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Terms & Conditions

PLEASE READ THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THIS SITE. By using this site, you signify your consent to these terms and conditions and you agree to ensure that any person in your company or firm to whom you grant access to this site will abide by these terms and conditions. We reserve the right, at our discretion, to change, modify, add, or remove portions of these terms at any time. Please check these terms periodically for changes. Your continued use of SCVAN Legal’s website and app following the posting of changes to these terms will mean you accept these changes.

1. No Legal Services or Attorney-Client Relationship

The scvanlegal.org site is for lawyers, other legal professionals and law students, and provides general legal information for the public. No attorney-client communications or client confidences should be posted on the site. (See (2) for more information about preserving client confidentiality, attorney work product protection and the attorney-client privilege.) Your use of this site does not create any attorney-client or fiduciary relationship between you and SCVAN Legal Services (the administrator and owner of this site) or its employees. Your use of this site also does not create any attorney-client or fiduciary relationship between you and any other user of the site, including the practice area hosts.

Although this web site may provide information concerning potential legal issues, it is not a substitute for legal advice from qualified counsel. You should not and are not authorized to rely on this web site as a source of legal advice.

2. Use of the Advocate Forum

You are cautioned that the posting on this site of confidential information relating to a victim or case may constitute a breach of your ethical obligation to protect confidences.  Confidential information relating to a victim or case, including a victim's name, should therefore never be posted on the forum.

Consistent with preserving victim confidentiality, you may discuss on this site general scenarios in the form of hypotheticals, so long as there is no risk that another user of this site who lacks independently acquired information about the matter would be able to identify the client or any unique legal strategy involved. Users with specific questions about a particular client or case should contact the practice area host by email or telephone rather than posting questions on a forum. Similarly, users uncertain about the propriety of posting any question on a forum should refrain from posting the question and should consult the practice area host by email or telephone regarding the confidentiality and privilege implications of the question.

Appropriate postings:

* Can anyone tell me where I might find information regarding . . . ?

* Does anyone know housing resources for a victim in Richland County?

* Has anyone had a case that involved [any non-unique fact pattern or issue]?

Inappropriate postings:

* A victim, Ted Smith, . . . .

* Please call me at xxx-xxx-xxxx . . .

* I am helping a victim in the case of State v. Jane Anderson. . . .

Please keep in mind that breaching victim confidentiality can have severe consequences for you and the victim. In cases of doubt, do not post the question.

3. Privacy and Confidentiality

SCVAN Legal has adopted a set of information management guidelines which serve as the basis for protecting the privacy of the information on its site. These guidelines, which are accessible via the Privacy Policy link on this site, have been developed with the recognition that Internet technologies are rapidly changing, and that underlying business models are still not established. Accordingly, guidelines are subject to change. Any such changes will be posted on the Privacy Policy page on this site.

4. Rules Relating to Submission and Deletion of Materials

Portal members are entitled to submit memoranda, newsletter articles, outlines and other substantive materials for posting in the appropriate forum or practice area database. In posting works on SCVAN Legal, you are legally responsible for honoring the rights of others, including, but not limited to, intellectual-property rights (copyright, patent, and trademark), the right to privacy, and the right not to be defamed. Portal members shall not submit any material that is infringing, defamatory, violative of any applicable law or otherwise detrimental to the system. It is a violation of this agreement to use your portal membership in any way violative of the laws of South Carolina and/or the United States.

Since the law as to jurisdiction of on-line systems is unsettled, we urge you to consider the possible effect of laws outside South Carolina. We cannot guarantee that works you post on this site will not subject you to legal sanctions in other jurisdictions.

SCVAN Legal will delete any materials at the request of the member who submitted the materials. We reserve the right to delete (or to refuse to post) any materials it deems detrimental to the system. We reserve the right to edit materials submitted by members.

SCVAN Legal's website shall be used only in a noncommercial manner by you. By using our website, you agree that you will not, without the express approval of SCVAN Legal, distribute or otherwise publish any material containing any solicitation of funds, promotion, advertising, or solicitation for goods or services. You specifically agree that soliciting other forum members to join or become members of any commercial on-line service or other organization is expressly prohibited.

Each party that submits materials agrees that in uploading files to the system, it will use only computer systems employing reasonable means to check for and prevent the spread of computer viruses.

5. Rules Regarding Copyright on Submitted Materials

In posting information to our portal, you authorize other members who have access to that service to make personal and customary use of the work, including creating links or reposting among SCVAN Legal practice areas, but not otherwise to reproduce or disseminate it unless you give permission for such dissemination. You also give permission to SCVAN Legal to copy your works as part of the normal backup process, and to site administrators to archive topics containing your works.

6. No Warranties and Limitation of Liability

Information provided on this web site is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including without limitation warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or noninfringement. SCVAN Legal periodically adds, changes, improves, or updates the information and documents on this web site without notice. SCVAN Legal assumes no liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in the content of this web site. Your use of this web site is at your own risk. EACH MEMBER BY REGISTERING TO USE THIS SITE WAIVES ANY AND ALL CLAIMS RELATING TO THE USAGE OF THE SYSTEM OR MATERIAL OR INFORMATION MADE AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SYSTEM, WHETHER SUCH CLAIMS ARE AGAINST SCVAN LEGAL OR ANY OTHER PERSON WHO HAS SUPPLIED MATERIAL TO THE SYSTEM. Under no circumstances and under no legal theory shall SCVAN Legal, its suppliers, or any other party involved in creating, producing, or delivering this Web site's contents be liable to you or any other person for any damages, including but not limited to indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages of any character arising from your access to, or use of, this web site.

You agree to indemnify and hold SCVAN Legal and its members harmless from any claim arising as a result of your use of the system or the materials you upload or post on the system.

