Terms and conditions

Thanks for using Counselvise. These General Terms of Service ("General Terms"), along with any applicable Additional Terms (defined below) (collectively, the “Terms”) cover your use and access to the products, services, software, platform and websites (collectively, "Services") provided by Counselvise incorporated and any of our affiliates (collectively, "Counselvise"). By using our Services, you agree to be bound by these General Terms as well as our Privacy Policy, Terms of Use and other policies available on the platform. If you are using our Services as the employee or agent of an organization, you are agreeing to these Terms on behalf of that organization. Please note that the statements set forth under the headings "More simply put" are provided as a courtesy solely for your convenience and are not legally binding or otherwise intended to modify these Terms in any way.

You must be the legal age of majority in your state of residence or otherwise able to form a binding contract with Counselvise in order to use the Services. In no event is use of the Services permitted by those under the age of 18.

General terms

1. Interactions with advisors

When you use our Services, you will have the opportunity to submit questions and obtain advice from outside independent advisors in the “Counselvise On Call” network, also referred to as On Call network advisors (“External Advisors”). You may also have an initial consultation or other interaction with an advisor prior to formally entering into an advisor- client relationship.

Counselvise Attorneys

If you engage a Counselvise Attorney to provide legal advice, you will need to enter into a separate engagement that creates an attorney-client relationship between you and our affiliate (“Counselvise Legal Engagement”). Additional terms and conditions will apply in that situation and will be provided to you prior to entering into the Counselvise Legal Engagement. There is no attorney-client relationship formed, and Counselvise is under no duty to act as your lawyer, unless and until a Counselvise Legal Engagement is signed by both you and Counselvise. If there is any conflict between the Counselvise Legal Engagement and these Terms, the Counselvise Legal Engagement shall govern.

2. External advisors (on call network advisors)

External Advisors are neither employees nor agents of Counselvise. External Advisors are third-party independent contractors who carry their own practice and have agreed to provide online answers, limited consultations or other legal services to Counselvise members at discounted rates.

When you contact an External Advisor through Counselvise, any initial interactions and any relationship formed during the course of that interaction is strictly between you and the External Advisor and expressly EXCLUDES Counselvise.

When you contact an External Advisor through Counselvise, he or she may ask you for some information regarding you and your legal affairs in order to properly address your questions. By using our Services, you consent to sharing such personally identifying information for the purpose of securing legal advice with both the requesting attorney and with Counselvise. Counselvise will not have access to information you provide directly to the External Advisors, except in cases where you do so through our platform, in which case we can access that information for fulfilment and quality assurance purposes.

When you contact an External Advisor through Counselvise, you and the External Advisor control both the duration and scope of the interaction. Any relationship formed during the course of that interaction may either end when the interaction with the External Advisor ends, or continue if you and the External Advisor agree to continue the engagement for further services.

Counselvise does not endorse or recommend any External Advisors and the call schedules with premium consultants are in nature of discovery call and do not guarantee any specific resolution of queries. You should carefully evaluate the experience and qualifications of any External Advisor before hiring them as your advisor. Counselvise makes no representation or warranty as to the qualifications or competency of any External Advisor or as to the accuracy or completeness of any External Advisor’s work.

COUNSELVISE SHALL HAVE NO RESPONSIBILITY OR LIABILITY OF ANY KIND FOR ANY PROFESSIONAL SERVICES RENDERED BY ANY EXTERNAL ADVISOR YOU ENCOUNTER ON OR THROUGH OUR SERVICES, AND ANY USE OR RELIANCE ON SUCH PROFESSIONAL SERVICES IS SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK.

3. Termination of membership and access restriction

Counselvise reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to downgrade or terminate your access to the Services, for any reason and at any time without prior notice. For example, we may suspend or terminate your use of some or all of the Services if you violate these Terms or use the Services in a manner that may expose us to legal liability, disrupt the Services or disrupt others' use of the Services.

If your Counselvise membership is paid for by a Program Sponsor and they elect to discontinue the service, you will have the opportunity to continue your membership personally by enrolling in a paid subscription.

