Scope

This Privacy Policy describes how we handle your personal information for our services on the LegalClimate website. It applies generally to the LegalClimate.com website and other related websites where this policy appears in the footer of the page. The policy that applies on any of our domains or subdomains is always the policy that appears in the footer of each website.

Subject to the requirements of applicable law, we strive to provide a consistent set of privacy practices throughout the global LegalClimate user community. By accepting User Agreement in registration, you expressly consent to our collection, storage, use and disclosure of your personal information as described in this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy is effective upon acceptance for new users and is otherwise effective on September 26, 2007.

Collection

Once you give us your personal information, you are not anonymous to us. If you choose to provide us with personal information, you consent to the transfer and storage of that information on our servers located in the United States.

We may collect and store the following personal information:

  • email address, physical contact information, and (depending on the service used) sometimes financial information, such as credit card or bank account numbers;
  • transactional information based on your activities on the sites (such as comments and grades or other content you generate or that relates to your account);
  • community discussions, chats, dispute resolution, correspondence through our sites, and correspondence sent to us;
  • other information from your interaction with our sites, services, content and advertising, including computer and connection information, statistics on page views, traffic to and from the sites, ad data, IP address and standard web log information;
  • information from other companies, such as demographic and traffic data; and
  • other supplemental information from third parties.

Marketing

We don't sell or rent your personal information to third parties for their marketing purposes without your explicit consent. We may combine your information with information we collect from other companies and use it to improve and personalize our services, content and advertising. If you don't wish to receive marketing communications from us or participate in our ad-customization programs, email us and let us know that you do not wish to receive such material.

Use

Our primary purpose in collecting personal information is to provide you with a safe, smooth, efficient, and customized experience. You agree that we may use your personal information to:

  • provide the services and customer support you request;
  • resolve disputes and troubleshoot problems;
  • prevent potentially prohibited or illegal activities, and enforce our User Agreement;
  • customize, measure and improve our services, content and advertising;
  • tell you about targeted marketing, service updates, and promotional offers based on your communication preferences; and
  • compare information for accuracy, and verify it with third parties.

Our Disclosure of Your Information

We may disclose personal information to respond to legal requirements, enforce our policies, respond to claims that a listing or other content violates the rights of others, or protect anyone's rights, property, or safety.

We may also share your personal information with:

  • Members or employees of the company to help detect and prevent potentially illegal acts and provide joint content and services (for example, registration, transactions and customer support).
  • Service providers under contract who help with our business operations
  • Other third parties to whom you explicitly ask us to send your information (or about whom you are otherwise explicitly notified and consent to when using a specific service).
  • Law enforcement or other governmental officials, in response to a verified request relating to a criminal investigation or alleged illegal activity. In such events, we may disclose information relevant to the investigation, such as name, city, state, zip code, telephone number, email address, User ID history, IP address, fraud complaints, and comment and grading history.
  • Other business entities, should we plan to merge with, sell to, or otherwise be acquired by that business entity.

Using Information from LegalClimate

LegalClimate enables you to post comments and grades on various people and components of the legal community. You are entirely responsible for the content that you post into the system. LegalClimate disclaims all responsibility for the content that is posted.

You agree to use user information only for LegalClimate-related purposes that are not unsolicited commercial messages and agree to use LegalClimate in a manner that is not inconsistent with the laws of any state or country.

Cookies

We use "cookies" (small files placed on your hard drive) on certain of our pages to help analyze our web page flow; customize our services, content and advertising; measure promotional effectiveness, and promote trust and safety.

A few important things you should know about cookies are that:

  • We offer certain features that are available only through the use of cookies.
  • We use cookies to help identify you and maintain your signed-in status.
  • Most cookies are "session cookies," meaning that they are automatically deleted from your hard drive at the end of a session.
  • You are always free to decline our cookies if your browser permits, although doing so may interfere with your use of some of our sites or services.
  • You may encounter cookies from third parties on certain pages of the sites that we do not control. (For example, if you view a web page created by another user, there may be a cookie placed by that web page.)

No Spam, Spyware or Spoofing

We and our users do not tolerate spam. You are not licensed to add other LegalClimate users without their express consent. To report LegalClimate-related spam or spoof emails to LegalClimate, please forward the email to admin@legalclimate.com. You may not use our comment and grade tools to send spam or otherwise send content that would violate our User Agreement. We automatically scan and may manually filter messages to check for spam, viruses, phishing attacks and other malicious activity or illegal or prohibited content, but we do not permanently store messages sent through these tools.

Account Protection

Your password is the key to your account. Use unique numbers, letters and special characters, and do not disclose your LegalClimate password to anyone. If you do share your password or your personal information with others, remember that you are responsible for all actions taken in the name of your account. If you lose control of your password, you may lose substantial control over your personal information and may be subject to legally binding actions taken on your behalf. Therefore, if your password has been compromised for any reason, you should immediately notify LegalClimate and change your password.

Accessing, Reviewing and Changing Your Personal Information

You can see, review and change most of your personal information by signing on to LegalClimate and clicking on “My Account.” We may retain personal information from closed accounts to comply with law, prevent fraud, collect any fees owed, resolve disputes, troubleshoot problems, assist with any investigations, enforce our User Agreement, and take any other actions otherwise permitted by law.

Third Parties

Except as otherwise expressly included in this Privacy Policy, this document addresses only the use and disclosure of information we collect from you. If you disclose your information to others, different rules may apply to their use or disclosure of the information you disclose to them. LegalClimate does not control the privacy policies of third parties, and you are subject to the privacy policies of those third parties where applicable. We encourage you to ask questions before you disclose your personal information to others.

General

We may amend this Privacy Policy at any time by posting the amended terms on this site. All amended terms automatically take effect immediately.