Terms of Service

General

This website (the “Site”) is owned and operated by Shumaker Mallory LLP d/b/a “www.shumakermallorylaw.com” (the “Firm,” “we” or “us”). By using the Site, you agree to be bound by these terms of service (“Terms of Service”) and to use the Site in accordance with these Terms of Service, our Privacy Policy and any additional terms and conditions that may apply to specific sections of the Site or to products and services available through the Site or from us. Accessing the Site, in any manner, whether automated or otherwise, constitutes use of the Site and your agreement to be bound by these Terms of Service.

Intellectual Property Rights

 Our Limited License to You

This Site and all the materials available on the Site are the property of the Firm and/or our affiliates or licensors, and are protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. The Site is provided solely for your personal noncommercial use. You may not use the Site or the materials available on the Site in a manner that constitutes an infringement of our rights or that has not been authorized by us. More specifically, unless explicitly authorized in these Terms of Service or by the owner of the materials, you may not modify, copy, reproduce, republish, upload, post, transmit, translate, sell, create derivative works, exploit, or distribute in any manner or medium (including by email or other electronic means) any material from the Site. You may, however, from time to time, download and/or print one copy of individual pages of the Site for your personal, non-commercial use, provided that you keep intact all copyright and other proprietary notices.

Your License to Us

By posting or submitting any material (including, without limitation, comments, blog entries, Facebook postings, photos and videos) to us via the Site, internet groups, social media venues, or to any of our staff via email, text or otherwise, you are representing: (i) that you are the owner of the material, or are making your posting or submission with the express consent of the owner of the material; and (ii) that you are thirteen years of age or older. In addition, when you submit, email, text or deliver or post any material, you are granting us, and anyone authorized by us, a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, unrestricted, worldwide license to use, copy, modify, transmit, sell, exploit, create derivative works from, distribute, and/or publicly perform or display such material, in whole or in part, in any manner or medium, now known or hereafter developed, for any purpose. The foregoing grant shall include the right to exploit any proprietary rights in such posting or submission, including, but not limited to, rights under copyright, trademark, service mark or patent laws under any relevant jurisdiction. Also, in connection with the exercise of such rights, you grant us, and anyone authorized by us, the right to identify you as the author of any of your postings or submissions by name, email address or screen name, as we deem appropriate.

You acknowledge and agree that any contributions originally created by you for us shall be deemed a “work made for hire” when the work performed is within the scope of the definition of a work made for hire in Section 101 of the United States Copyright Law, as amended. As such, the copyrights in those works shall belong to the Firm from their creation. Thus, the Firm shall be deemed the author and exclusive owner thereof and shall have the right to exploit any or all of the results and proceeds in any and all media, now known or hereafter devised, throughout the universe, in perpetuity, in all languages, as the Firm determines. In the event that any of the results and proceeds of your submissions hereunder are not deemed a “work made for hire” under Section 101 of the Copyright Act, as amended, you hereby, without additional compensation, irrevocably assign, convey and transfer to the Firm all proprietary rights, including without limitation, all copyrights and trademarks throughout the universe, in perpetuity in every medium, whether now known or hereafter devised, to such material and any and all right, title and interest in and to all such proprietary rights in every medium, whether now known or hereafter devised, throughout the universe, in perpetuity. Any posted material which are reproductions of prior works by you shall be co-owned by us.

You acknowledge that the Firm has the right but not the obligation to use and display any postings or contributions of any kind and that the Firm may elect to cease the use and display of any such materials (or any portion thereof), at any time for any reason whatsoever.

Interactive Features

This Site may include a variety of features, such as bulletin boards, web logs, chat rooms, and email services, which allow feedback to us and real-time interaction between users and other features which allow users to communicate with others. Responsibility for what is posted on bulletin boards, web logs, chat rooms, and other public posting areas on the Site, or sent via any email services on the Site, lies with each user – you alone are responsible for the material you post or send. We do not control the messages, information or files that you or others may provide through the Site. It is a condition of your use of the Site that you do not:

