Terms of Use

LAST UPDATED: [APRIL 23, 2024] 

 

1. Acceptance and Modifications 

1.1 Terms and Acceptance. Schiller DuCanto & Fleck LLP (“SDF,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) operates and provides the website maintained at https://www.sdflaw.com/ and its subpages (together with any associated features and functions, and the mobile and touch versions of the foregoing, collectively, the “Site”), to you subject to these Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Terms of Use (these “Terms”). These Terms establish the terms, conditions, rights, and responsibilities applicable to your access to and use of the Site. 

 

PLEASE READ THESE TERMS CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THE SITE. BY ACCESSING OR USING THE SITE, YOU ARE AGREEING TO COMPLY WITH THESE TERMS. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS, DO NOT ACCESS OR USE THE SITE. 

 

1.2 Age Requirements. The Site is offered and available to users who are 18 years of age or older. By using the Site, you represent that you are at least 18 years of age and are able to enter into legally binding contracts, including these Terms. If you are not at least 18 years of age, you may not use the Site. 

 

1.3 Changes to these Terms. We may change these Terms at any time and for any reason, and all such changes will be effective immediately upon notice, which we may give by any means, including, but not limited to, by sending a message to the email address that we have on file for you (if any) or posting a revised version of these Terms or other notice on the Site. You should view these Terms often to stay informed of changes that may affect you. Your use of the Site constitutes your continuing agreement to be bound by these Terms, as may be amended from time to time. 

 

1.4 No Legal Advice. The materials on the Site are intended for general informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. The content of the Site may not reflect the most current legal developments and may be changed, updated, or removed without notice. Do not consider the Site to be a substitute for obtaining legal advice from a qualified attorney licensed in your state or country, and do not act or refrain from acting on the basis of the information contained herein. SDF is not responsible for any errors or omission in the content of the Site or for damages arising from the use of the Site under any circumstances. 

 

1.5 Do Not Send Us Confidential Information. Our transmission and your viewing of the Site does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and SDF. If you are not an existing client of SDF, sending us an email or other message will not create an attorney-client relationship and we will have no duty to keep confidential any information that you send us, unless and until a formal attorney-client relationship has otherwise been established with us. Therefore, do not send us confidential information until you speak with one of our attorneys and receive our authorization to send the same. 

 

1.6 Advertising. The Site is not intended and should not be considered as a solicitation to provide legal services. However, the Site or some of its content may be considered advertising under the applicable rules of the Supreme Courts of the State of Illinois, the State of New York, and certain other states. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. 

 

2. License and Updates 

2.1 Limited License. Subject to your compliance with these Terms, we grant you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, revocable, limited license to access and use the Site solely for your personal use and in accordance with the Site’s intended purposes. The Site is made available solely on a hosted basis, and in no event will you have any right to access or use any of the software (including any object code or source code) underlying the Site. 

 

2.2 Changes to the Site. We reserve the right to change, update, modify, and/or discontinue the Site or any portion thereof, at any time and from time to time in our sole discretion, with or without notice to you. To the maximum extent permitted under applicable law, we shall not be liable to you or to any third party for any such changes, updates, modifications, or discontinuance of the Site (or any portion thereof). 

 

3. Proprietary Rights; Use Restrictions 

3.1 Ownership. You acknowledge and agree that the Site and its content constitute valuable proprietary information of SDF or its licensors and is protected by applicable intellectual property and other proprietary rights, laws, and treaties of the United States and other countries. We or our licensors own all intellectual property and proprietary rights, title, and interest in and to the Site and its content, including, without limitation, all patents, copyrights, trademarks, and other intellectual property rights therein. Except for the limited use rights granted to you in these Terms, you agree that you do not have and will not acquire any right, title, or interest in or to the Site or any portion thereof. Any rights not expressly granted in these Terms are expressly reserved. 

