Expert Agreement

Effective Date: April 15, 2024

IMPORTANT NOTICE: THIS EXPERT AGREEMENT CONTAINS A BINDING ARBITRATION PROVISION AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER. IT AFFECTS YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS AS DETAILED IN THE ARBITRATION AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER SECTION BELOW. PLEASE READ CAREFULLY.

PLEASE NOTE THAT YOUR USE OF AND ACCESS TO THE PLATFORM (DEFINED BELOW) ARE SUBJECT TO THE FOLLOWING TERMS; IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO ALL OF THE FOLLOWING, YOU MAY NOT USE OR ACCESS THE PLATFORM IN ANY MANNER.

Table of Contents

1. Acceptance of Terms of Expert Agreement

2. The Platform

3. Modiﬁcation of Expert Agreement or Platform

4. Eligibility & Account Creation

5. Expert Conduct

6. Posts

7. Proprietary Rights and Limited License

8. Feedback

9. Payments to Experts

10. Duration and Termination of Agreement

11. Indemnity and Release

12. SMS Terms

13. Disclaimers

14. Limitation of Liability

15. Arbitration and Class Action Waiver

16. Venue and Governing Law

17. Links to Third-Party Sites and Services

18. Miscellaneous

1. Acceptance of Terms

This Expert Agreement (the “Expert Agreement”) is a binding legal agreement between you and ACF LLC (“ACF,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). ACF provides an online platform (the “Platform”) that connects users seeking answers to questions (“Customer”) with persons who answer such questions (“Experts”) (collectively, “Users”). This Expert Agreement governs your use of the websites, applications, and other offerings from ACF in your capacity as an Expert.

By using or otherwise accessing the Platform as an Expert, or clicking to accept or agree to this Expert Agreement, you (1) accept and agree to the terms of this Expert Agreement, Expert Community Guidelines, and all rules, policies, and disclaimers posted on the Platform or about which you are notiﬁed; and (2) consent to the collection, use, disclosure, and other handling of information as described in our Privacy Policy.

All references to “you” or “your,” as applicable, mean the person who accesses, uses, and/or participates in the Platform in any manner, and each of your heirs, assigns, and successors. If you use the Platform on behalf of an entity, you represent and warrant that you have the authority to bind that entity, your acceptance of this Expert Agreement will be deemed an acceptance by that entity, and “you” and “your” herein shall refer to that entity, its directors, ofﬁcers, employees, and agents.

2. The Platform

The Platform is an online venue for informational and educational purposes and connects Customers with Experts, for a small fee that the Customers pay and the Expert receives. ACF’s role in this process is merely to connect the parties, not to receive payment.

ACF is not in the business of providing or selling information or education that is within any Expert’s area of expertise, and ACF itself otherwise does not provide advice or any professional services to Customers. ACF earns no profit from this connection, though it asks Experts to consider making an annual tax-deductible donation to ACF in the amount of 10% of the income they earn from this connection.

You, as an Expert, are an independent provider of services, and you represent and warrant you are authorized to conduct the services contemplated in this Expert Agreement in the location in which you operate. You further agree that you are not an employee of ACF and you understand that (a) you have sole discretion in selecting which Customer questions to answer from those that are made available to you on the Platform, (b) you may elect not to answer any questions from Customers, and (c) you have sole discretion in controlling how you perform any services on the Platform. You shall remain solely responsible for the accuracy and content of your responses and compliance with this Expert Agreement, regardless of how you generate your responses.

No relationship (such as partnership, agent, joint venturer, or employee) between you and ACF is created by this Expert Agreement or your participation on the Platform. You acknowledge that you are not an employee or agent of ACF but are, like Customers, only Users of the Platform.

You shall act in accordance with this status and shall not hold yourself out as an ofﬁcer, employee or agent of ACF, nor make any claim based on any right or privilege applicable to ACF’s employees. Even if you happen to be an officer, employee, or agent of ACF, you are not acting in that capacity as an Expert. Once ACF connects you to the Customer, you will receive the Customer’s payment in entirety, directly from the Customer as a payment for your services, and not from ACF as an employee or independent contractor. The payment is not a salary or wage from ACF in any capacity, but instead a payment from a customer for services rendered.

Under no circumstances shall you look to ACF as your employer, or as a partner, agent, or principal. Nothing regarding your participation on the Platform will be considered as an endorsement, referral or recommendation by ACF of you or the answers you provide and you will not, either on the Platform or in any other forum or by any other means, suggest such an endorsement. Referrals are strictly prohibited. Representation of Customers is strictly prohibited. The services may not amount to anything more than guidance and education.

We are not involved in the conversations you may engage in with Customers on the Platform. ACF shall not be liable for (a) any acts or omissions by you, (b) content in posts made by Users on the Platform, including questions, answers, requests for information, responses, proﬁles, Expert signatures, qualiﬁcations, comments, proﬁle information, and posts in the Expert Forum and other places where Users communicate with one another (collectively, “Posts”), or (c) the ability of Customers to pay for answers. You understand and agree that ACF cannot ensure that a Customer will complete a transaction. You further understand and agree that Experts may not have access to all questions or requests from Users, and that ACF retains the right to route questions to Experts in its sole discretion.