  • Restrict or inhibit any other user from using and enjoying the Site.
  • Use the Site to impersonate any person or entity, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity.
  • Interfere with or disrupt any servers or networks used to provide the Site or its features, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of the networks we use to provide the Site.
  • Use the Site to instigate or encourage others to commit illegal activities or cause injury or property damage to any person.
  • Gain unauthorized access to the Site, or any account, computer system, or network connected to this Site, by means such as hacking, password mining or other illicit means.
  • Obtain or attempt to obtain any materials or information through any means not intentionally made available through this Site.
  • Use the Site to post or transmit any unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane or indecent information of any kind, including without limitation any transmissions constituting or encouraging conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability or otherwise violate any local, state, national or international law.
  • Use the Site to post or transmit any information, software or other material that violates or infringes upon the rights of others, including material that is an invasion of privacy or publicity rights or that is protected by copyright, trademark or other proprietary right, or derivative works with respect thereto, without first obtaining permission from the owner or rights holder.
  • Use the Site to post or transmit any information, software or other material that contains a virus or other harmful component.
  • Material for commercial purposes, or that contains advertising.
  • Use the Site to advertise or solicit to anyone to buy or sell products or services, or to make donations of any kind, without our express written approval.
  • Gather for marketing purposes any email addresses or other personal information that has been posted by other users of the Site.

The Firm may host message boards, chats and other public forums on its Sites. Any user failing to comply with the terms and conditions of this Agreement may be expelled from and refused continued access to, the message boards, chats or other public forums in the future. the Firm or its designated agents may remove or alter any user-created content at any time for any reason. Message boards, chats and other public forums are intended to serve as discussion centers for users and subscribers. Information and content posted within these public forums may be provided by the Firm staff, the Firm’s outside contributors, or by users not connected with the Firm, some of whom may employ anonymous user names. The Firm expressly disclaims all responsibility and endorsement and makes no representation as to the validity of any opinion, advice, information or statement made or displayed in these forums by third parties, nor are we responsible for any errors or omissions in such postings, or for hyperlinks embedded in any messages. Under no circumstances will we, our affiliates, suppliers or agents be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information obtained through these forums. The opinions expressed in these forums are solely the opinions of the participants, and do not reflect the opinions of the Firm or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates.

The Firm has no obligation whatsoever to monitor any of the content or postings on the message boards, chat rooms or other public forums on the Sites. However, you acknowledge and agree that we have the absolute right to monitor the same at our sole discretion. In addition, we reserve the right to alter, edit, refuse to post or remove any postings or content, in whole or in part, for any reason and to disclose such materials and the circumstances surrounding their transmission to any third party in order to satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request and to protect ourselves, our clients, sponsors, users and visitors.

We occasionally include access to an online community as part of our programs. We want every single member to add value to the group. Our goal is to make your community the most valuable community you’re a member of. Therefore, we reserve the right to remove anyone at any time. We rarely do this, but we want to let you know how seriously we take our communities.

Registration

To access certain features of the Site, we may ask you to provide certain demographic information including your gender, year of birth, zip code and country. In addition, if you elect to sign-up for a particular feature of the Site, such as chat rooms, web logs, or bulletin boards, you may also be asked to register with us on the form provided and such registration may require you to provide personally identifiable information such as your name and email address. You agree to provide true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself as prompted by the Site’s registration form. If we have reasonable grounds to suspect that such information is untrue, inaccurate, or incomplete, we have the right to suspend or terminate your account and refuse any and all current or future use of the Site (or any portion thereof). Our use of any personally identifiable information you provide to us as part of the registration process is governed by the terms of our Privacy Policy.

Passwords

To use certain features of the Site, you may need a username and password, which you will receive through the Site’s registration process. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the password and account and are responsible for all activities (whether by you or by others) that occur under your password or account. You agree to notify us immediately of any unauthorized use of your password or account or any other breach of security, and to ensure that you exit from your account at the end of each session. We cannot and will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to protect your password or account information.

Limitation of Liability

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, NEGLIGENCE, SHALL WE OR OUR AFFILIATES BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES THAT RESULT FROM THE USE OF, OR THE INABILITY TO USE, THE SITE, INCLUDING OUR MESSAGING, BLOGS, COMMENTS OF OTHERS, BOOKS, EMAILS, PRODUCTS, OR SERVICES, OR THIRD-PARTY MATERIALS, PRODUCTS, OR SERVICES MADE AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SITE OR BY US IN ANY WAY, EVEN IF WE ARE ADVISED BEFOREHAND OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. (BECAUSE SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN CATEGORIES OF DAMAGES, THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IN SUCH STATES, OUR LIABILITY AND THE LIABILITY OF OUR SUBSIDIARY AND PARENT COMPANIES OR AFFILIATES IS LIMITED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY SUCH STATE LAW.) YOU SPECIFICALLY ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY DEFAMATORY, OFFENSIVE OR ILLEGAL CONDUCT OF ANY USER. IF YOU ARE DISSATISFIED WITH THE SITE, ANY MATERIALS, PRODUCTS, OR SERVICES ON THE SITE, OR WITH ANY OF THE SITE’S TERMS AND CONDITIONS, YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY IS TO DISCONTINUE USING THE SITE AND THE PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND/OR MATERIALS THE FIRM IS NOT AN INVESTMENT ADVISORY SERVICE, IS NOT AN INVESTMENT ADVISER, AND DOES NOT PROVIDE PERSONALIZED FINANCIAL ADVICE OR ACT AS A FINANCIAL ADVISOR.