 

3.2 Use Restrictions. You may access and use the Site only as expressly permitted in these Terms and only in compliance with applicable federal, state, and local laws. Any other access to or use of the Site constitutes a violation of these Terms and will result in an automatic termination of the rights and licenses granted to you herein. In addition, you shall not, and shall not permit any third party to: (a) alter, remove, or obscure any copyright notices, proprietary markings, trademarks, or trade names contained on or within the Site or any of its content; (b) sell, rent, lease, sublicense, transfer, assign, time-share, distribute, or otherwise make the Site or any of its content available to any third party or for commercial purposes without our prior written consent; (c) decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer, or otherwise attempt to ascertain the source code or algorithms underlying the Site; (d) copy, modify, adapt, translate, or create derivative works of the Site or any of its content; (e) bypass or breach any security device or protection used for or contained within the Site; (f) use the Site in any fraudulent or unlawful manner; (g) use the Site to store or transmit infringing, libelous, or otherwise unlawful or tortious material, or to store or transmit material in violation of third-party and/or individual privacy or other rights; (h) use the Site to store or transmit viruses, worms, malware, ransomware, time bombs, Trojan horses, or other harmful or malicious code; (i) attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Site or impose an unreasonably or disproportionately large load on the Site, or otherwise interfere with or inhibit any other user of the Site from using or enjoying the Site; (j) use any automated system, including, without limitation, “robots,” “crawlers,” “spiders,” “offline readers,” etc., to access or use the Site; or (k) otherwise engage in any conduct or activity, or encourage or assist any third party in engaging in any conduct or activity, that violates any applicable laws or regulations or these Terms. You agree to fully cooperate with us in investigating and/or resolving any suspected or actual activity by you that we believe may be in breach of these Terms. 

 

3.3 Feedback. By submitting suggestions or other feedback regarding the Site, you agree that we and our licensors and third-party service providers may use and share (with no obligation to do so) such feedback for any purpose without compensation to you. You agree to only provide content or information that does not violate the law nor anyone’s rights (including, without limitation, intellectual property rights). 

 

3.4 Your Content. If you provide us with any information, data, materials, or other content through the Site (collectively, “Your Content”), you grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, modify, create derivative works of, display, perform, and distribute Your Content, in each case solely if, as, and to the extent necessary to enable us to respond to your inquiry(ies) and/or fulfill your request(s). You represent and warrant that: (a) you either own Your Content or have obtained and shall at all times maintain all necessary and/or legally required licenses, rights, consents, permissions, and authorizations to provide Your Content to us as contemplated under these Terms and to otherwise grant the license rights granted herein; and (b) you at all times have complied, and shall continue to comply, with all federal, state, local, and international laws and regulations, including data protection and privacy laws and regulations applicable to the collection, handling, processing, sharing, and/or storage of Your Content. As between you and SDF, you will retain ownership of all right, title, and interest in and to Your Content. 

 

4. Payment 

4.1 Payment. The Site may allow you to make payment of any invoices or bills received from us through a link on the Site. By submitting your credit card or other payment method to SDF, you expressly authorize SDF, or a third-party payment processor on our behalf, to charge the credit card or other payment method that you have provided and to collect the full amount that you specify on the payment page, including any applicable fees and charges. 

 

4.2 Third-Party Processor. The processing of your payments will be subject to the terms, conditions, and privacy policies of our third-party payment processor. You agree that SDF will not be responsible to you for any errors by our third-party payment processor or for any failures of the third-party payment processor to adequately protect your payment information, including any unauthorized charges or other breach of your financial information and/or security. You acknowledge that we may change our third-party payment processor at any time, with or without notice to you, and move your information to other service providers that encrypt your information using secure socket layer technology (SSL) or other comparable security. 

 

5. Security and Network Access 

5.1 Security. SDF takes such commercially reasonable measures as we deem appropriate to secure and protect Your Content. Nevertheless, we cannot and do not guarantee that any such transmissions are or will be totally secure. 

 

5.2 Network Access. You are responsible for acquiring and updating compatible hardware, software, devices, and network access necessary to access and use the Site. We do not guarantee that the Site, or any portion thereof, will function on or with any particular hardware, software, or device. The Site may be subject to malfunctions and delays inherent in the use of the Internet and electronic communications. 

