Terms of Service

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) form a binding agreement between you and Chad T. Gill, an Illinois sole practitioner doing business as “Gill Law” (“Firm,” “we,” “our,” or “us”). By accessing the website at gill.law, the client portal accessible from that website, or any related service we make available (collectively, the “Service”), you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

Some features of the Service are governed by an additional written engagement letter or fee agreement. Where a written engagement letter conflicts with these Terms, the engagement letter controls.

The Service includes (a) the public website at gill.law, which provides general information about the Firm and its practice areas; (b) a client portal where prospective and current clients can submit information, upload documents, communicate with the Firm, and view matter information; and (c) related transactional emails and notifications. The Service is provided from infrastructure located in the United States.

Using this website, creating an account, or submitting an inquiry does not, by itself, create an attorney-client relationship. An attorney-client relationship with the Firm is formed only after (i) the Firm has completed a conflict-of-interest check, (ii) the Firm has agreed in writing to represent you in a specifically identified matter, and (iii) you have signed a written engagement letter or fee agreement.

If you consult with the Firm about the possibility of representation, you may be a “prospective client” within the meaning of Illinois Rule of Professional Conduct 1.18. We will treat information received from prospective clients consistently with the duties owed under that rule. To help avoid unnecessary conflicts, please provide only the information reasonably necessary for us to evaluate your inquiry until we ask for more detail.

Do not use the Service for emergencies, imminent deadlines, or time-sensitive legal matters unless we have already agreed to represent you and instructed you to communicate through the Service. The Service is not a substitute for emergency legal counsel and is not monitored twenty-four hours per day.

The Service may be accessed from jurisdictions where the Firm does not practice law. The availability of information on the Service does not mean that the Firm is authorized to practice law in every jurisdiction or that the Firm is willing or able to represent you in any particular matter. Legal services are offered only where the Firm is authorized to practice or where the representation is otherwise permitted by applicable law and professional-conduct rules.

The Service is intended for use by adults. By using the Service, you represent that you are 18 or older. We do not knowingly allow anyone under 18 to create an account or submit information directly through the Service. However, clients and prospective clients may provide information about minors when relevant to a legal inquiry or representation. If you believe a minor has used the Service directly without appropriate authorization, contact us using the information in Section 23.

To access the client portal, you must create an account using a working email address you control. You agree to (a) provide accurate and complete information; (b) keep your account credentials confidential; (c) use a unique password not used on any other service; (d) promptly notify us if you suspect unauthorized access; and (e) not share your account with any other person.

The Firm may suspend or terminate any account that we reasonably believe is being used in violation of these Terms or applicable law, or that has been compromised.

You agree not to do any of the following:

• Use the Service in violation of any law or to facilitate a violation of law;
• Submit content that is unlawful, defamatory, obscene, or that infringes the intellectual property or privacy rights of another;
• Submit information you do not have the right to share, including information protected by another person’s attorney-client privilege;
• Probe, scan, test, or otherwise attempt to compromise the security or integrity of the Service or any of its underlying infrastructure;
• Use any automated system, bot, scraper, or similar tool to access the Service except as we expressly permit, such as standard search-engine indexing of public pages;
• Reverse-engineer, decompile, or attempt to extract the source code of the Service except to the extent applicable law prohibits this restriction;
• Impersonate any person or misrepresent your relationship with any person or entity; or
• Interfere with another user’s use of the Service or the Firm’s ability to operate it.

You retain all rights you have in any content you submit through the Service, including intake responses, messages, and uploaded documents (collectively, “Your Content”). You grant the Firm a limited, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to access, store, display, copy, and process Your Content solely as necessary to (a) operate the Service, (b) evaluate a potential representation, (c) provide legal services to you if we have agreed to represent you, and (d) comply with our legal and professional obligations.

You represent that you have all rights necessary to grant this license and that submission of Your Content does not breach any obligation you owe to a third party.

The Service, including its text, graphics, layout, images, code, and underlying software, is the property of the Firm or its licensors and is protected by United States and international copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. We grant you a limited, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Service solely for the personal, non-commercial purpose of evaluating or obtaining legal services from the Firm. We reserve all rights not expressly granted.

After an attorney-client relationship has been formed, communications between you and the Firm relating to your matter may be protected by the attorney-client privilege, the work-product doctrine, and the Firm’s duty of confidentiality under Illinois Rule of Professional Conduct 1.6, subject to applicable exceptions and legal requirements.

Communications submitted before the formation of an attorney-client relationship are governed by Illinois Rule of Professional Conduct 1.18 when that rule applies. Information that is generally known, that you submit voluntarily through public website forms, public reviews, social media, or other public channels, or that you direct us to share, may not be subject to the same confidentiality protections.

Our handling of personal information is described in our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference.

The Firm may use secure, attorney-approved technology tools, including artificial intelligence tools, to assist lawyers and staff with tasks such as organizing information, summarizing materials, drafting, legal research, document review, and administrative support. Any technology-assisted work product used in a client matter remains subject to lawyer review and the Firm’s professional obligations.

Any AI-assisted feature made available through the Service is not a substitute for legal advice from a lawyer. You should not rely on automated output as legal advice unless the Firm has agreed to represent you and a lawyer from the Firm has reviewed and provided that advice to you.

The Service is provided “as is” and “as available.” Subject to applicable law and the Firm’s obligations under the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct, we disclaim all warranties of any kind, express or implied, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, secure, error-free, or free of viruses or other harmful components.

