Effective Date: March 28, 2024
If you purchase attorney services through First, you agree that this Independent Attorney Limited Scope Representation Agreement (“Attorney Agreement”) will govern your relationship with the independent Attorney (as defined below) who will provide those services.
First Tech, Inc. (“First”) is not a law firm and does not employ attorneys to assist its customers. Its services are not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. However, First has arranged with independent attorneys to provide First customers, for a separate and additional attorney fee, with limited scope legal advice and service related to your use of our platform (“Attorney Services”). If you purchase Attorney Services through First, those services will be provided by an independent attorney (“Attorney”), and this Independent Attorney Limited Scope Attorney Retention Agreement (“Attorney Agreement”) will govern your relationship with that Attorney and the Attorney Services you purchase. Your relationship with First will remain governed by the First Terms of Service (including any applicable Service-Specific Terms) and the First Privacy Policy.
If you have purchased Attorney Services, the Attorney agrees to provide you with the following services only:
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Review, revise, and finalize a premarital agreement generated using First’s technology platform (“Premarital Agreement”), including a review of the Premarital Agreement for errors, omissions, and consistency with your responses to the online questionnaire, and review the overall scope of the Premarital Agreement for completeness.
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Communicate with you about the Premarital Agreement via First’s technology platform through online comments, document markup, and messaging.
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Explain the options available to you regarding the Premarital Agreement and provide recommendations based on information and preferences you provide via First’s technology platform.
The Attorney Services and the Attorney’s representation and obligation to you are strictly limited to the services described above and no more, and end when those services have been provided, after which the Attorney will have no further obligation to you. Unless separately retained and paid, the Attorney will not be obliged to perform any additional legal services for you in connection with the Prenuptial Agreement, including post-execution questions, issues or disputes, or otherwise.
The Attorney is an independent practitioner and not an employee or agent of First. First will not direct, control, influence, or interfere with the Attorney’s independent legal judgment in rendering Attorney Services.
A fixed portion of the fee you pay when you purchase Attorney Services will be remitted directly to the Attorney (“Attorney Fee”). The remainder of the fee is retained by First to compensate First for providing access to you and the Attorney to its technology platform. Once paid, the Attorney Fee becomes the property of the Attorney and will not be placed in a trust account. However, the fact that you have paid in advance does not affect your right to terminate the Attorney Services and attorney-client relationship. If your relationship with the Attorney terminates before any or all the Attorney Services have been provided, you may or may not have a right to a refund of all or a portion of the Attorney Fee.
If you are a resident of California, you have a right to require, upon request, that the Attorney Fee be deposited by the Attorney in an identified trust account until the fee is earned, and you are entitled to a refund of any amount of the fee that has not been earned in the event the representation is terminated or the services for which the fee has been paid are not completed.
You must address and resolve any disputes, concerns, or questions you may have regarding Attorney Services directly and exclusively with the Attorney, not First. You agree that First is not responsible for the nature, substance, timeliness, or accuracy of any Attorney Services provided by an Attorney, and that First bears no responsibility or liability with regard to any Attorney Services provided by any Attorney you may retain through First’s website.
While receiving Attorney Services, you and the Attorney may communicate using First’s website and technology platform. You expressly grant First permission to receive, store, forward, and review communications between you and the Attorney, solely to facilitate those communications and the Attorney Services provided under this Attorney Agreement. First has agreed to keep such communications confidential to the same extent that the Attorney has that obligation under the laws and rules governing the Attorney’s communications with you. To the extent any provision of this Attorney Agreement conflicts with any provision of First’s Privacy Policy, the provision of this Attorney Agreement controls.
Any dispute between Attorney and Client regarding the construction, application or performance of any services under this Agreement, and any claim arising out of or relating to this Agreement or its breach, including, without limitation, claims for breach of contract, professional negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, misrepresentation, fraud and disputes regarding attorney fees and/or costs charged under this Agreement, shall be determined by arbitration in Los Angeles or San Francisco, California, before one arbitrator. The arbitration shall be administered by JAMS pursuant to its Comprehensive Arbitration Rules and Procedures and in accordance with the Expedited Procedures in those Rules or pursuant to JAMS’ Streamlined Arbitration Rules and Procedures. Judgment on the Award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction. This clause shall not preclude parties from seeking provisional remedies in aid of arbitration from a court of appropriate jurisdiction. The parties shall maintain the confidential nature of the arbitration proceeding and the Award, including the Hearing, except as may be necessary to prepare for or conduct the arbitration hearing on the merits, or except as may be necessary in connection with a court application for a preliminary remedy, a judicial challenge to an Award or its enforcement, or unless otherwise required by law or judicial decision. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Attorney may disclose the details and results of the arbitration to its insurance providers.
In any arbitration arising out of or related to this Agreement, the arbitrator shall award to the prevailing party, if any, the costs and attorneys' fees reasonably incurred by the prevailing party in connection with the arbitration. If the arbitrator determines a party to be the prevailing party under circumstances where the prevailing party won on some but not all of the claims and counterclaims, the arbitrator may award the prevailing party an appropriate percentage of the costs and attorneys' fees reasonably incurred by the prevailing party in connection with the arbitration.
Any arbitration arising out of or related to this Agreement shall be conducted in accordance with the expedited procedures set forth in the JAMS Comprehensive Arbitration Rules and Procedures as those Rules exist on the effective date of this Agreement, including Rules 16.1 and 16.2 of those Rules.
Attorney and Client acknowledge the above and agree that this agreement for binding arbitration is voluntary. Client may consult with an independent lawyer of Client’s choice to review these arbitration provisions, and this entire Agreement, prior to signing this Agreement.
In agreeing to this arbitration provision, Client and Attorney acknowledge that they are specifically giving up:
A. ALL RIGHTS CLIENT AND ATTORNEY MAY POSSESS TO HAVE SUCH DISPUTES DECIDED BY A COURT OR JURY TRIAL; ANDALL JUDICIAL B. RIGHTS, INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO APPEAL FROM THE DECISION OF THE ARBITRATOR.
You acknowledge and agree that:
1.
You have read, understand, and agree to this Attorney Agreement.
2.
The Attorney will rely entirely on the facts, information, and documents that you provide. The Attorney will not make any independent investigation of the facts or information you provide, or the authenticity of any documents you provide. It is therefore extremely important that you are completely truthful as to anything you tell or provide the Attorney.
3.
The Attorney is not guaranteeing that you will obtain any specific favorable result on account of the Attorney Services provided. Attorney’s comments about the outcome of the matter are expressions of opinion only, are neither promises nor guarantees, and will not be construed as promises or guarantees.
4.
You are responsible for the Attorney Fee and agree that the Attorney Fee may be taken from the purchase price you paid to First for the Service you purchased and paid by First to the independent Attorney that assists you. You understand that the Attorney may receive additional compensation from First beyond the Attorney Fee, but that you are not responsible for any such additional compensation.
5.
The Attorney’s representation of you ends when the Attorney Services described above have been completed or the attorney-client relationship is terminated.
6.
The Attorney Services described above in the section titled “Scope of Representation” are the only legal services the Attorney has agreed to provide, and no more. You acknowledge and agree that the Attorney is not required to provide you any further or other legal services of any kind with regard to that or other legal matters.