WE EXIST FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, AND THE MATERIALS AND INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN AND IN OUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES ARE FOR GENERAL INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. NONE OF THE INFORMATION PROVIDED BY US IS INTENDED AS INVESTMENT, TAX, ACCOUNTING OR LEGAL ADVICE, AS AN OFFER OR SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY OR SELL, OR AS AN ENDORSEMENT, RECOMMENDATION OR SPONSORSHIP OF ANY the Firm, SECURITY, OR FUND. OUR INFORMATION SHOULD NOT BE RELIED UPON FOR PURPOSES OF TRANSACTING IN SECURITIES OR OTHER INVESTMENTS.

WE DO NOT OFFER OR PROVIDE TAX, LEGAL OR INVESTMENT ADVICE ON THE SITE AND YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR CONSULTING TAX, LEGAL, OR FINANCIAL PROFESSIONALS BEFORE ACTING ON ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED BY US. THIS SITE IS CONTINUALLY UNDER DEVELOPMENT AND THE FIRM MAKES NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, IMPLIED OR EXPRESS, AS TO ITS ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS OR APPROPRIATENESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.

THE INFORMATION AND SERVICES OFFERED ON OR THROUGH THE SITE AND BY THE FIRM AND ANY THIRD-PARTY SITES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE PURSUANT TO APPLICABLE LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SITE OR ANY OF ITS FUNCTIONS WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT ANY PART OF THIS SITE, INCLUDING BULLETIN BOARDS, OR THE SERVERS THAT MAKE IT AVAILABLE, ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS.

WE DO NOT WARRANT OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE OR THE RESULTS OF THE USE OF THE SITE OR MATERIALS ON THIS SITE OR ON THIRD-PARTY SITES IN TERMS OF THEIR CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, TIMELINESS, RELIABILITY OR OTHERWISE.

You agree at all times to defend, indemnify and hold harmless the Firm its affiliates, their successors, transferees, assignees and licensees and their respective parent and subsidiary companies, agents, associates, officers, directors, shareholders and employees of each from and against any and all claims, causes of action, damages, liabilities, costs and expenses, including legal fees and expenses, arising out of or related to your breach of any obligation, warranty, representation or covenant set forth herein.

Termination

We may cancel or terminate your right to use the Site or any part of the Site at any time without notice. In the event of cancellation or termination, you are no longer authorized to access the part of the Site affected by such cancellation or termination. The restrictions imposed on you with respect to material downloaded from the Site, and the disclaimers and limitations of liabilities set forth in these Terms of Service, shall survive.

IRS Circular 230 Notice

To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the Internal Revenue Service, we inform you that any U.S. tax advice contained in this communication (or in any attachment) is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed in this communication (or in any attachment).

Refund Policy

Your purchase of a product or service or ticket to an event may or may not provide for any refund. Each specific product, service, event or course will specify its own refund policy.

No Attorney-Client Relationship or Legal Advice

Communication of information by, in, to or through this Site and your receipt or use of it (1) is not provided in the course of and does not create or constitute an attorney-client relationship, (2) is not intended as a solicitation, (3) is not intended to convey or constitute legal advice, and (4) is not a substitute for obtaining legal advice from a qualified attorney. You should not act upon any such information without first seeking qualified professional counsel on your specific matter. The hiring of an attorney is an important decision that should not be based solely upon Site communications or advertisements.

You also should not rely upon the transmission of an e-mail message to an attorney through this Site to create an attorney-client relationship. The transmission or exchange of information will not do so. Without an attorney-client relationship in the matter, we cannot assure you that your communications will be privileged or (unless we otherwise agree in a specific case) that we will treat them as such. Please do not send us any confidential or sensitive information until you speak with one of our attorneys and obtain prior written authorization to send that information to us.