Information published on the public website is provided for general informational purposes and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the Firm and its attorneys, employees, contractors, and agents will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages arising out of or related to your use of the Service. Our aggregate liability for any claim arising out of or related to the operation of the Service, excluding claims arising from legal services or professional duties, will not exceed the greater of (i) any amount you paid specifically for access to the Service in the twelve months preceding the claim or (ii) one hundred U.S. dollars ($100).

Nothing in these Terms limits, waives, or modifies any liability that the Firm may have to you for legal malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty, or violation of the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct. Illinois Rule of Professional Conduct 1.8(h)(1) prohibits a lawyer from prospectively limiting the lawyer’s liability for malpractice unless the client is independently represented in making the agreement.

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the Firm from any third-party claim, demand, or expense (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of (a) Your Content, (b) your use of the Service in violation of these Terms or applicable law, or (c) your infringement of any third-party right.

This Section does not require a client, former client, or prospective client to indemnify the Firm for claims arising from the Firm’s legal services, professional duties, or attorney-client relationship with that person.

If you have a dispute concerning fees billed by the Firm, we encourage you to contact us first so we can attempt to resolve the issue. Nothing in these Terms limits any right you may have to use a fee-dispute resolution procedure established by law, court rule, bar association, or other authorized body, if such a procedure applies.

For example, the Chicago Bar Association Committee on Professional Fees provides fee-dispute assistance for disputes between clients and Illinois attorneys. Nothing in these Terms, including the arbitration clause in Section 16, is intended to displace any fee-dispute procedure that is mandatory or otherwise applicable.

Please read this section carefully. It affects your legal rights, including your right to file a lawsuit in court and to have disputes heard by a jury.

Scope. Except for the Excluded Claims defined below, you and the Firm agree that any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or your use of the Service (a “Dispute”) will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by JAMS under the JAMS Streamlined Arbitration Rules and Procedures. The arbitration will be conducted in Cook County, Illinois, or by videoconference at the parties’ election. The arbitrator (rather than any federal, state, or local court) has exclusive authority to resolve any threshold issue concerning the arbitrability of a Dispute, except as expressly stated otherwise in this Section.

Excluded Claims. The arbitration agreement above does not apply to, and the following claims may be brought in court:

• any claim that the Firm has committed legal malpractice, breached a fiduciary duty arising out of the attorney-client relationship, or violated the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct;
• any fee dispute that is subject to a mandatory or otherwise applicable fee-dispute resolution procedure described in Section 15;
• any claim for injunctive or other equitable relief in aid of arbitration;
• any small-claims-court action that is otherwise within the jurisdictional limits of that court; and
• any claim that applicable law prohibits from being resolved by binding arbitration.

Class-action waiver. All Disputes subject to arbitration must be brought in your individual capacity and not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class, collective, consolidated, or representative proceeding. The arbitrator may not consolidate Disputes or preside over any form of representative or class proceeding. If a court of competent jurisdiction determines that this class-action waiver is unenforceable as to a particular Dispute, that Dispute (and only that Dispute) will be severed and proceed in court; the remainder of this Section continues to apply.

Opt-out right. You may opt out of this arbitration agreement by sending written notice to the Firm at the email address in Section 23 within thirty (30) days after you first accept these Terms or create an account, whichever occurs first. Your notice must include your name, the email address associated with your account if any, and a clear statement that you opt out of the arbitration agreement. Opting out does not affect the validity of any other portion of these Terms.

Opportunity to consult counsel. You acknowledge that you have had the opportunity to consult independent legal counsel about this arbitration agreement before agreeing to it.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Illinois, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Any action that may be brought in court under Section 16 will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Cook County, Illinois, and you consent to personal jurisdiction in those courts.

The Firm respects the intellectual property rights of others and expects users of the Service to do the same. If you believe content available through the Service infringes a copyright you own or control, please send a written notice to the Firm containing:

• a physical or electronic signature;
• identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed;
• identification of the allegedly infringing material and its location;
• your contact information;
• a statement that you have a good-faith belief that the use is not authorized; and
• a statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notice is accurate and that you are authorized to act for the rights holder.

Send copyright notices by email to chad@gill.law with the subject line “Copyright Notice.” False or materially misleading takedown notices may subject the sender to liability under applicable law.

We may modify these Terms from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify users with active accounts by email and update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page at least seven (7) days before the changes take effect, except where a shorter period is required for legal, security, or operational reasons. If you do not agree to the modified Terms, you must stop using the Service.

You may stop using the Service and request that your account be closed at any time by contacting us. We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service at any time, with or without notice, for any reason, including suspected violation of these Terms.

The Firm’s obligations to current and former clients with respect to client files and ongoing representation are governed by Illinois Rule of Professional Conduct 1.16 and applicable law, not by this Section. Termination of your Service account does not, by itself, terminate any attorney-client relationship.

The following Sections survive any termination of these Terms or your use of the Service: 8 (license you grant us, with respect to content already submitted), 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 22, and any other provision that by its nature should survive.

If any provision of these Terms is held unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full force and effect, and the unenforceable provision will be reformed to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable. These Terms, together with any written engagement letter and our Privacy Policy, are the entire agreement between you and the Firm concerning the Service and supersede any prior or contemporaneous agreements.

Questions about these Terms can be sent to:

Chad T. Gill, Attorney at Law
Gill Law
Email: chad@gill.law