EMERGENCY QUESTIONS AND CRISIS SITUATIONS, particularly regarding medical or mental health issues, should not be directed to the Platform and should, instead be directed immediately by telephone or in-person to qualiﬁed professionals (e.g., in the U.S., call 911). The Platform is not the appropriate venue to deal with such situations. Users must understand that not every question will be answered at all, let alone in a timely enough manner to address any emergency. Furthermore, Platform involves nothing more than legal expertise, so medical questions and medical emergencies are highly likely to not be answered at all unless there is a legal question that can be answered.

3. Modiﬁcation of Expert Agreement or Platform

Except for Section 15, providing for binding arbitration and waiver of class action rights, ACF reserves the right, at its reasonable and sole discretion, to modify or replace the terms of this Expert Agreement at any time. The most current version of this Expert Agreement will be accessible through the Platform at all times. Experts and expected to frequently review this Agreement to ensure compliance with its latest terms. You shall be responsible for reviewing and becoming familiar with any such modiﬁcations, without expecting any warning from ACF that the terms have been revised in any way.

Except as otherwise stated by ACF in writing, use of the Platform by you after any modiﬁcation to this Expert Agreement constitutes your acceptance of this Expert Agreement as modiﬁed. If you do not accept the changes to this Expert Agreement, your sole and exclusive remedy is to terminate your Account and discontinue use of the Platform.

ACF reserves the right at any time to modify, suspend, discontinue, or terminate, temporarily or permanently, the Platform or associated services (or any part thereof), with or without notice.

4. Eligibility & Account Creation

You hereby represent and warrant that you are fully able and competent to enter into the terms, conditions, obligations, afﬁrmations, representations and warranties set forth in this Expert Agreement and to abide by and comply with this Expert Agreement. Only individuals who are at least 18 years old and can form legally binding contracts under applicable law are permitted to apply to be or participate on the Platform as an Expert.

By registering as an Expert, you represent and warrant that you are properly and fully qualiﬁed and experienced, and licensed and insured as required by applicable laws or regulations to which you may be subject, in the jurisdiction(s) in which you provide your Answers.

As permitted by applicable law, we may (a) ask you to provide identiﬁcation or other information, (b) undertake checks designed to help verify your identity or background, (c) screen you against third- party databases or other sources and request reports from service providers, (d) request and obtain information about your professional credentials, and (e) otherwise request information or obtain information about you to protect the safety and security of the Platform, ACF, other Users, and the public.

Your account will be created manually by ACF, and those with an account will be granted access to the email of ACF’s hotline, where all hotline questions will be automatically directed.

5. Expert Conduct

a. Registration Information and Credentials

In applying to be an Expert or using the Platform as an Expert, you represent and warrant that you have and will continue: (a) to provide and maintain accurate, complete, and non-misleading information in connection with your registration and Account; (b) to provide and maintain accurate descriptions of any background, skills, knowledge, and level of experience (including professional licenses, certiﬁcations, education, employment, etc.) (collectively, “Credentials”); and (c) to be truthful including, without limitation, not misrepresent yourself, such as, but not limited to, using or creating a misleading username.

b. Changes in Credentials

If you experience any negative change to your Credentials (e.g. active license becomes inactive or suspended, disciplinary investigation is opened), you must notify ACF of such change by sending an email to help@ACF.org within twenty-four (24) hours of the change. In addition, if such change makes you ineligible to be an Expert on the Platform, then you must also immediately cease answering questions on the Platform.

c. Agreement to Audits

ACF reserves the right, and you agree to cooperate—including in responding to requests from ACF for information related to your Credentials—to periodically audit your Credentials or background. If you do not provide timely and accurate information, you understand we may terminate your Account.

d. Expert Community Guidelines

You shall comply with all requirements in the Expert Community Guidelines. Without limitation, you must be compassionate, polite, and respectful toward other Experts and Customers and to ACF personnel. Experts who are rude (or unprofessional, argumentative or threatening) to others, including Customers, other Experts, and ACF personnel, as determined by ACF in its sole discretion, may (1) be given notice of such violation and/or (2) have Accounts suspended, limited, or terminated. For more information, view the Rudeness Zero-Tolerance Policy of the Expert Community Guidelines. Without limiting any other requirements herein, your answers and Posts must relate to the question asked, must be appropriate, and shall not contain inappropriate, objectionable, offensive, harmful, or illegal content or materials.

e. Answering Questions and Ratings

You will provide competent answers that are within your realm of expertise and any applicable credentials only, and will use at least a reasonable standard of care in providing answers. A reasonable standard of care is the higher of: (i) the standard you apply in your profession not conducted on the Platform; or (ii) the standard of care required by the applicable profession.

You will abide by all laws, rules, regulations, and ethical standards pertaining to your profession and/or the profession applicable to categories in which you are an Expert (including, if applicable, any ethical obligations relating to conﬂicts of interest). By way of example only, you may not offer any guidelines or information to assist a Customer with engaging in or covering up a crime.