4. Ownership and preservation of your documents

Counselvise does not claim ownership of any documents you either create or upload and store using our Services ("Documents"). You grant permission for Counselvise to use your Documents in connection with providing Services to you.

You acknowledge and agree that Counselvise may preserve these Documents as well as disclose them if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to accomplish any of the following: (1) to comply with legal process, applicable laws or government requests; (2) to enforce these Terms; (3) to respond to claims that any content violates the rights of third parties; or (4) to protect the rights, property, or personal safety of Counselvise, its users and the public. You understand that the technical processing and transmission of the Service, including your Documents and other content, may involve transmissions over third party networks and changes to conform and adapt to technical requirements of connecting networks or devices. You agree that Counselvise has no responsibility or liability for deleting or failing to store any Documents or other content maintained or uploaded in the Services.

5. Consent to receive emails

By creating an account, you agree that you may receive communications from Counselvise, such as newsletters, special offers, and account reminders and updates. You also understand that you can remove yourself from promotional communications by clicking the "Unsubscribe" link in the footer of the actual email. You cannot opt out of essential communications regarding your account, such as renewal notices.

6. Acceptable use of communications services

Our Services include a large number of what are collectively called "Communications Services." These include services such as live chats, payment Services, comment threads, blog posts, question and answer products, chat bots, customer service communication forums, calendars, and other message services. You agree to use the Communications Services only to post, send, and receive messages or materials proper to and related to the particular Communication Service. When using a Communication Service, you agree that you will not do any of the following:

  • Defame, abuse, harass, stalk, threaten or otherwise violate the legal rights of others.
  • Publish, post, upload, distribute or disseminate any names, materials, or information that is considered inappropriate, profane, defamatory, infringing, obscene, indecent, or unlawful.
  • Create a false identity, represent yourself as someone else, or sign an agreement as someone else or on behalf of someone else or otherwise falsify or delete in an uploaded file any significant attributions or notices.
  • Upload files that contain software or other material protected either by intellectual property laws or by the rights of privacy or publicity except when you own or control the necessary rights, or you have received all necessary consents to do so.
  • Upload corrupted files, files that contain viruses, or any other files that may damage the operation of another's computer.
  • Advertise, offer to sell, or offer to buy anything for business purposes except to the limited extent any particular Communication Service expressly allows such activity.
  • Restrict or inhibit any other user from using and enjoying the Communications Services.
  • Harvest or otherwise collect any information about other users, either individually or in the aggregate, or about the Services generally.
  • Violate any code of conduct or other guidelines, which may be applicable for any particular Communication Service.
  • Violate any applicable laws or regulations.

Although Counselvise has no obligation to monitor the Communications Services, we reserve the right, in our own discretion, to review and remove materials posted to a Communication Service (in whole or in part), terminate or limit any user’s access to the Communications Services, or take other steps that we believe are appropriate to prevent abusive or unreasonably burdensome use of the Communications Services. Counselvise reserves the right to disclose any materials posted, information or activity as necessary to satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request.

7. NO unlawful or prohibited use

You can only use our Services if doing so complies with the laws of your jurisdiction(s). The availability of our Services in your jurisdiction(s) is not an invitation or authorization by Counselvise to access or use our website or Services in a manner that violates your local laws and regulations. By using our Services, you accept sole responsibility to ensure that you or anyone else who accesses your account to use our Services does not violate any applicable laws in your jurisdiction(s). To enforce this provision, Counselvise reserves the right to refuse membership, or suspend or terminate your account immediately and without prior notice at our sole discretion. The following are specifically excluded or prohibited:

  • Use in connection with any legal matter that is frivolous, immaterial or illegal in nature, as determined by Counselvise or the External Advisors in their sole discretion;
  • Use in connection with any legal matter involving an alleged violent crime by you;
  • Use in connection with any legal matter involving the laws of jurisdictions outside India or its subdivisions;
  • Use in connection with any legal matter for which you are currently or prospectively represented by legal counsel (other than an External Attorney or Counselvise Attorney).
  • Use in connection with any legal matter that directly or indirectly involves any External Attorney or Counselvise Attorney other than as your counsel;
  • Use in connection with any legal matter in which Counselvise or any of its subsidiaries, affiliates, directors, officers, agents, employees, or other Counselvise service providers has an adverse interest; or
  • Use in connection with any legal matter in which your Program Sponsor has an adverse interest, or in which any director, officer or controlling stockholder of the Program Sponsor has an adverse interest.

