Privacy Statement
Last updated: April 11, 2023
OpenLaw is committed to protecting the privacy of individuals who visit our Website (“Visitors”) or individuals who register to use the Service (“Users” or “You”). This Privacy Statement describes OpenLaw’s privacy practices in relation to the use of our Website and Service.
Unless specifically defined, terms used throughout this statement have the same definitions as those given in the OpenLaw Terms of Use, available at http://www.getopenlaw.com/terms.
Like other website operators, OpenLaw collects information of the sort that web browsers and servers typically make available through the use of commonly-used information-gathering tools such as cookies (please see Section 4, “Our use of cookies,” for details). This non-personally identifying information (“User Non-Personal Information”) includes the visitor’s browser type, language preference, referring site, additional websites requested and the date and time of each Visitor request. We also collect potentially personally-identifying information like Internet Protocol (IP) addresses (please see Section 1, “Information we collect-Information collected about Users” for details about this collection procedure). OpenLaw’s purpose in collecting User Non-Personal Information is to better understand how our Visitors’ use our website to improve their user experience and to serve more relevant ads or promotional offers on our site or third parties’ sites based upon that information.
You may visit our Website without creating an account, but you will not have full access to our Service. Visitors who wish to use the Service must create an account, thus becoming a User. To create an account, Users must either provide OpenLaw with personal contact information, such as name and email address or sign in to OpenLaw via LinkedIn’s authentication service (please see Section 5, “Gathering and protecting the information we collect,” for details about this form of authentication).
Either form of account creation may create any information about a User which could, alone or together with other personally-identifying information, personally identify him or her (“User Personal Information”). OpenLaw collects User Personal Information only with your consent which you express by using our Service after reviewing this Privacy Statement and OpenLaw’s Terms of Use. User Personal Information may include information you provide us directly, such as your email address, or information we collect through your use of our Services, such as your preferences or your search terms. User Personal Information may include, without limitation, your name, your email address, your billing address, your credit card or banking information, your State Bar number (for attorney Consultant Users), your profession, your business or industry, your photograph, and other personal information you provide to us through your use of the Service.
We only gather the information you give us access to, and we only use it as described below. We only collect the minimum amount of personal information necessary or appropriate to fulfill the purpose of your interaction with us or to serve you more relevant ads or promotional offers.
User Personal Information does not include aggregated, non-personally identifying information. You may refuse to supply personally-identifying information; however, that refusal may prevent you from using OpenLaw’s Service.
OpenLaw does not knowingly collect information from, or direct any of our content specifically to, children or teenagers under the age of 18. If we learn or have reason to suspect that a User of our Service is under the age of 18, we will promptly delete any personal information in that User's account.
OpenLaw also makes use of location-based data for our Website. If you allow these Services, we will ask you to enter your general location. We use this information to provide Services to you or to serve you more relevant ads or promotional offers, not to personally identify you. If you choose not to allow OpenLaw to access your location, some or all functionality may not be available to you.
In order to access the Service, Job Posters may post certain information via an online Job Form or by speaking with an OpenLaw employee. This information may include, among other things, a description of the Job Poster’s business and legal question(s). This posted Job will be viewed by those Consultant Users who have access to view posted Jobs and may be viewed by OpenLaw employees to ensure quality control and provide technical support. Jobs posted privately will only be visible to one Job Poster and those Consultant Users specified by the Job Poster, as well as to OpenLaw employees. Therefore, no Job is confidential. Please do not share sensitive or confidential information via the Service.
OpenLaw uses User Personal Information to perform and provide the Services you request. For instance, we use User Personal Information to allow Job Posters to select the best Consultant User for their needs; facilitate communication between Consultant Users and Job Posters; and simplify invoicing and billing for Jobs. We use location-based data to allow Consultant Users to bid on Jobs in their local area and jurisdiction. We also use User Personal Information to populate online profiles.
OpenLaw may also use User Personal Information to communicate with Users. For instance, OpenLaw may use information you provide to send you information regarding our Services, such as promotions or events; to provide you with technical support; to solicit feedback about our Service; or to notify you if our policies change.