Links

We may from time to time, directly or indirectly, provide links to or accept links from Sites of other parties for convenience. We do not control or maintain the material presented by other persons in their Sites. The inclusion of any link on our Site does not imply any association or relationship between the Firm and the person sponsoring the linked site and does not constitute or imply any endorsement, approval or sponsorship of the linked site by the Firm, or the endorsement, approval or sponsorship of the Firm by the sponsor of the linked site. The links do not imply legal authority to use any protected rights of others reflected in the links. We do not vouch for or assume any responsibility for the content, accuracy or completeness of material presented directly or indirectly in linked sites. If you use any of these links, you will leave our site.

Without our prior written consent, you agree that you will not link material on our site to another Site, or associate or frame material in this site with another Web page or materials of any other entity. If we permit such link, association or framing, you must agree to include or link with it this Disclaimers and Terms of Use Web page and to immediately terminate the link, association or framing at our request, unless we otherwise expressly agree.

If applicable, any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers, or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including information providers, are those of the respective authors or distributors, and not the Firm. Neither the Firm nor any third-party provider of information guarantees the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any content. Furthermore, the Firm neither endorses nor is responsible for the accuracy and reliability of any opinion, advice, or statement made on any of the Sites by anyone other than an authorized the Firm representative while acting in his/her official capacity.

Additional Disclosures and Information

Practice and other descriptions, including attorney biographies, on this Site may include descriptions of successful client representations, strategies or outcomes in matters, including transactional and adversarial proceedings. The results portrayed were dependent on the facts of the particular matters described, among other variables. Results will differ if based on different facts. We intend no assurance and make no guarantee or prediction that we will be successful in new matters, even if they involve similar facts and circumstances, or that we are successful in all matters. Results in any matter are not necessarily indicative of or similar to results in other matters.

Client Alerts, blog articles and similar material presented on this Site are summaries for general information and discussion only and may be considered an advertisement for certain purposes. They are not full analyses of the matters presented, may not be relied upon as legal advice, and do not purport to represent the views of our clients or the Firm. The views expressed in these newsletters are the views of the authors only except as otherwise noted.

For purposes of New York State Bar rules, this site may be considered attorney advertising.

We designate, to the extent that any jurisdiction requires designation, our Los Angeles, California office as our principal office and host server location and Bennett Yankowitz as the attorney responsible for this site.

Any disputes concerning this Site and the information in or use of it shall be governed by California law (without regard to conflicts of law principles), and any proceeding which may arise out of or in connection with this Site shall be brought solely in a court in Los Angeles, California.

All materials have been prepared for general information purposes only to permit you to learn more about our firm, our services and the experience of our attorneys. The information presented is not legal advice, is not to be acted on as such, may not be current and is subject to change without notice.

Other

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (the “DMCA”) provides recourse for copyright owners who believe that material appearing on the Internet infringes their rights under the U.S. copyright law. If you believe in good faith that materials hosted by the Firm infringe your copyright, you, or your agent may send to the Firm a notice requesting that the material be removed or access to it be blocked. Any notification by a copyright owner or a person authorized to act on its behalf that fails to comply with requirements of the DMCA shall not be considered sufficient notice and shall not be deemed to confer upon the Firm actual knowledge of facts or circumstances from which infringing material or acts are evident. If you believe in good faith that a notice of copyright infringement has been wrongly filed against you, the DMCA permits you to send to the Firm a counter-notice. All notices and counter notices must meet the then current statutory requirements imposed by the DMCA; see http://www.loc.gov/copyright for details. the Firm’s Copyright Agent for notice of claims of copyright infringement or counter notices can be reached as follows: info@yankowitzconsulting.com.

This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the Firm and our respective assigns, successors, heirs, and legal representatives. Neither this Agreement nor any rights hereunder may be assigned without the prior written consent of the Firm. Notwithstanding the foregoing, all rights and obligations under this Agreement may be freely assigned by the Firm to any affiliated entity or any of its wholly owned subsidiaries.

These Terms of Use shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California and any dispute shall be subject to binding arbitration in Los Angeles, California. If any provision of this agreement shall be unlawful, void or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from this agreement and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.

Changes

Although it is highly unlikely, these Terms may be changed at any time at our discretion. If we should update this policy, we will post the updates to this page on our Website.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding our Terms or privacy policy please direct them to: info@smcounsel.com.