You will not answer questions in or related to any other categories or subcategories if you have not been veriﬁed in accordance with this Expert Agreement and admitted by ACF to answer questions that fall within such category. You shall not answer any question that is miscategorized; you agree you may ﬂag such question by using the Platform reporting function.

ii. Rules Speciﬁc to Certain Expert Categories

Experts in the Legal categories must be attorneys licensed to practice law, and be in good standing, in at least one jurisdiction in the United States or foreign country. Such Experts shall provide general information only, such as providing descriptions of general principles of law, and shall not provide legal advice. In responding to questions, Experts in the Legal Category shall not apply their legal knowledge or skills to resolve or advise on the Customer’s speciﬁc factual circumstances described in the question, such as by proposing a speciﬁc course of action (other than advising the Customer to seek the advice of an attorney licensed to practice in the relevant jurisdiction). Experts in the Legal Category shall not form an attorney-client relationship on the Platform; however, they may do so outside of the Platform.

iii. Checking-In with Customers

Where you have provided an answer to a Customer question, you may only check-in regarding that question (e.g., timeframe and frequency) as set forth in the Expert Community Guidelines.

iv. Ratings

You understand and agree that Customers may provide ratings of Experts who provide answers. To preserve the integrity of ratings, you shall not ask Customers to submit any ratings.

f. Limited Exclusivity

You will not duplicate—or authorize anyone else to duplicate—any portion of your answers on ACF on any other fee-based question-and-answer website, unless that question-and-answer component is via the ACF referral program or it is a website on which you are the only person answering questions. This does not prohibit you from providing the same substantive answer to a question, but only from providing it using the same words as used on the Platform. The provisions of this Expert Agreement are not intended to prevent you from practicing your profession, but only from engaging in the limited activity described therein.

g. Taxes

Expert acknowledges and agrees that Expert is obligated to report as income all compensation received from this hotline pursuant to this Agreement subject to applicable law in your jurisdiction. Subject to applicable law, Expert agrees to and acknowledges the obligation to pay all self- employment and other taxes on such income. Expert will receive no ACF-sponsored beneﬁts such as, but not limited to, paid vacation, sick leave, medical insurance, and 401k participation. If Expert is reclassiﬁed by a state or federal agency, court, or arbitrator as ACF’s employee, Expert will become a reclassiﬁed employee and will receive no beneﬁts from ACF, except those mandated by state or federal law, even if by the terms of ACF’s beneﬁt plans or programs of the Company in effect at the time of such reclassiﬁcation, Expert would otherwise be eligible for such beneﬁts.

h. Conﬁdential Information

Experts are granted access to the Platform beyond the access granted to Customers and, as such, have access to information not known by Customers of the Platform (“Conﬁdential Information”).

Experts shall (1) maintain all Conﬁdential Information in conﬁdence; (2) use such Conﬁdential Information in conﬁdence; (3) use such Conﬁdential Information only in connection with their legitimate activities on the Platform; (4) not use Conﬁdential Information for the purpose of developing, operating, or participating in any competing service; and (5) not disclose Conﬁdential Information to non-Experts unless required by law. For example, and without limitation, you will use any information obtained about Customers on the Platform strictly to provide your services as authorized by this Expert Agreement.

i. Other Rules and Prohibitions

As a condition of use, you agree you will not use the Platform for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by this Expert Agreement, or any other purpose not reasonably intended by ACF. By way of example, and not as a limitation, you agree not to:

Directly or indirectly manipulate, undermine, or disrupt the integrity of any feedback ratings, reports, or systems on the Platform, including, but not limited to, by ﬁling false reports about other Experts;

Establish a professional-client relationship on the Platform;

Use any automated programs to automatically lock questions that are posted on the Platform;

Create multiple Accounts on the Platform;

Use another User’s account to access the Platform;

Use methods to disguise your location or otherwise circumvent ACF’s tools to secure the Platform;

Post as an “Answer” (which a Customer will be prompted to rate) any information that is classiﬁed more aptly as an “Information Request”;

Directly or indirectly submit any Posts that are fraudulent, inaccurate, infringing, libelous, defamatory, abusive, offensive, obscene, pornographic or otherwise violates any law or right of ACF or Users or any other third party, including privacy rights, copyrights, or other intellectual property rights;

Directly or indirectly submit any Posts linking to afﬁliate programs, multi-level marketing schemes, or off-topic content;

Violate any federal, state, or local law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or ethical code;

Engage in any behavior that is defamatory, trade libelous, unlawfully threatening or unlawfully harassing;

Submit any content containing any viruses, Trojan horses, or other computer programming routines that may damage, detrimentally interfere with, surreptitiously intercept or expropriate any system, data, or personal information;

Except as expressly authorized by ACF, solicit or otherwise request personal information from Customers other than information strictly necessary to respond to the question;

Respond to questions from Customers directed speciﬁcally to another Expert, unless the other Expert has speciﬁcally opted out from further engagement with the Customer on that speciﬁc question or ACF has otherwise explicitly designated a question as available for answers from any eligible Expert;

Scrape, access, monitor, index, frame, link, or copy any content on the Platform by accessing the Platform in an automated way, using any robot, spider, scraper, web crawler, or using any method of access other than manually accessing the publicly-available portions of the Platform through a browser or accessing the Platform through any approved mobile application, application programming interface, or client application;

Decompile, reverse engineer, or otherwise attempt to obtain the source code or underlying ideas or information of or relating to the Platform;

Violate the restrictions in any robot exclusion headers of the Platform, if any, or bypass or circumvent other measures employed to prevent or limit access to the Platform;

Submit any Posts that advocate illegal activity or discuss illegal activities with the intent to commit them;

Engage in any activity that could cause us to violate any applicable law, statute, ordinance, or regulation;

Resell or make any commercial use of our system or the content on the Platform without our prior written consent;

Provide information on any other websites about ACF, unless you expressly state that your statements are not made on behalf of and have not been approved by ACF;

Falsely imply ACF’s endorsement, partnership, or otherwise mislead others as to your afﬁliation with ACF; or

Use the Platform in a way that violates or facilitates violations of this Expert Agreement, any other agreement or guidelines that govern use of the Platform, or attempt to do any of the foregoing directly or indirectly.

