ABTL deems appropriate.

You will not use the Site and/or the Services to:
(a.) upload, post, or otherwise store or transmit any Content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another’s privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable;
(b.) impersonate any person or entity including, without limitation, any ABTL employee, agent, or affiliate, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity;
(c.) upload, post or otherwise store or transmit any Content that you do not have a right to collect, use, store or transmit under any law or under any contractual or fiduciary relationships (including, without limitation, inside, proprietary and confidential information learned or disclosed as part of employment or fiduciary relationships or under nondisclosure agreements);
(d.) upload, post or otherwise store or transmit any Content that infringes any patent rights, trademark rights, trade secret rights, copyrights or all other intellectual and industrial property rights of any kind anywhere in the world of any third party;
(e.) upload, post or otherwise transmit any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, “junk mail,” “spam,” “chain letters,” “pyramid schemes,” or any other form of solicitation;
(f.) upload, post or otherwise store or transmit any Content that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;
(g.) interfere with or disrupt the Site, the Services or any servers or networks connected to the Site or used with the Services, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of any networks connected to the Site or used with the Services; or
(h.) violate any applicable local, state, national or international law including, without limitation, regulations promulgated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, any rules of any national or other securities exchange, and any other regulations having the force of law.

6. INDEMNITY 
You agree to indemnify, defend and hold ABTL (and its members, officers, directors, affiliates, agents, partners, and employees) harmless from any claim, demand, loss, liability, damages, costs and expenses, including without limitation, reasonable attorneys’ fees and court costs due to or arising out of (i) your violation of any provision of this Agreement or (ii) your violation of any law or the rights of a third party.

7. GENERAL PRACTICES REGARDING USE AND STORAGE 
You agree that ABTL may from time to time establish and modify in its sole discretion general practices and limits concerning use of the Site or the Services including, without limitation, the maximum number of days that message board postings or other uploaded Content will be retained by ABTL, the maximum number of bulletin board postings that may be added by Members, the maximum disk space allotted to a Member on ABTL’s servers, and the maximum number of times (and the maximum duration for which) you may access the Site or the Services in a given period of time. You agree that ABTL has no responsibility or liability for the deletion or failure to store any postings, communications or other Content stored or transmitted in connection with your use of the Site or the Services. You further agree that ABTL reserves the right to log off Member accounts that are inactive for an extended period of time.

8. TERMINATION 
You may terminate your membership and/or Member account at any time for any reason. You agree that ABTL, in its sole discretion and without notice or liability to you or any third party, may terminate your membership and/or Member account if ABTL believes that you have violated or acted inconsistently with any term of this Agreement. Upon such termination, you will be responsible to pay to ABTL all obligations through and including the date of termination, and ABTL will terminate your password and remove and discard any Content uploaded, posted or otherwise stored by you on the Site. 

9. DEALINGS WITH ADVERTISERS 
Your correspondence or business dealings with, or participation in promotions of, advertisers found on the Site, including payment and delivery of related goods or services, and any other terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings, are solely between you and such advertiser. You agree that ABTL shall not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as the result of any such dealings or as the result of the presence of such advertisers on the Site.

10. LINKS 
The Site contains links to other Internet sites or resources. ABTL does not endorse and is not responsible or liable in any way for any content, advertising, services or goods on or available from such sites or resources.

11. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, COPYRIGHT AND TRADEMARK NOTICE
ABTL its partners and licensors retain all right, title and interest in and to the Site, the Services, all Content provided on the Site (excluding your Content), and the business process, procedures, methods and techniques used with the Site and the Services, and all patent rights, copyrights, trademark rights, trade secret rights and other proprietary rights therein (“Intellectual Property”). You may not modify, publish, transmit, transfer or sell, rent, lease, reproduce, create derivative works from, distribute, perform, link, display, or in any way exploit the Intellectual Property, in whole or in part, except as expressly permitted in this Agreement or with the prior written consent of ABTL (or the appropriate owner). You may make a single copy of the Content displayed on the Site solely for your personal (or your company’s exclusive) use, provided that you do not remove any trademarks, copyright notices or any other notice contained in such Content and that you do not display or distribute in any way or otherwise make available such Content to any third party, without the prior written consent of ABTL.

The following are registered trademarks of ABTL: the name “abtl” and the logo “abtl.” Other brands, company names, product names and logos on the Site are also trademarks or service marks of ABTL, its partners, advertisers or licensors. The use of any ABTL (or any ABTL partner or licensor) trademark or service mark without ABTL’s (or the appropriate owner’s) express written consent is strictly prohibited.

