Terms of Use - American Bar Endowment (ABE)

ABE Terms of Use

By accessing or using any of the American Bar Endowment ("ABE") Internet properties including, without limitation, www.abendowment .org, mobile websites, microsites, mobile applications, ABE profiles on social media sites and any other digital services or properties operated or used by the ABE from time to time (collectively referred to as the "Sites") you agree to comply with and be bound by these Terms of Use ("Terms of Use"). Please read these Terms of Use carefully as well as the ABE's Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to the Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy, you must immediately terminate use of the Sites.

1. License Grant. You are granted a personal, revocable, limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to access and use the Sites conditioned on your continued acceptance of, and compliance with, these Terms of Use. You may use the Sites and the ABE Content (as defined below, Section 8) for your noncommercial personal use and for no other purpose. The ABE reserves the right to bar, restrict or suspend any user's access to the Sites, and/or to terminate this license at any time for any reason. The ABE reserves any rights not explicitly granted in these Terms of Use.

2. License Restrictions. Unless otherwise expressly stated in these Terms of Use or you receive ABE's prior written consent, you may not modify, translate, create derivative works of, copy, distribute, market, display, remove or alter any proprietary notices or labels from, lease, sell, sublicense, clone, transfer, decompile, reverse engineer, or incorporate into any information retrieval system (electronic or mechanical), the Sites, any ABE Content (as defined below, Section 8), or any portion thereof. Further, you may not (i) use the Sites for any unauthorized or illegal purpose or activity including, but not limited to, any activity to obtain or attempt to obtain unauthorized access to the Sites, including ABE Content; (ii) interfere with the proper working of the Sites including, but not limited to, the transmission of any virus, worm, trap door, back door, timer, clock, Trojan horse, denial of service attack or other limiting routine, instruction or design; (iii) interfere with any other person's use and enjoyment of the Sites; (iv) engage in activities designed to render the Sites or associated service inoperable or to make their use more difficult; (v) engage in data mining or similar data gathering or extraction activities or retrieve data or other content from the Sites for purposes of creating or compiling that content for any purpose; and (vi) submit inaccurate, incomplete, or out-of-date data via the Sites, commit fraud or falsify data in connection with your use of the Sites, or act maliciously against the business interest or reputation of the ABE.

3. Your Acceptance; Revisions to Terms of Use. The Sites are available only to individuals who can enter into legally binding contracts under applicable law. These Terms of Use constitute a legally binding agreement between you and the ABE regarding your use and access to the Sites. By using the Sites, you agree to the Terms of Use

ABE reserves the right to revise these Terms of Use at any time in its sole discretion by posting revised Terms of Use to the Sites. All changes will be effective immediately upon posting on the ABE website. Your use of the Sites signifies your acceptance of all the terms and conditions contained within the Terms of Use posted at the time of your use. You will be responsible for regularly reviewing the Terms of Use posted to the Sites. No revision to these Terms of Use, including to the Arbitration provision set forth in Section 20, shall apply to a controversy or claim of which ABE had actual notice on or before the date of any such revision.

4. ABE Policies; Additional Terms and Conditions. ABE's Privacy Policy, as well as other additional terms and conditions applicable to certain portions of the Sites (collectively "Additional Terms and Conditions") are incorporated herein by reference. For instance, the Terms of Use for Sites which allow users to post comments and participate in discussion boards will apply to users of those services in addition to these Terms of Use. To the extent that there is a conflict between these Terms of Use and any Additional Terms and Conditions for the activity in which you choose to participate, the Additional Terms and Conditions shall govern.

5. Click-Through Agreements. Before using certain areas of the Sites, you may be asked to indicate your acceptance of additional special terms and conditions by clicking a button marked "I Accept", "I Agree", "Okay", "I Consent", or other words or actions that similarly acknowledge your consent or acceptance of a Click-Through Agreement. To the extent there is a conflict between these Terms of Use and any Click-Through Agreement for the activity in which you choose to participate, the Click-Through Agreement will govern.

6. Privacy Policy. For information about ABE's data protection practices and ABE's use and protection of your personal information, please read ABE's Privacy Policy which is incorporated into and made a part of these Terms of Use.

7. User Obligations. You warrant that you will abide by, without limitation, all applicable local, state, national and international laws and regulations with respect to your use of the Sites and not interfere with the use and enjoyment of the Sites by other users or with ABE's operation and management of the Sites. You will, at all times, provide true, accurate, current, authorized, and complete information when submitting information or materials on the Sites, including, without limitation, information required to be provided through an ABE website registration form. If any false, inaccurate, untrue, unauthorized, or incomplete information is submitted by you, ABE reserves the right to terminate your access and use of the Sites. You warrant that you will not impersonate any other person or entity, whether actual or fictitious, when using the Sites, or defame or otherwise harm any party through your use of the Sites.