You understand that violation of these rules or this Expert Agreement more generally may result in the termination of your Account. You acknowledge and agree that ACF may remove any Posts and terminate any Account at any time for any reason (including, but not limited to, upon receipt of claims or allegations from third parties or authorities relating to Posts). ACF further reserves the right to report unlawful activity to law enforcement or other regulatory authorities.

You further understand that ACF has the right, but does not have any obligation, to monitor the use of the Platform and verify information provided by our Users.

6. Posts

Posts are not conﬁdential and may be used by ACF for any purpose. Posts are not private or conﬁdential, nor are they protected by attorney-client, doctor-patient, or any other privilege, and Posts may be read, collected, and used by others. For example, search engines may index questions, answers, and other Posts to allow them to appear in search engine results (e.g., if someone runs a search on google.com or another search engine, questions, answers, and other Posts on ACF.com that relate to the search may appear in the search results list).

Without limitation, we may use your signature and/or proﬁle information in emails sent to Customers alerting them to your answers and other Posts. You understand and agree that ACF may send Customers emails pertaining to their questions and your answers that are signed by your username (but sent on your behalf from a ACF email address). For example, ACF may let the Customer know that you have sent the Customer an email, have responded to their question, and/or have not been paid for an answer (and the Customer should therefore remit payment). As between you and ACF, you will maintain whatever ownership interest you have in and to the Posts you provide on the Platform. You are responsible for all Posts you contribute, in any manner, to the Platform, and you represent and warrant you have all rights necessary to do so, in the manner in which you contribute it. ACF reserves the right to remove any or all of your Posts, in whole or in part, at any time with or without notice.

You grant to ACF a non-exclusive, irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable (through multiple tiers) right to exercise the copyright, publicity, and database rights, including the right to use, reproduce, display, edit, copy, modify, transmit, publicly perform or create derivative works thereof, that you have in your Posts, in any media now known or not currently known, with respect to any such Posts. This license shall survive termination of the Platform, this Expert Agreement, or your Account. ACF does not claim ownership rights in your Posts and nothing in this Expert Agreement will be deemed to restrict rights that you may have to use and exploit your Posts.

Any information or content publicly posted or privately transmitted through the Platform is the sole responsibility of the person from whom such content originated, and you access all such information and content at your own risk, and we aren’t liable for any errors or omissions in that information or content or for any damages or loss you might suffer in connection with it. You acknowledge and agree that ACF may or may not, in its sole discretion, pre-screen Posts before posted on the Platform, but has no obligation to do so. ACF reserves the right (but does not assume the obligation) in its sole discretion to reject, move, edit or remove any Posts, including but not limited to any Post that violates this Expert Agreement or is otherwise objectionable. You understand that by using the Platform, you may be exposed to Posts that you may consider offensive or objectionable. We cannot control and have no duty to take any action regarding how you may interpret and use Posts or what actions you may take as a result of having been exposed to Posts, and you hereby release us from all liability for you having acquired or not acquired Posts through the Platform. While we may try to do so, we can’t guarantee the identity of any Users with whom you interact in using the Platform and are not responsible for which Users gain access to the Platform.

To allow ACF to assist you in protecting your copyrights in your Posts, at its sole discretion, you grant ACF the right to act on your behalf solely in submitting DMCA takedown notices to other websites to remove copies of your Answers on ACF.com from other websites. You agree to notify ACF at help@amicuscf.org within twenty-four (24) hours of posting any portion of your Answers on another website or granting permission to another person or entity to do so, so that ACF does not submit a DMCA takedown notice for such content. If you do not wish ACF to assist you in protecting your copyrights in this manner, please send an email to that effect to help@amicuscf.org. You agree that ACF has no obligation to make any searches or submit any DMCA takedown notices on your behalf.

7. Proprietary Rights and Limited License

All right, title, and interest in and to the Platform, are and will remain the exclusive property of ACF and its licensors. All materials therein, including, without limitation, software, images, text, graphics, illustrations, logos, patents, trademarks, service marks, copyrights, photographs, audio, videos, music, and all intellectual property rights related thereto, are the exclusive property of ACF and its licensors. The Platform is protected by copyright, trademark, and other laws of both the United States and foreign countries. You acknowledge that the Platform has been developed, compiled, prepared, revised, selected, and arranged by ACF and others through the application of methods and standards of judgment developed and applied through the expenditure of substantial time, effort, and money and constitute valuable intellectual property of ACF and such others. Except as explicitly provided herein, nothing in this Expert Agreement gives you a right to use the ACF name or any of the ACF trademarks, logos, domain names and other distinctive brand features. Any other trademarks, service marks, logos, trade

names and any other proprietary designations are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Subject to your complete and ongoing compliance with the terms of this Expert Agreement, ACF grants you a non-transferable, non-exclusive, revocable, limited license to access and use the Platform. We reserve all rights not expressly granted to you by this Expert Agreement.

