Client Agreement

This Client Agreement (the “Agreement”) is between SiMA LLC, an Illinois limited liability company doing business as LawBid (“LawBid”, “we”, “us”), and you as a client who posts a case or uses the LawBid apps or website to find an attorney. It supplements our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. It includes a binding arbitration agreement and class action waiver (section 11).

1. LawBid is a platform, not a law firm

• LawBid is a technology platform that lets you publish a legal matter and receive bids from independent attorneys. LawBid is not a law firm, does not practice law and is not a lawyer referral service.
• LawBid does not give legal advice. Posts, answers, news, trust levels and messages from our team are general information only.
• Using LawBid does not create an attorney-client relationship with LawBid, and posting a case does not by itself create one with any attorney.

2. Your relationship is with the attorney you choose

An attorney-client relationship begins only when you and an attorney agree to it, normally by signing that attorney's own engagement agreement. From then on the attorney, not LawBid, is responsible for the legal services, for their fees and for meeting their professional duties to you. Attorneys on LawBid are independent; they are not employees, agents or partners of LawBid. LawBid does not recommend, select or endorse any attorney, and a bid is an offer by that attorney only.

3. Check the attorney yourself

Attorney licenses shown in the app are self-declared by the attorney. A trust level shows what LawBid has been able to confirm so far; it is an indicator and not a guarantee. Before you hire anyone, verify the license with the state bar (the app links to the public registry of each state where one exists), read the attorney's engagement agreement, ask about fees and malpractice insurance, and decide whether the attorney is right for you. LawBid does not warrant that any attorney is qualified, in good standing, available or will achieve any result.

4. What you post, and confidentiality

• A public case is shown to every attorney who matches its practice area and state. Do not include anything you want to keep private or that is privileged, such as full names of other people, account numbers, medical or financial details, or documents under seal. Share details only in the private chat with the attorney you choose.
• Messages you send to an attorney before an engagement may not be protected by attorney-client privilege. Attorneys have their own duties of confidentiality to prospective clients, but LawBid cannot guarantee how any attorney will treat your information.
• You are responsible for what you post. It must be accurate to the best of your knowledge, lawful and must not infringe anyone's rights. Do not post a case only to get free advice, to harass attorneys or to test the Service.
• You keep ownership of your content and give LawBid a license to host and display it to run the Service, as described in the Terms.
• If a deadline applies to your matter (for example a statute of limitations or a court date), act in time. A posted case or an unanswered bid does not protect your rights.

5. Cost to you and payments

• Clients do not pay LawBid to post a case or to receive bids.
• If you pay an attorney through the app, the payment is processed by Stripe and goes directly to the attorney's own account. LawBid does not receive, hold or control your money and is not an escrow agent. Stripe's terms apply to the payment itself.
• The fee, scope and refund terms are set in the attorney's engagement agreement. Refunds of a payment to an attorney are for that attorney to decide; LawBid cannot issue them on the attorney's behalf.
• You are responsible for any fees your bank or card issuer charges. If you dispute a charge with your bank, tell us so we can pass the records to the parties.

6. Reviews and conduct

Reviews must be honest and written by you about a real engagement. Do not post unlawful, defamatory, harassing or misleading content. We may remove content and suspend accounts that break the Terms.

7. Disputes with an attorney

If you have a problem with an attorney's work or fee, raise it first with the attorney. You may also report the attorney to us in the app and, for professional misconduct, to the state bar. LawBid may review reports and act on the attorney's account, but does not decide fee or malpractice disputes, does not represent you and is not liable for the attorney's acts or omissions.

8. Disclaimer of warranties and limitation of liability

The Service is provided “as is” and “as available”. To the fullest extent permitted by law, LawBid disclaims all warranties, express or implied, and does not warrant the identity, qualifications, conduct or results of any attorney or the accuracy of any bid, review or trust level. To the extent permitted by law, LawBid is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, and its total liability for all claims is limited to the greater of $100 and the amount you paid LawBid in the 12 months before the claim arose. These limits do not apply to liability that cannot be limited by law, and some states do not allow some of these exclusions.

9. Termination

You can close your account at any time in the app. We may suspend or end your access if you break this Agreement, the Terms or the law. Engagements you already formed with an attorney continue under your own agreement.

10. Governing law

This Agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Illinois and applicable federal law. Nothing in it takes away protections of the mandatory consumer law of the state where you live.

11. Dispute resolution and arbitration

Talk to us first. Send a written notice of any dispute with LawBid to support@lawbid.dev or to SiMA LLC, [postal address — to be filled in by owner], and allow 30 days to try to resolve it before starting arbitration or a lawsuit.

Binding individual arbitration and class action waiver. Any remaining dispute between you and LawBid will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, as set out in section 20 of our Terms of Service, which applies to this Agreement in full, including the class action waiver, the small-claims and injunctive-relief exceptions and the 30-day opt-out. If you opted out of arbitration under the Terms, that opt-out applies here.

This section covers disputes with LawBid only, not disputes between you and an attorney.

12. Changes

We may update this Agreement. For material changes we will notify you in the app or by email at least 14 days before they take effect. Continued use after the effective date means you accept them.

Contact

SiMA LLC, [postal address — to be filled in by owner]
support@lawbid.dev