In addition, you also agree that you will not use our Services to:

(a) upload, download, post, email, transmit, or otherwise make available any Content, including through any attachments thereto, that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another’s privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically, or otherwise objectionable;

(b) upload, download, post, email, transmit, or otherwise make available any Content, including through any attachments thereto, that you do not have a right to make available under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships (such as, but not limited to, inside information, proprietary and confidential information learned or disclosed as part of employment relationships or under nondisclosure agreements);

(c) upload, download, post, email, transmit, or otherwise make available any Content, including through any attachments thereto, that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party;

(d) upload, download, post, email, transmit, or otherwise make available, including through any attachments thereto, any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, “junk mail,” “spam,” “chain letters,” “pyramid schemes,” or any other form of solicitation;

(e) upload, download, post, email, transmit, or otherwise make available, including through any attachments thereto, any material that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment; and

(f) intentionally or unintentionally violate any applicable local, state, national or international law, including, but not limited to, regulations promulgated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, any rules of any national or other securities exchange, including, without limitation, the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange, or the NASDAQ, and any regulations having the force of law.

8. Proprietary Rights. The content of the Sites includes, without limitation, (i) ABE's trademarks, service marks, logos, brands, and brand names, trade dress and trade names, and other distinctive identification (collectively "ABE Marks"); and (ii) information, data, materials, interfaces, computer code, databases, products, services, software applications and tools, text, images, photographs, audio and video material, including podcasts, and artwork, and (iii) the design, structure, selection, compilation, assembly, coordination, expression, functionalities, applications, look and feel, and arrangement of any content contained in or available through the Sites (the items identified in subsections (i) (ii) and (iii) shall be collectively referred to herein as "ABE Content"). The sites and ABE Content are the property of the ABE, its licensors, partners, or other third parties and is protected by law including, but not limited to, copyright, trade secret, patent, and trademark law, as well as other state or national laws and regulations. The reproduction, transmission, distribution, sale, publication, broadcast, circulation, or dissemination of any ABE Content by you, or by you through any other person or entity, is prohibited unless express written consent is separately obtained from the ABE or the owner of such content if the ABE is not the owner. Any use of the ABE Marks without ABE's express written consent is strictly prohibited. You may not alter, delete, obscure, or conceal any copyright or other notices appearing in the ABE Content, including any such notices appearing on any ABE Content you are permitted to download, transmit, display, print, or reproduce from the Sites. The Sites may contain references to copies of third-party material which is the property of its respective owners.

9. Responsibility for Use of the Internet and Websites and Exclusion of Liability. Use of the Internet and the Sites is solely at your risk and is subject to, without limitation, all applicable local, state, national and international laws and regulations. Unless expressly required by law, the Sites do not guarantee the confidentiality or security of any communication or other material transmitted to or from the Sites over the Internet or other communication network. The ABE shall not be obligated to correct or update the Sites or the ABE Content and shall not be liable for omissions, typographical errors, or out-of-date information which may appear on the Sites.

10. No Legal Advice and Disclaimer as to Accuracy of Information. The information on the Sites and ABE Content are for informational purposes only and is not legal or financial advice or a substitute for legal counsel or a certified financial planner.

11. Third Party Information. The Sites may feature materials, information, products, and services provided by third parties. Any such information, including but not limited to articles, press clippings, opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information made available by third parties such as content providers and other users of the Sites are those of the respective third party and not of ABE. ABE makes no representation with respect to, nor does it guarantee or endorse, the quality, non-infringement, accuracy, completeness, timeliness, or reliability of such third-party materials, information, services, or products.

12. Notice for Claims of Intellectual Property or Copyright Infringement; Agent for Notice of Infringement. The ABE respects the intellectual property of others, and, particularly as to user generated content in comments, discussion boards, or in other user contributed content, as applicable, we ask our users to do the same. If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, or your intellectual property rights have been otherwise violated, please provide the ABE’s Executive Director with the following information:

(a) an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright or other intellectual property interest;

(b) a description of the copyrighted work or other intellectual property that you claim has been infringed;

(d) your address, telephone number, and email address;

(e) a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and

(f) a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright or intellectual property owner or authorized to act on the copyright or intellectual property owner’s behalf.

The ABE’s Executive Director can be reached as follows:

By mail: American Bar Endowment Attn: Joanne Martin

Suite 1400

321 N. Clark Street Chicago, IL 60654

By phone: (312) 988-6408

By email: jmartin@abendowment.org

13. Links to Third-Party Websites. The Sites may provide links (including any link through an on-line banner advertisement) to other sites on the Internet for your convenience. These other sites are maintained by third parties over which ABE exercises no control. The appearance of any such third-party links is not intended to endorse any particular company or product. If you decide to access any of the third-party sites linked to the Sites, you do so entirely at your own risk. You should read the terms of use and privacy policy for each website you visit.

14. Links to Websites, Content, Sharing of Content. Links posted by third parties other than insurance carriers offering ABE-sponsored insurance to the Sites and/or ABE Content may not use the ABE trademark or logo and shall not suggest that ABE promotes or otherwise endorses any third-party products, business relationships, services, causes, campaigns, websites, content, or information. Any links to any portion of the Sites shall be the responsibility of the linking party. ABE reserves the right to require any linking party to disable or remove any link that violates ABE's policies, or rights, or causes interruption or deterioration of ABE Content.