8. Feedback

By sending us any feedback, comments, questions, or suggestions concerning ACF, the Platform or us (collectively, “Feedback”) you represent and warrant (a) that you have the right to disclose the Feedback, (b) that the Feedback does not violate the rights of any other person or entity, and (c) that your Feedback does not contain the conﬁdential or proprietary information of any third party or parties. By sending us any Feedback, you further (i) agree that we are under no obligation of conﬁdentiality, express or implied, with respect to the Feedback, (ii) acknowledge that we may have something similar to the Feedback already under consideration or in development, (iii) grant us an irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, worldwide license to use, modify, prepare derivative works, publish, distribute and sublicense the Feedback, and (iv) irrevocably waive, and cause to be waived, against ACF and its users any claims and assertions of any moral rights contained in such Feedback. This Feedback section shall survive any termination of your participation in the Platform or this Expert Agreement.

9. Payments to Experts

a. Standard Questions and Service

Customers on ACF are presented with a straightforward flat fee for answering their question. The fee will vary from time to time. Customers provide their credit card information ahead of time and agree to be charged that flat fee in the event that their question is answered.

In addition to that fee, there will be options for Customers to agree to additional fees for additional services, such as document review, document generation, urgent questions that will receive priority in being answered (if they can be answered at all), and other categories that may come and go.

These are not ACF’s fees, inasmuch as ACF receives nothing of or from these fees. Instead, these fees will go directly to the Expert, who agrees to reduce their usual fees for answering such questions and providing such services in order to assist ACF in accomplishing its nonprofit goal of providing free or discount legal aid to the community.

b. Customer Paid Bonuses

Customers may have the opportunity to provide Experts bonuses or tips (“Customer Paid Bonus”).

d. Customers’ Ability to Pay and Payment Processing Disclaimers

You acknowledge that ACF has no control over, and makes no representation or warranty of any kind, as to the ability or willingness of Customers to pay for the answers provided by Experts. In addition, you acknowledge that you are never required by ACF to answer any questions on the Platform.

ACF disclaims any warranty that its billing and payment system is without error. If an Expert believes there is a problem with ACF’s billing or payment system, the Expert should notify ACF by email to help@amicuscf.org within thirty (30) days of such problem.

Upon receipt of the notiﬁcation of such a problem, ACF will, in good faith, work to remedy any alleged payment errors.

Similarly, ACF will investigate any refund requests and ask Expert to refund Customers if and when a refund is justified. If an Expert answers a question with the information provided by the Customer and the Customer is charged the a flat fee in the amount that they agreed to pay in order to answer their question and additional service requests, then a refund will rarely be justified.

10. Duration and Termination of Agreement

Duration. The term of this Expert Agreement shall be for an initial duration from your acceptance of the Expert Agreement to thirty days after ACF approves you as an Expert on the Platform, and will automatically renew for thirty-day intervals on the thirtieth day of the initial duration and of each successive term thereafter (each a "Duration"), unless and until one party gives the other at least ten days' written notice before the end of the then-current Duration of its intention not to renew this Expert Agreement.

Termination. You may terminate your Account by written notice via e-mail to help@amicuscf.org. Terminations typically will be effective within seven (7) business days after our receipt of your termination notice, at which time your Account will be closed, and you will no longer be able to access your former Account. Any payments accrued as of the effective date of termination will be payable on or before the next Expert payout date or otherwise according to this Agreement.

Expert Violations. Without limiting any other rights available to ACF, if (i) you breach this Expert Agreement, (ii) you violate applicable laws, regulations, or third-party rights, or (iii) ACF believes it is reasonably necessary to protect ACF, its Users, or third parties; ACF may, with or without prior notice:

suspend or limit your access to or use of the Platform and/or your Account;

suspend or remove Posts; and/or

terminate your Account.

Effect of Termination. If you have accrued any fees in your Account, those fees will remain available to you except where such fees were unlawfully or fraudulently obtained. You are not entitled to a restoration of your Account or any of your Posts if you terminate your Account, though you may create a new Account unless prohibited by this Expert Agreement. If your access to or use of the Platform has been limited, or your Account has been suspended, or this Expert Agreement has been terminated by us, you may not register a new Account or access or use the Platform through an account of another User.

Survival. All provisions that are necessary to effectuate those sections shall survive termination.

11. Indemnity and Release

You agree to release and to indemnify, defend and hold harmless ACF and its parents, subsidiaries, afﬁliates and agents, as well as the ofﬁcers, directors, employees, shareholders and representatives of any of the foregoing entities, from and against any and all losses, liabilities, expenses, damages, costs (including attorneys’ fees and court costs) claims, actions, inquiries, or investigations of any kind whatsoever arising out of or resulting from your use of the Platform, your violation of this Expert Agreement, and any of your acts or omissions that implicate publicity rights, defamation or invasion of privacy. ACF reserves the right, at its own expense, to assume exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemniﬁcation by you and, in such case, you agree to cooperate with ACF in the defense of such matter.