7. Rules Regarding SCVAN Legal Copyrights

SCVAN Legal authorizes you to view, copy, download, and print the materials on this web site in which it has a copyright for the purpose of fair use, subject to the following conditions:

* The materials may be used solely for personal, noncommercial, and informational purposes.

* The materials may not be modified.

* Any original copyright notice that appears on the work must appear on all copies.

The reproduction, copying, or redistribution of materials in which SCVAN Legal has a copyright for commercial purposes is prohibited without the express written permission of SCVAN Legal. To obtain permission to copy portions of this site, please send e-mail to legal@scvan.org and provide the following information in the body of the email:

* the content you wish to use

* where and how it will be used (for example, a book cover, magazine article, a brochure)

* where and how copies will be distributed and to what audience

* how many copies will be produced and distributed

* when you intend to publish

* what other non-SCVAN materials will be associated with the SCVAN content

* your name, title, company, address, email address, and phone number

We will evaluate your request and advise you as soon as possible. SCVAN Legal reserves the right to refuse permission to copy, distribute, broadcast, or publish any of its copyrighted material, including text and images on our web site.

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, nothing herein prohibits the use of  SCVAN Legal's graphics for the purposes of linking to SCVAN Legal.

8. Rules Regarding Service Marks and Trade Dress

SCVAN Legal service marks and trade dress identify SCVAN Legal products and services and let the public know the source of those products and services. You may make fair use of our service marks in referencing our products and services (for example, in a magazine article or in creating a link to SCVAN Legal) without our permission, provided you follow standard trademark usage practices and provide proper attribution. Other uses require our written permission. If you are in doubt as to whether you need our permission for a specific type of use, please ask us.

You may not use SCVAN Legal logos, "design" service marks (as opposed to our service marks consisting solely of words), or trade dress under any circumstances without our prior written authorization; provided, however, you may use SCVAN Legal's "design" service marks for the purposes of linking to SCVAN Legal.

In addition, you may not use SCVAN Legal service marks, whether design or word marks, or trade dress in the following ways:

* in a non-SCVAN Legal service name or publication title

* in, as, or as part of, your own service or trademarks

* to identify products or services that are not SCVAN Legal's

* in a manner likely to cause confusion

* in a manner that implies inaccurately that we sponsor or endorse, or are otherwise connected with, your own activities, products, and services

* as hidden or embedded text in web pages in an effort to cause a search of SCVAN Legal marks to result in a hit on a page not maintained by SCVAN Legal.

* in a manner disparaging of SCVAN Legal.

9. Links to Third Party Sites

If you use any links in this web site to web sites not maintained by SCVAN Legal, you will leave the SCVAN Legal website. The linked sites are not under the control of SCVAN Legal and SCVAN Legal is not responsible for the contents of any linked site or any link contained in a linked site. SCVAN Legal provides these links to you only as a convenience and the inclusion of any link does not imply recommendation, approval or endorsement by SCVAN Legal of the site, nor does it imply that the linked site recommends, approves of, or endorses SCVAN Legal.

10. Termination

Each subscriber is free to terminate his or her membership at any time for any reason. SCVAN Legal may terminate or suspend the privileges of any person to use SCVAN Legal and its related services without notice for any reason in its sole discretion, including but not limited to having reached the conclusion that any member has breached these terms or applicable rules. SCVAN Legal shall be free to terminate its provision of this service at any time.

11. Change of Information in the Roster

If any information that was provided by you when joining the portal has changed, you must inform us. In particular, any change in formation regarding your employer or affiliation must be immediately reported to the host of each practice area of which you are a member.

12. Choice of Forum

These terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of South Carolina, without giving any effect to any principles of conflicts of law. You agree that any action at law or in equity arising out of or relating to these terms shall be filed only in the state or federal courts located in South Carolina and you hereby consent to the personal jurisdiction of such courts for the purpose of litigating any action.

13. Arbitration

Any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to your use of SCVAN Legal, these Terms and Conditions for SCVAN Legal or the breach thereof, will be settled by binding arbitration conducted before one arbitrator who is knowledgeable in computer and cyberspace law. The site of any such arbitration shall be in Columbia, SC. The arbitration will be conducted in accordance with the then applicable Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association. The award rendered by the arbitrator will be binding and conclusive on the parties and judgment upon such award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof. Each party will bear its own costs and expenses, including fees and expenses of counsel, associated with the arbitration. The arbitrator will not be empowered to award punitive damages to either party.

14. Integration

These terms and conditions, including any supplemental rules posted on the system, incorporated herein by reference, constitute the complete statement of the agreement between the parties, which supersedes and merges all prior proposals, understandings, and all other agreements, oral and written, between the parties relating to the subject matter hereof.

15. Severability

If any provision of these terms is found to be invalid, void, or unenforceable, the parties agree that the remaining provisions hereof will not be affected thereby, that the provision in question may be replaced by the lawful provision that most nearly embodies the original intention of the parties, and that these Terms and Conditions for SCVAN Legal will in any event remain valid and enforceable.

This website is funded through under Grant No. 2020-V3-GX-K016, awarded by the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this website are those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.

This website was made possible by a subgrant from the National Crime Victim Law Institute (NCVLI) pursuant to Grant No. 2017-VF-GX-K130, awarded to NCVLI by the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of NCVLI.

This Web site is funded through a grant from the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Neither the U.S. Department of Justice nor any of its components operate, control, are responsible for, or necessarily endorse, this Web site (including, without limitation, its content, technical infrastructure, and policies, and any services or tools provided).

This Web site was made possible by a subgrant from the National Crime Victim Law Institute (NCVLI) pursuant to Grant No. 2017-VF-GX-K130, awarded to NCVLI by the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of NCVLI.

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