You may not "hack", "scrape" or "crawl" our Services, whether directly or through intermediaries such as spiders, robots, crawlers, scrapers, framing, iframes without express written permission from Counselvise. You may not access or attempt to access any information Counselvise has not intentionally made available to you on its Services via purchased subscription. Your use of the Counselvise Services does not entitle you to resell any Counselvise content without prior express written consent from Counselvise.

8. Intellectual property rights; license grant

Counselvise retains all right, title and interest in and to its products and Services, including, without limitation, software, images, text, graphics, illustrations, logos, service marks, copyrights, photographs, videos, music, articles, document templates and all related intellectual property rights. Except as otherwise provided in the Terms, you may not, and may not permit others to:

  • reproduce, modify, translate, enhance, decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer or create derivative works of any of our products and Services (other than documents you create through your membership, which you may use for your own personal use);
  • sell, license, sublicense, rent, lease, distribute, copy, publicly display, publish, adapt or edit any of our products and Services; or
  • circumvent or disable any security or technological features of our products and Services.

The design, text, graphics and selection and arrangement of our Services and the legal forms, documents, guidance and all other content found on our Service ("Service Content") are copyright © Counselvise Incorporated. All rights reserved.

You may not copy, imitate or use any of our trademarks, copyright or any other IP’s, in whole or in part, without our prior written consent. In addition, the look and feel of Counselvise is the service mark, trademark and/or trade dress of Counselvise Incorporated and you may not copy, imitate or use it, in whole or in part, without our prior written consent. The names of actual companies and products you might encounter through us may be the trademarks of their respective owners. Nothing in these Terms or the Services should be understood as granting any license or right to use any of Counselvise's or any third party’s trademarks displayed on our Services. All goodwill generated from the use of Counselvise's trademarks is reserved for the use of Counselvise, exclusively.

Subject to your compliance with these Terms, you are hereby granted a non-exclusive, limited, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Services as we intend for them to be used. As a registered Counselvise user, you are the owner of and are fully authorized to keep, for your own personal records, electronic or physical copies of documents you have created on Counselvise.

When you transmit public-facing user content on Counselvise, you hereby grant Counselvise and its affiliates a nonexclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable and fully sublicensable right to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform and display any such content, including throughout the world in any media. If you submit feedback or suggestions about our Services, we may use your feedback or suggestions without obligation or compensation to you. You acknowledge and agree that Counselvise is authorized to collect and use aggregated or anonymized information from or about you and other users and user-created documents for the purposes of researching, developing, improving and marketing its Services.

Resale or unauthorized copying, use, storage, display or distribution of forms, articles, documents or other materials copied or downloaded from our Service is strictly prohibited. Use of these materials is for your personal or business use. Any resale or redistribution of our materials requires the express written consent of Counselvise. Any rights not expressly granted in these Terms are reserved by Counselvise.

9. Links to third party sites

Counselvise's Service may contain links to third party resources and businesses on the Internet, called here "links" or "Linked Site(s)." Those links are provided for your convenience to help you identify and locate other Internet resources that may be of interest to you.

Counselvise does not control, endorse or monitor the contents of any Linked Site. That includes, without limitation, any further link contained in a Linked Site, and any changes or updates to a Linked Site. Counselvise is not responsible for webcasting or for any other form of transmission received from any Linked Site. These Terms do not cover your interaction with Linked Sites. You should carefully review the terms and conditions and privacy policies of any Linked Sites.

If you use any service provided on a Linked Site, (a) Counselvise will not be responsible for any act or omission of the third party, including the third party's access to or use of your customer data and (b) Counselvise does not warrant or support any service provided by the third party.