In the event that you have a dispute with one or more other Users, you release ACF, its ofﬁcers, employees, agents, and successors from claims, demands, and damages of every kind or nature, known or unknown, suspected or unsuspected, disclosed or undisclosed, arising out of or in any way related to such disputes and/or our Platform. If you are a California resident, you waive California Civil Code Section 1542, which provides:

A general release does not extend to claims that the creditor or releasing party does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor at the time of executing the release and that, if known by

him or her, would have materially affected his or her settlement with the debtor or released party.

If you are not a California resident, you waive your rights under any statute or common law principle similar to California Civil Code Section 1542 that governs your rights in the jurisdiction of your residence.

12. SMS Terms

By registering for the Platform, you consent to receive communications from us, which may include calls and text messages to the cellular telephone number you provide to us. For example, we may text you with transactional alerts about your Account. You may also sign up to receive marketing or promotional calls and text messages. Any text messages we send to you are subject to our SMS Terms & Conditions. You may opt out of receiving certain communications by following the unsubscribe options we provide to you. You acknowledge that opting out of receiving communications may impact your use of the Platform.

13. Disclaimers

Neither ACF nor its licensors or suppliers make any representations or warranties concerning any content contained in or accessed through the Platform, and we will not be responsible or liable for the accuracy, copyright compliance, legality, or decency of material contained in or accessed through the Platform. We (and our licensors and suppliers) make no representations or warranties regarding suggestions or recommendations of services or products offered or purchased through the Platform. Products and services purchased or offered (whether or not following such recommendations and suggestions) through the Platform are provided “AS IS” and without any warranty of any kind from ACF or others.

YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT ACF DOES NOT HAVE AN OBLIGATION, BUT RESERVES THE RIGHT FOR ANY REASON, (A) TO MONITOR, REVIEW, AND/OR REMOVE POSTS; OR (B) FOR ANY PERMISSIBLE PURPOSE, TO CONDUCT IDENTITY VERIFICATION, BACKGROUND (INCLUDING CRIMINAL BACKGROUND) OR REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER CHECKS ON ANY EXPERT. THE PLATFORM AND CONTENT ARE PROVIDED BY ACF (AND ITS LICENSORS AND SUPPLIERS) ON AN “AS-IS” BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, OR THAT USE OF THE PLATFORM WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE OR ERROR-FREE OR THAT THE RESULTS OR CONTENT THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE PLATFORM WILL BE ACCURATE OR

RELIABLE OR THAT THE QUALITY OF ANY PRODUCTS, SERVICES, INFORMATION OR OTHER MATERIAL PURCHASED OR OBTAINED BY YOU THROUGH THE PLATFORM WILL MEET YOUR EXPECTATIONS. NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED FROM ACF OR THROUGH THE PLATFORM, WILL CREATE ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY MADE HEREIN.

YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL OF YOUR COMMUNICATIONS AND INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER USERS AND WITH OTHER PERSONS WITH WHOM YOU COMMUNICATE OR INTERACT AS A RESULT OF YOUR USE OF THE PLATFORM, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY CUSTOMER. YOU UNDERSTAND THAT ACF MAY NOT REVIEW OR VET POSTS. ACF MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES AS TO THE CONDUCT OF USERS OR THEIR COMPATIBILITY WITH ANY CURRENT OR FUTURE USERS. YOU AGREE TO TAKE REASONABLE PRECAUTIONS IN ALL COMMUNICATIONS AND INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER USERS AND WITH OTHER PERSONS WITH WHOM YOU COMMUNICATE OR INTERACT AS A RESULT OF YOUR USE OF THE PLATFORM, PARTICULARLY IF YOU DECIDE TO MEET OFFLINE OR IN PERSON AND GIVE OR RECEIVE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. ACF EXPLICITLY DISCLAIMS ALL LIABILITY FOR ANY ACT OR OMISSION OF ANY USERS OR THIRD PARTIES.

SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON HOW LONG AN IMPLIED WARRANTY LASTS, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

14. Limitation of Liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT ALLOWED BY APPLICABLE LAW, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES AND UNDER NO LEGAL THEORY (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, TORT, CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE) SHALL ACF (OR ITS LICENSORS OR SUPPLIERS) BE LIABLE TO YOU OR TO ANY OTHER PERSON FOR (A) ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, EXEMPLARY OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR LOST PROFITS, LOSS OF GOODWILL, WORK STOPPAGE, ACCURACY OF RESULTS, OR COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, OR (B) ANY AMOUNT, IN THE AGGREGATE, HIGHER THAN THE GREATER OF (I) $100 OR (II) THE AMOUNTS PAID BY ACF TO YOU IN CONNECTION WITH THE PLATFORM IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTH PERIOD PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE APPLICABLE CLAIM. THE LIMITATIONS ON DAMAGES SET FORTH ABOVE ARE FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS OF THE BASIS OF THE BARGAIN AND ARE MATERIAL TO ACF’S DECISION TO ENTER INTO THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN ACF AND YOU. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION AND EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

THE LIMITATION OF LIABILITY DESCRIBED ABOVE SHALL APPLY FULLY TO RESIDENTS OF NEW JERSEY.