OpenLaw may use aggregated, non-personally identifying information gathered from our web server to operate, improve, and optimize our Website and Service.
We may use Personal or Non-Personal Information to serve you more relevant ads or promotional offers.
We do not disclose User Personal Information outside OpenLaw, except as described below or in Section 6, “Compelled Disclosure.”
OpenLaw may share User Personal Information with your consent to perform services you have requested, including displaying the information you have chosen to share in order to post or bid on a Job.
If you choose to upload a document by using our documents feature, only OpenLaw Consultant Users may review such documents. You may choose to make the document open to all Consultant Users who use the Service or provide access by request only. You may also provide different levels of control, including "View Only," "View and Download," and "Full Control" to such Consultant Users.
OpenLaw discloses User Personal Information only to those of our employees, third party contractors (e.g., our email service providers and payment processors), and affiliated organizations that need to know this information in order to process it on our behalf or to provide or improve our Service. In addition, our employees and other affiliates have agreed not to disclose this information to others, in accordance with terms and conditions at least as restrictive as this Privacy Statement. Some of our employees, contractors, and affiliated organizations may be located outside of your home country; by using OpenLaw’s Service, you consent to the transfer of such information to them. Please see Section 5, “Gathering and protecting the information we collect,” for more details.
OpenLaw may share User Personal Information if we are involved in a merger, sale, or acquisition. If any such change of ownership happens, we will seek to continue to ensure the confidentiality of User Personal Information, and we will notify you on our Website before any transfer of User Personal Information. The purchaser will have to honor any promises we have made in this Privacy Statement or in our Terms of Use.
OpenLaw may from time to time share, sell, rent, or trade User Personal and/or Non-Personal Information with third parties or permit third-party tracking, re-targeting or data analysis across our Website or Service for their or our promotional purposes (e.g., to serve you more relevant advertisements or promotional offers). These third parties may collect more information than OpenLaw collects.
OpenLaw may disclose aggregated User Non-Personally Identifiable Information about how our Users, collectively, use our Service, so that we may share general information about our Service, such as statistics about the average cost of legal services.
OpenLaw uses cookies to make interactions with our Website easy and meaningful and to serve you more relevant advertisements or promotional offers. A cookie is a small piece of text that our web server stores on your computer or mobile device, which we can then retrieve as needed. Cookies do not necessarily identify you if you are merely visiting the OpenLaw Website; however, a cookie may store a unique identifier for each logged in User.
OpenLaw uses temporary, or “session-based,” cookies, which are removed when you close your web browser or reboot your computer or device. We use session-based cookies to provide Services to you while you navigate our Website; remember that you are logged in during your visit; keep track of your progress as you post or bid on a Job; and increase Website security.
OpenLaw uses permanent, or “persistent,” cookies, which remain stored on your computer or device until deleted, or until they reach a specified date of expiration. We use persistent cookies to enable us to remember you each time you visit our Website; keep track of your preferences in relation to your use of our Website; allow you to log in without re-entering your password every time you visit; and serve you more relevant advertisements or promotional offers.
The cookies OpenLaw sets are essential for the operation of the Website, are used for performance or functionality; or serve you more relevant advertisements or promotional offers. By using our Website, you agree that we can place these types of cookies on your computer.
OpenLaw uses Google Analytics to help improve our Users’ experience. Google Analytics uses both session-based and permanent cookies to collect information about how our Website performs and how our Users use the Website and Service. The Google Analytics tool helps us evaluate and monitor Users’ use of our Website, compile statistical reports on activity on the Service, and improve our content. Google Analytics may collect more information than OpenLaw collects. Google Analytics stores the information these cookies generate.
OpenLaw will not, nor will we seek to allow any third party to, use the Google Analytics tool to (i) track our Users, (ii) collect any User Personal Information other than IP address, or (iii) correlate a User’s IP address with his or her identity. Google Analytics provides further information about its own privacy practices and allows the ability to opt out of Google Analytics tracking here.
You may disable your browser or device’s ability to accept cookies, but if you do, you may not be able to use OpenLaw’s Services.