10. Disclaimer Of Representations And Liability

Please read this section carefully as it affects your rights

The information, software, products, and Services made available through Counselvise may include inaccuracies or typographical errors. Counselvise reserves the right at any time to modify, improve, suspend or deprecate certain features of our Services. Legal Information received via Counselvise should not be relied upon exclusively for personal, medical, legal or financial decisions; rather, we recommend you use information from our Service in conjunction with the advice of a qualified professional tailored to your situation. In short, your use of our Services is at your own risk.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, COUNSELVISE AND ITS AFFILIATES, SUBSIDIARIES, PROGRAM SPONSORS AND DISTRIBUTORS MAKE NO WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ABOUT THE SERVICES. THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE." WE ALSO DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. INFORMATION AND OPINIONS RECEIVED VIA OUR SERVICES SHOULD NOT BE RELIED UPON FOR PERSONAL, MEDICAL, LEGAL OR FINANCIAL DECISIONS WITHOUT CONSULTING AN APPROPRIATE PROFESSIONAL FOR SPECIFIC ADVICE TAILORED TO YOUR SITUATION.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL COUNSELVISE, ITS AFFILIATES, SUPPLIERS, PROGRAM SPONSORS OR DISTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, EXEMPLARY OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY LOSS OF USE, DATA, BUSINESS, OR PROFITS, REGARDLESS OF LEGAL THEORY, WHETHER OR NOT COUNSELVISE HAS BEEN WARNED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, AND EVEN IF A REMEDY FAILS OF ITS ESSENTIAL PURPOSE.

THE PARTIES EXPRESSLY AGREE AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE FOREGOING DISCLAIMERS AND LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY FORM AN ESSENTIAL BASIS OF THE BARGAIN BETWEEN THE PARTIES.

11. Release And Indemnity

By using our Service, you, on behalf of yourself and your heirs, executors, agents, representatives, and assigns, fully release, forever discharge, and hold Counselvise, its partners (including any third-party companies engaged by Counselvise to fulfill business formation, registered agent or other business filing orders), your Program Sponsor (if applicable) and its affiliates, and its and their respective officers, employees, directors and agents, harmless from any and all losses, damages, expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees, rights, claims, and actions of any kind and injury (including death) arising out of or relating to your use of the Services. You agree that this release has been freely and voluntarily consented to and you confirm that you fully understand what you are agreeing to.

You agree to indemnify and hold Counselvise, its partners (including any third-party companies engaged by Counselvise to fulfill business formation, registered agent or other business filing orders), your Program Sponsor (if applicable) and its affiliates, and its and their respective officers, employees, directors and agent harmless from any and all losses, damages, expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees, rights, claims, actions of any kind and injury (including death) arising out of any third party claims relating to your use of the Service, your violation of these Terms or your violation of any rights of another.

Program Sponsors are expressly intended third-party beneficiaries of the provisions of these Terms that expressly apply to Program Sponsors including, without limitation, this Section (Release and Indemnity) and Section of (No Unlawful or Prohibited Use).

12. Dispute Resolution By Binding Arbitration

In the event of any dispute, controversy, or claim arising out of or relating to this terms, the Parties shall conduct negotiations in good faith to solve such dispute. If mutual resolution cannot be reached within 30 (Thirty) days after the commencement of such discussions, the Parties agree to resolve the matter through mediation in accordance with The Mediation Act, 2023. The Parties shall mutually select a qualified mediator, or if they cannot agree on a mediator within 30 (Thirty) days, then a recognized mediation service provider shall appoint a mediator.

The mediation process shall be confidential, binding, and without prejudice to the Parties’ legal rights. The costs of the mediation shall be shared equally between the Parties unless otherwise agreed. The competent courts at Surat shall have the jurisdiction to undertake mediation at any place within the territorial jurisdiction or via online mediation through Zoom/ Google meet or preferred platform.

A mediated settlement agreement resulting from a mediation signed by the Parties and authenticated by the mediator shall be final and binding on the Parties and persons claiming under them respectively and enforceable as per the provisions of Section 27 (2) of The Mediation Act, 2023.

Where no agreement is reached between the parties within the 30 (Thirty) days or the mediator is of the opinion that settlement is not possible, he shall prepare a non-settlement agreement.