15. Arbitration and Class Action Waiver

PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY – IT MAY SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECT YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS, INCLUDING YOUR RIGHT TO FILE A LAWSUIT IN COURT.

a. Initial Dispute Resolution

Our Support Department is available to address any concerns you may have regarding the Platform. Our Support Department can resolve most concerns quickly to our Users’ satisfaction. The parties shall use their best efforts through this Support process to settle any dispute, claim, question, or disagreement and engage in good faith negotiations which shall be a condition to either party initiating a lawsuit or arbitration. Failure to engage in this process could result in the award of fees against you in arbitration. To adequately engage in initial dispute resolution, each party must notify the other party, in writing, of the facts of the dispute and all damages claimed. Such a writing must be sent to (a) the Expert’s email address on ﬁle with ACF, or (b) ACF LLC, P.O. Box 29045, San Francisco, CA 94129, or help@amicuscf.org, whichever is applicable (“Dispute Notiﬁcation”). The party receiving the Dispute Notiﬁcation has thirty (30) days from receipt of the Dispute Notiﬁcation to respond. The other party then has 15 days to reply to the response.

b. Binding Arbitration

If the parties do not reach an agreed upon solution within a period of 30 days from the time informal dispute resolution begins under the Initial Dispute Resolution provision, then either party may initiate binding arbitration as the sole means to resolve claims, subject to the terms set forth below. This agreement to arbitrate is a contract governed by the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. section 1, et seq., and evidences a transaction involving commerce. Speciﬁcally, all claims arising out of or relating to this Expert Agreement (including their formation, performance and breach), the parties’ relationship with each other, and/or your use of the Platform and any services made available through the Platform, shall be ﬁnally settled by binding arbitration administered by JAMS in accordance with the provisions of its Streamlined Arbitration Rules and Procedures, excluding any rules or procedures governing or permitting class or representative actions and except that each party will be permitted at least one deposition unless forbidden by JAMS. If for any reason JAMS is unable to administer arbitration, either party may apply to a court to appoint an arbitrator pursuant to 9 U.S.C. section 5.

Except as explicitly set forth in this Section 15, the arbitrator, and not any federal, state or local court or agency, shall have exclusive authority to resolve all disputes arising out of or relating to the interpretation, applicability, enforceability or formation of this Expert Agreement, including, but not

limited to any claim that all or any part of this Expert Agreement is void or voidable, whether a claim is subject to arbitration, and any dispute regarding the payment of JAMS administrative or arbitrator fees (including the timing of such payments and remedies for nonpayment). The arbitrator shall be empowered to grant whatever relief would be available in a court under law or in equity. The arbitrator shall also be empowered to consolidate claims raised between the same parties to a single arbitration proceeding. The parties agree that the arbitrator may allow the ﬁling of dispositive motions if they are likely to efﬁciently resolve or narrow issues in dispute. The arbitrator’s award shall be written and binding on the parties, and may be entered as a judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction. No arbitration award or decision will have any preclusive effect as to issues or claims in any dispute with anyone who is not a named party to the arbitration.

The Streamlined Arbitration Rules governing the arbitration may be accessed at www.jamsadr.com or by calling JAMS at (800) 352-5267. If you commence arbitration in accordance with this Expert Agreement, you will be required to pay $250 to initiate the arbitration. To the extent the ﬁling fee for the arbitration exceeds the cost of ﬁling a lawsuit, the arbitrator may require ACF to pay the additional cost. You are responsible for your own attorneys’ fees unless the arbitration rules and/or applicable law provide otherwise. If the arbitrator ﬁnds the arbitration to be non-frivolous, ACF will pay the remaining ﬁling and arbitrator fees for the arbitration, provided your claim does not exceed $75,000. For claims above $75,000, fees and costs will be determined in accordance with applicable JAMS rules. The arbitration rules permit you to recover attorney’s fees in certain cases.

Any arbitration demand or counterclaim asserted by either party must contain sufﬁcient information to provide fair notice to the other party of the asserting party’s identity, the claims being asserted, and the factual allegations on which they are based. The arbitrator and/or JAMS may require amendment of any demand or counterclaim that does not satisfy these requirements. The arbitrator has the right to impose sanctions in accordance with JAMS Rule 24 for any claims the arbitrator determines to be frivolous or improper (under the standard set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11).

The parties agree that JAMS has discretion to modify the amount or timing of any administrative or arbitration fees due under JAMS’s Rules where it deems appropriate, provided that such modiﬁcation does not increase the costs to you, and you waive any objection to such fee modiﬁcation. The parties also agree that a good-faith challenge by either party to the fees imposed by JAMS does not constitute a default, waiver, or breach of this Section 15 while such challenge remains pending before JAMS, the arbitrator, and/or a court of competent jurisdiction.

The parties understand that, absent this mandatory provision, they would have the right to sue in court and have a jury trial. They further understand that, in some instances, the costs of arbitration could exceed the costs of litigation and the right to discovery may be more limited in arbitration than in court.

c. Location

If you are a resident of the United States, arbitration will take place at any reasonable location within Washington D.C. You and ACF agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of any federal or state court in Washington D.C., in order to compel arbitration, to stay proceedings pending arbitration, or to conﬁrm, modify, vacate or enter judgment on the award entered by the arbitrator.