12. DISCLAIMERS 
You acknowledge that the information, services, links, and other information on the Site or provided in connection with the use of the Services are compiled from a variety of sources and that ABTL does not independently evaluate or verify the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of such information. You agree that you will independently evaluate and bear all risks associated with your use of such information. You further agree that ABTL is not responsible and will have no liability for any reliance by you on such information and that under no circumstances does any such information or other Content on the Site constitute the advice of or a recommendation by ABTL to take any particular course of action or inaction.

You understand that the processing and transmission of communications relating to the use of the Site or the Services, including your Content, may involve transmissions over various networks and changes to conform and adapt to technical requirements of connecting to various networks or devices. Therefore, you agree that ABTL cannot and will not be liable for the timeliness, deletion, mis-delivery or failure to store any user communications or personalization settings. 

YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT: 
(a.) THE SITE AND THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS. ABTL EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

(b.) ABTL MAKES NO REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY THAT (I) THE SITE OR THE SERVICES WILL MEET YOUR EXPECTATIONS OR REQUIREMENTS, (II) THE SITE OR THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE, (III) ANY RESULTS OR INFORMATION THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE SITE OR THE SERVICES WILL BE ACCURATE, TIMELY, COMPLETE OR RELIABLE, AND (IV) ANY ERRORS IN ANY SOFTWARE USED ON THE SITE OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICES WILL BE CORRECTED.

(c.) ABTL IS NOT RESPONSIBLE AND WILL HAVE NO LIABILITY FOR (I) HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, OTHER ITEMS OR ANY SERVICES PROVIDED BY ANY PERSONS OR ENTITIES OTHER THAN ABTL OR (II) THE FAILURES OF THE INTERNET OR ANY DATA OR TELECOMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT, SYSTEM OR NETWORK USED IN CONNECTION WITH THE SITE OR THE SERVICES.

13. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY 
YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT ABTL, ITS MEMBERS (OTHER THAN YOU), PARTNERS AND AFFILIATES WILL NOT BE LIABLE WITH RESPECT TO ANY SUBJECT MATTER OF THIS AGREEMENT UNDER ANY LEGAL THEORY (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE) FOR (I) ANY AMOUNT IN EXCESS OF $100 IN THE AGGREGATE, (II) ANY LOST OR CORRUPTED DATA OR OTHER SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF GOODWILL, WORK STOPPAGE, COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, OR ANY AND ALL OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGES OR LOSSES, EVEN IF ABTL OR ANY OF ITS MEMBERS, PARTNERS OR AFFILIATES HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, OR (III) THE COST OF PROCURING SUBSTITUTE GOODS, SERVICES OR TECHNOLOGY.

14. EXCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS 
SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN WARRANTIES OR THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES. ACCORDINGLY, SOME OF THE EXCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS OF SECTIONS 12 AND 13 ABOVE MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. 

15. COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
ABTL respects the intellectual property of others, and we ask our users to do the same. If you believe your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please use the following process to notify us.
All claims of copyright infringement should be in writing and should be directed to ABTL’s designated agent at the following address, fax number or email address:

Linda Sampson
8502 E. Chapman Avenue, Suite 443 
Orange, CA 92869 
Email: abtl@abtl.org

Each claim of copyright infringement must include all of the following:
1.) A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

2.) Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or if multiple copyrighted works at a single Web site are covered by a single claim, a representative list of such works at that Web site.

3.) Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing 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 ABTL to locate the material.

4.) Information reasonably sufficient to permit ABTL to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number, and if available, an email address at which the complaining party may be contacted.

5.) A statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that the use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.

6.) A statement that the information in the notice is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

16. GENERAL INFORMATION 
This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between you and ABTL, superseding any prior agreements between you and ABTL (except for Members, who are also subject to the terms and conditions of the ABTL Membership Agreement entered into between ABTL and such Member). You also may be subject to additional terms and conditions that may apply when you use affiliate services, third-party content or third-party software. This Agreement is governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California without regard to its conflict of laws provisions. You agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located within the county of Los Angeles. The failure of ABTL to exercise or enforce any right or provision of this Agreement shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of this Agreement is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, that provision will be enforced to the maximum extent permissible, and the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect. 

17. VIOLATIONS
Please report any violations of this Agreement to:
Linda Sampson
8502 E. Chapman Avenue, Suite 443  
Orange, CA 92869 
Email: abtl@abtl.org