If mutual resolution cannot be reached through Mediation, the Parties shall refer such dispute to arbitration as per the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 in accordance with the arbitration rules for the time being in force. The Parties can mutually agree and appoint a sole arbitrator or 3 (three) arbitrators. The seat of the arbitration shall be Surat and the language of the arbitration proceedings shall be English. The Parties can also opt to resolve the dispute(s) in order to reach amicable resolution through online mode via Zoom/ Google Meet platform. The award rendered shall be in writing, and shall set out the reasons for the arbitrator’s decision.

Any award made in such arbitration will be final and binding on the Parties.

13. Governing Law And Jurisdiction

These terms shall be construed and interpreted in accordance with and governed by the laws of India, and the courts of Surat, Gujarat shall have the exclusive jurisdiction over matters arising out of or relating to these terms.

14. Entire Agreement

These Terms constitute the entire agreement between you (Advise Seeker) and Counselvise with respect to the subject matter of these Terms, and supersede and replace any other prior or contemporaneous agreements, or terms and conditions applicable to the subject matter of these Terms.

Additional Terms

1. Non-employment Relationship:

Independent Arrangement: The Advisor acknowledges and agrees that providing Services through Counselvise does not establish an employment relationship with Counselvise but constitutes an independent arrangement for offering specialized advice or Services.

2. Premium & Non-premium Advisors:

Categorization: Advisors may be designated as Standard Professional Consultants or Premium Professional Consultants based on criteria set by Counselvise, with Premium Professional Consultants possibly receiving specific benefits or features distinct from Standard Professional Consultants. These terms shall be applicable to both former and latter.

3. Expertise & Best Advice:

Best Knowledge: The Advisor commits to provide advice or services to the best of their knowledge, expertise, and professional capacity within their specialized area.

Fee Structure: Counselvise has established under its agreements / disclaimer a set payment terms, including fee structures, payment schedules and settlement of the invoices for the Services rendered by the Advisor. Standard Professional Consultants and Premium Professional Consultants may have different payment arrangements.

Payment Collection:

1. Standard Professional Consultants: In case of standard professional consultants, the advisor agrees that the Counselvise does not provide any discovery of their microsite. It only provides tool to create microsite through a separate domain – Meraoffice.in for them to share within their network, to manage appointment and video calls.

Therefore, the payment is not handled by Counselvise. It shall be managed internally between standard professional consultants and Advise Seekers. Counselvise makes all efforts that the client of the standard professional consultants are not marketed the services of Counselvise.

2. Premium Professional Consultants: Counselvise may handle payment collection from Advise Seekers for Services rendered by the Premium Professional Consultants. They will receive compensation according to the agreed-upon terms.

3. CONFIDENTIALITY:

Confidential Information: The Advisor agrees to maintain the confidentiality of all information, discussions, and materials shared during the provision of services. This includes but is not limited to user details, consultations, and any proprietary information disclosed.

Non-Disclosure: The Advisor shall not disclose, share, or use any user’s information obtained through Counselvise's platform for any purpose other than providing the services. This obligation survives the termination of this agreement.

4. LEGAL COMPLIANCE & INDEMNIFICATION:

Compliance: The Advisor shall adhere to all applicable laws and regulations while providing services. Counselvise shall be indemnified against any legal actions arising from the Advisor's and its associate’s non-compliance with laws and its actions.

5. LIABILITY & DISCLAIMERS:

No Liability: Counselvise shall not be liable for the actions, advice, or services provided by the Advisor. The Advisor assumes sole responsibility and liability for the advice or Services rendered.

6. TERMINATION, MODIFICATION & DISPUTE RESOLUTION:

Termination & Modification: Counselvise reserves the right to terminate an Advisor's access or modify these Terms at any time, with written notice to Advisors.

Dispute Resolution: Disputes between Advisors and Counselvise shall be resolved as per the dispute resolution mechanisms outlined in the agreement / disclaimer.

Governing Law: This terms shall be construed and interpreted in accordance with and governed by the laws of India, and the courts of Surat, Gujarat shall have the exclusive jurisdiction over matters arising out of or relating to these terms.

Disclaimer:

By providing advice or services through Counselvise, Advisors acknowledge and agree to abide by these Terms, understanding their obligations, responsibilities, and limitations while using Counselvise's platform to offer Services to users.