d. Class Action Waiver

The parties further agree that any arbitration shall be conducted in their individual capacities only and not as a class action or other representative action, and the parties expressly waive their right to ﬁle a class action or seek relief on a class basis. YOU AND ACF AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN YOUR OR ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. Notwithstanding any other provision of these terms, disputes regarding the interpretation, applicability, or enforceability of the Class Action Waiver may be resolved only by a court and not by an arbitrator. If there is a ﬁnal judicial determination that applicable law precludes enforcement of this paragraph’s limitations as to a particular remedy, then that remedy (and only that remedy) must be severed from the arbitration and may be sought in court. The parties agree, however, that any adjudication of remedies not subject to arbitration shall be stayed pending the outcome of any arbitrable claims and remedies.

e. Exception - Litigation of Intellectual Property and Small Claims Court Claims

Notwithstanding the parties’ decision to resolve all disputes through arbitration, either party may bring an action in state or federal court to protect its intellectual property rights (“intellectual property rights” means patents, copyrights, moral rights, trademarks, and trade secrets, but not privacy or publicity rights). Either party may also elect to have disputes or claims resolved in a small claims court that are within the scope of that court’s jurisdiction. Either party may also seek a declaratory judgment or other equitable relief in a court of competent jurisdiction regarding whether a party’s claims are time-barred or may be brought in small claims court in your state and county of residence. Seeking such relief shall not waive a party’s right to arbitration under this agreement.

f. 30-Day Right to Opt Out

You have the right to opt-out and not be bound by the arbitration and class action waiver provisions set forth above by sending written notice of your decision to opt-out to the following email address: help@amicuscf.org. The notice must be sent within 30 days of your ﬁrst use of the Platform, whichever is later, otherwise you shall be bound to arbitrate disputes in accordance with the terms of those paragraphs. If you opt out of these arbitration provisions, ACF also will not be bound by them.

g. Changes to this Section

ACF will provide 30 days’ notice of any changes affecting the substance of this Section 15. Changes will become effective on the 30th day. If you continue to use the site after the 30th day, you agree that any unﬁled claims of which ACF does not have actual notice are subject to the revised clause.

16. Venue and Governing Law

For any dispute not subject to arbitration or under the jurisdiction of a small claims court, you and ACF agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of and venue in the federal and state courts located in Washington D.C. You further agree to accept service of process by mail, and hereby waive any and all jurisdictional and venue defenses otherwise available.

This Expert Agreement and the relationship between you and ACF shall be governed by the laws of Washington D.C. without regard to conﬂict of law provisions.

17. Links to Third-Party Sites and Services

The Platform may provide, or third parties may provide, links to other sites, applications or resources. Because ACF has no control over such sites, applications and resources, you acknowledge and agree that ACF is not responsible for the availability of such external sites, applications or resources, and does not endorse and is not responsible or liable for any content, advertising, products or other materials on or available from such sites or resources. You further acknowledge and agree that ACF shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with use of or reliance on any such content, goods or services available on or through any such site or resource.

18. Miscellaneous

Entire Agreement. This Expert Agreement (and any additional terms, contracts, rules and conditions that ACF may post on the Platform) constitute the entire agreement between you and ACF with respect to your access to and use of Platform in your capacity as an Expert and supersedes any prior agreements, oral or written, between you and ACF. If there is a conﬂict between an oral or written representation of any ACF employee or agent and this Expert Agreement (other than modiﬁcations to this Expert Agreement executed in writing by the CEO or authorized-in-fact representative of ACF), this Expert Agreement will prevail. To the extent the terms of this Expert Agreement are in conﬂict or inconsistent with one another, this Expert

Agreement and the Privacy Policy will prevail for Experts over other terms, rules, policies, and FAQs on the Platform.

Waiver and Severability of Terms of this Expert Agreement. The failure of ACF to exercise or enforce any right or provision of this Expert Agreement shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of this Expert Agreement is found by an arbitrator or court of competent jurisdiction (as applicable) to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the arbitrator or court should endeavor to give effect to the parties’ intentions as reﬂected in the provision, and the other provisions of this Expert Agreement remain in full force and effect.

Statute of Limitations. You agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to the use of the Platform or this Expert Agreement must be ﬁled within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred. This statute of limitations provision does not apply to residents of New Jersey.

Notice. ACF may give notice by any means of communication reasonably anticipated to notify you of the information provided. You agree that all notices, disclosures, and other communications that we provide to you electronically satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing or be delivered in a particular manner. You agree that you have the ability to store such electronic communications such that they remain accessible to you in an unchanged form. By way of example only, such communication may be a general notice on the Platform or via email to the email address listed on your Account. It is your obligation to update your Account information so that we may contact you as may be necessary. Such notice shall be deemed to have been given 48 hours after dispatch. If physical notice (e.g., U.S. Mail) is used, then such notice shall be deemed to have been given 7 days after dispatch. Except as explicitly described in the “Arbitration and Class Action Waiver” section, you may give notice to ACF (such notice shall be deemed given when received by ACF) at any time by contacting us in writing through ACF’s Help Center.

Section Titles. The section titles in this Expert Agreement are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect.

Assignment. This Expert Agreement is personal to you, and is not assignable, transferable or sublicensable by you except with our prior written consent. We may assign, transfer or delegate any of our rights and obligations hereunder without consent.

No Third-Party Beneﬁciaries. You agree that, except as otherwise expressly provided in this Expert Agreement, there shall be no third-party beneﬁciaries to this Expert Agreement.

Expert Agreement

Contact Us Anytime

help@amicuscf.org

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