 

6. Termination of Access 

We may, in our sole and absolute discretion and without notice or liability to you or any third party, immediately suspend, discontinue, and/or terminate or otherwise limit your access to the Site (or any portion thereof) for any reason, including, without limitation: (a) if we discontinue or materially modify the Site (or any portion thereof); (b) if we believe in our sole discretion that you have violated these Terms or any applicable laws or regulations; (c) at the request of law enforcement, governmental agencies, regulatory authorities, or courts; (d) if unexpected technical, security, or safety issues or problems arise; or (e) if we believe in our sole discretion that your access to or use of the Site may create risk (including, but not limited to, legal risk) for us, our contractual partners, or other users. Upon any termination, you will lose the right to access and use the Site. Any suspension or termination shall not affect your obligations to us under these Terms. The provisions of these Terms which by their nature should survive the suspension or termination of your access to or use of the Site shall survive, including, but not limited to, the “Acceptance and Modifications,” “Proprietary Rights; Use Restrictions,” “Indemnification,” “Disclaimers,” “Limitation of Liability,” and “Miscellaneous” sections of these Terms. 

 

7. Indemnification 

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless SDF and its officers, directors, partners, owners, employees, contractors, licensors, agents, representatives, successors, and assigns (collectively, the “SDF Parties”) from and against any and all claims, demands, suits, and other proceedings, and all resulting losses, damages, liabilities, judgments, penalties, fines, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees), arising out of or relating to: (a) your use of the Site; (b) your violation of these Terms; (c) Your Content, or our use or processing of Your Content in accordance with these Terms; (d) your violation of the rights of any third party (including any contractual, intellectual property, privacy, or other rights) or of any applicable law or regulation; or (e) your acts and omissions relating to any of the foregoing. We have the right to control the defense, settlement, and/or other resolution of any such claims, at your sole cost and expense. 

 

8. Disclaimers 

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE SITE AND ITS CONTENT ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS WITH ALL FAULTS AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, OR NONINFRINGEMENT, AND ALL SUCH WARRANTIES ARE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMED AND EXCLUDED. YOUR USE OF THE SITE AND ITS CONTENT IS SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. WITHOUT LIMITING ANY OF THE FOREGOING, THE SDF PARTIES DO NOT MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES, OR GUARANTEES: (a) THAT THE SITE OR ITS CONTENT WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR SATISFACTION OR ALLOW YOU TO OBTAIN ANY PARTICULAR RESULTS WHATSOEVER; (b) CONCERNING THE AVAILABILITY, ACCURACY, SECURITY, USEFULNESS, TIMELINESS, OR INFORMATIONAL CONTENT OF THE SITE; (c) THAT ANY INFORMATION, DATA, CONTENT, RESULTS, ADVICE, COMMUNICATION, OR STATEMENT PROVIDED ON OR THROUGH THE SITE IS OR WILL BE ACCURATE, CURRENT, COMPLETE, RELIABLE, OR OF ANY PARTICULAR VALUE OR QUALITY; (d) THAT YOUR USE OF THE SITE WILL BE SECURE OR UNINTERRUPTED; (e) THAT THE SITE OR ITS CONTENT WILL BE ERROR-FREE OR THAT ERRORS IN THE SITE WILL BE CORRECTED; OR (g) THAT THE SITE WILL BE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER DISABLING DEVICES OR HARMFUL COMPONENTS. 

 

9. Limitation of Liability 

9.1 LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE NEGLIGENCE OF ANY PARTY, WILL THE SDF PARTIES BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF USE, DATA LOSS, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES (EVEN IF THE SDF PARTIES HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES), RESULTING FROM, ARISING OUT OF, RELATING TO, OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH THESE TERMS OR YOUR USE OF, OR YOUR INABILITY TO USE, THE SITE, UNDER ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY. FURTHER, IN THE EVENT THAT THE SDF PARTIES ARE FOUND TO HAVE ANY LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF THESE TERMS OR YOUR USE OF THE SITE, YOUR SOLE REMEDY, AND THE SDF PARTIES’ TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY IN CONNECTION WITH THESE TERMS AND YOUR USE OF THE SITE, SHALL IN ALL EVENTS BE LIMITED TO TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS ($25.00). SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE PROVISIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IN SUCH JURISDICTIONS, THE SDF PARTIES’ LIABILITY IS LIMITED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW. 