OpenLaw takes all measures reasonably necessary to protect User Personal Information from unauthorized access, alteration, or destruction; maintain data accuracy; and help ensure the appropriate use of User Personal Information. We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the User Personal Information submitted to us, both during transmission and once we receive it. No method of transmission, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure. Therefore, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
In addition, while we take measures reasonably necessary to ensure that our third party service providers, such as our payment processing and data tracking, re-targeting or data analysis services, keep your information secure, these organizations' practices are ultimately beyond our control. By using our Service, you acknowledge that you understand and agree to assume these risks.
OpenLaw makes use of the industry standard OAuth authentication protocol. OAuth is a simple, secure process that allows you to grant OpenLaw access to your accounts on third party networks without sharing the passwords to those accounts. Using OAuth, the data you choose to share is securely transferred without revealing your login information. OAuth also allows you to verify that an application acting on your behalf is doing so only with the permissions you have granted it. Most social networks, such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Google, allow applications to access user accounts via the OAuth process. OAuth functions using authentication tokens, which will expire after a period of time and may be revoked.
OpenLaw uses third party service providers to transmit, store, encrypt, process and display uploaded documents on our behalf. OpenLaw has taken measures reasonably necessary to ensure that these services keep uploaded documents private and secure, but these organizations practices are ultimately beyond our control. By using the documents feature, you acknowledge that you understand and agree to assume the risks.
Information that we collect may be stored and processed in and transferred between any of the countries in which we operate in order to enable us to use the information in accordance with this privacy policy. By using the Service, you agree that we can store, process and transfer your information in this manner.
OpenLaw discloses potentially personally-identifying and personally-identifying information in response to a subpoena, court order or other governmental request, or when we believe in good faith that disclosure is reasonably necessary to protect the property or rights of OpenLaw, third parties, or the public at large.
In complying with court orders and similar legal processes, OpenLaw strives for transparency. When permitted, we will make a reasonable effort to notify Users of such disclosure.
However, if you have engaged an attorney Consultant through the Service (for example, by accepting a proposal and promising to pay or paying any required fees or costs), OpenLaw considers communications and documents shared with Consultant Users who are attorneys to be privileged attorney-client communications and, to the extent legally permissible, may notify the engaged attorney Consultant User of the subpoena, court order, or governmental request so that they may respond to the request. Furthermore, if an attorney Consultant User has been engaged, OpenLaw may no longer disclose information on a “good faith” belief.
As an OpenLaw User, you may access, update, alter, or delete your basic User profile information by editing your user profile or contacting info@getopenlaw.com.
Subject to the conditions set forth in the next paragraph entitled ‘Deletion of User Information’, OpenLaw will retain User Personal Information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you Services.
If you wish to cancel your account, delete your User Personal Information, or request that we no longer use your User Personal Information to provide you Services, please contact info@getopenlaw.com. We will retain and use your User Personal information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements, but barring legal requirements, we will seek to delete your full profile within 30 days.
OpenLaw may occasionally send Users an email to tell you about new features, solicit feedback, notify you of important changes, or just keep you up to date with what’s going on with OpenLaw and our products. You may manage your receipt of these communications by clicking on the “unsubscribe” link located on the bottom of OpenLaw’s emails or manage your notifications options in the “Settings” panel of your User Profile. Additionally, you may send a request specifying your communications preferences to info@getopenlaw.com. Please note that if you do opt out of promotional mailings, we may still send you important administrative emails, such as notices that affect your rights.
OpenLaw may change its Privacy Statement from time to time, and in OpenLaw’s sole discretion. We will provide notification to Users of material changes to this Privacy Statement (i) by sending a notice to the primary email address specified in your account, which will take effect immediately upon our sending of this email, and/or (ii) through our Website by posting a notice on our home page, which will take effect no sooner than 30 days from the date of the posting. Non-material changes to this Privacy Statement will take effect immediately. We encourage visitors to frequently check this page for any changes to our Privacy Statement. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of a revised version of this Privacy Statement constitutes your acceptance of its terms.
Questions regarding OpenLaw’s Privacy Statement or information practices should be directed to info@getopenlaw.com.