 

9.2 Limitation on Claims. You agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to your use of the Site must be filed within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred. 

 

10. Digital Millennium Copyright Act Notice 

We respect the intellectual property rights of others and expect users to do the same. In appropriate circumstances, and at our sole discretion, we may terminate and/or disable access to and use of the Site by users suspected of infringing the copyrights (or other intellectual property rights) of others. Additionally, in appropriate circumstances, and in our sole discretion, we may remove and/or disable access to material on the Site that may be infringing or the subject of infringing activity.

In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, Title 17 of the United States Code, Section 512 (the “DMCA”), we will respond promptly to claims of copyright infringement that are reported to the agent that we have designated to receive notifications of infringement claims (our “Designated Agent”). Our Designated Agent may be reached via email at [bmaul@sdflaw.com]. If you are a copyright owner (or authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner) and have a good faith belief that your work’s copyright has been infringed, please report your notice of infringement to us by providing our Designated Agent with a written notification of claimed infringement that includes: 

(a) Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed; 

(b) Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing and information reasonably sufficient to help us locate the material; 

(c) Information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact you, such as a mailing address, telephone number, and email address; 

(d) A statement that you have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; 

(e) A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest; and 

(f) A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner. 

 

Please note that Section 512(f) of the DMCA may impose liability for damages on any person who knowingly sends meritless notices of infringement. Please do not make false claims. Any information or correspondence that you provide to us may be shared with third parties, including the person who provided us with the allegedly infringing material. 

 

Upon receipt of a bona fide infringement notification by our Designated Agent, we may remove or disable access to the infringing material, notify the user that we have removed or disabled access to the material, and/or terminate such user’s access to the Site (for repeat offenders). 

 

11. Miscellaneous 

11.1 Entire Agreement. These Terms and the Privacy Policy located at https://www.sdflaw.com/privacy constitute the entire agreement between you and us with respect to your access to and use of the Site. Any and all other written or oral discussions, agreements, and/or understandings previously existing between you and us with respect to the subject matter hereof are hereby superseded and canceled. 

 

11.2 Governing Law; Venue; Jury Trial Waiver. These Terms shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Illinois without regard to its conflict of laws rules that would result in the application of the laws of a jurisdiction other than the State of Illinois. If any dispute arises between you and SDF in relation to these Terms or your access to or use of the Site, you and SDF: (a) agree that such dispute may only be instituted in a state or federal court located in Cook County, Illinois, and waive any defenses or objections based on the jurisdiction, venue, or convenience of this exclusive venue; (b) irrevocably consent and submit to the exclusive personal jurisdiction and venue of such courts for resolution of such dispute; and (c) AGREE TO WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO A TRIAL BY JURY. 

 

11.3 Waiver; Severability of Terms. The failure of SDF to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, the remaining provisions of these Terms will not be affected, and the invalid, illegal, or unenforceable provision will be replaced by such valid, legal, and enforceable provision as comes closest to the intention underlying the invalid, illegal, or unenforceable provision. 

 

11.4 Assignment. We may assign or transfer our rights and duties under these Terms at any time to any third party without notice. You may not assign these Terms or any of your rights or obligations hereunder without our prior written consent. 

 

11.5 No Third-Party Beneficiaries. You agree that, except for the SDF Parties as expressly provided in these Terms, there shall be no third-party beneficiaries to these Terms. 

 

11.6 No Contest. Our electronically or otherwise properly stored copy of these Terms will be deemed to be the true, complete, valid, authentic, and enforceable copy, and you agree that you will not contest the admissibility or enforceability of our copy of these Terms in connection with any action or proceeding arising out of or relating to these Terms. 

 

11.7 Sole and Exclusive Remedy. Except as otherwise expressly provided herein, discontinuation of use of the Site is your sole right and remedy for any dissatisfaction with the Site or these Terms. 

 

11.8 Questions. If you have any questions regarding these Terms, please send us a message via the “Contact Us” page on the Site.