Sharing of Content. You may download, copy or embed ABE Content and other downloadable items displayed on the Sites for personal use only, provided that you maintain all copyright and other notices contained therein. Copying or storing of any ABE Content for other than personal use is expressly prohibited without prior written permission from the copyright holder identified in the copyright notice contained in the ABE Content. ABE reserves the right to require any party sharing ABE content to disable or remove the content should its use violate ABE's policies, rights or causes interruption or deterioration of ABE Content.

15. Warranties Disclaimed. The Sites and ABE Content are provided "As is" and "As available" without any warranty of any kind. Neither the ABE nor its employees, officers, members, affiliates, suppliers, or licensors (collectively "ABE Parties") are responsible for providing maintenance or support services for the Sites. ABE makes commercially reasonable efforts to ensure that all material, data, and other information on the Sites is accurate and reliable, but neither accuracy nor reliability can be guaranteed. ABE does not warrant or guarantee the quality, completeness, timeliness, or availability of the Sites. ABE does not warrant or guarantee that the Sites will be uninterrupted or error free, that defects in the Sites will be corrected, or that the Sites or servers that make the Sites available are free of viruses or other harmful conditions or components. ABE is not responsible for any typographical errors on the Sites.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, ABE expressly disclaims all warranties of any kind with respect to the Sites and all services, including without limitation those regarding availability, quality, accuracy, merchantability, fitness for any use or purpose, compatibility with any standards or user requirements, title, noninfringement, and any arising from a course of dealing or usage in trade. ABE has no responsibility for the timeliness, deletion, misdelivery, or failure to store any user communication. No advice or information, oral or written, obtained by you from ABE or in any manner from the Sites creates any warranty.

Your use of the Sites is at your own risk and you, alone, are responsible for any damage to your computer hardware, software, systems, and networks, any loss of data that results from the download of any data from the Sites, and any other damage that may be incurred.

16. Exclusion of and Limitation of Liability. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, in no event will ABE, or any ABE Parties be liable for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, exemplary, punitive, or consequential loss or damage, or any other loss or damage of any kind, arising out of or in connection with the Sites or your access to or use of or inability to access or use, the Sites (including without limitation the input of personal and other data into the Sites), whether the claim is based in contract, tort (including negligence), strict liability, warranty, or otherwise, and even if an ABE Party has express knowledge of the possibility of the loss or damage.

Your sole an exclusive remedy is to stop accessing and using the Sites. Without limiting the foregoing, in no event will ABE Parties liability to you exceed $100, even if this remedy fails of its essential purpose.

17. Exclusions permitted by law. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties or limitation of certain damages. Accordingly, only the above limitations in sections 15 and 16 above which are lawful in your jurisdiction will apply to you.

18. Indemnification. To the fullest extent permitted by law, you shall defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the ABE Parties from and against all claims arising from or in any way related to your use of the Sites and/or ABE Content, a violation by you of these Terms of Use, or any other actions connected with your use of the Sites and/or ABA Content, including any liability or expense, losses, damages (actual and consequential), suits, judgments, litigation costs and attorneys’ fees. ABE will provide prompt written notice of any such claims, but failure to provide such notice will not release you from any of your obligations pursuant to this section except to the extent that you are actually prejudiced by such failure and will not relieve you from any other liability that you may have to the ABE other than under this section. We reserve, and you grant us, the exclusive right to assume the defense and control of any matter subject to indemnification by you.

19. Term and Termination. These Terms of Use will take effect at the time you begin using the Sites. The ABE reserves the right, with or without notice, at any time and for any reason to deny you access to the Sites or to any portion thereof, and to terminate these Terms of Use. These Terms of Use will terminate automatically if you fail to comply with the terms set forth herein. You may terminate these Terms of Use at any time by ceasing to use the ABE website, but all applicable provisions of these Terms of Use will survive such termination. Upon termination, you must destroy all copies of any portion of the Sites, including any ABE Content, in your possession.

20. Arbitration. Please read the following paragraphs carefully because they require you to arbitrate disputes with ABE ad limit the manner in which you can seek relief form ABE.

Any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the breach, termination, enforcement, interpretation, or validity hereof, including the determination of the scope of applicability of these Terms to arbitrate (herein after, collectively, the Dispute”), which cannot be resolved informally, shall be resolved by binding arbitration on an individual basis under the terms set for below (the Arbitration Agreement”). Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event of any actual, alleged or threatened violation of confidentiality or violation of the ABE’s intellectual property or other proprietary rights, ABE may immediately resort to court proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction in order to seek immediate injunctive relief without posting of a bond, proof of damages, or other similar requirements. The institution of any action for injunctive relief shall not constitute a waiver of the right or obligation of any party to submit any claim seeking relief other than injective relief to arbitration.

This Arbitration Agreement applies to you and ABE, and to any of ABE’s employees, predecessors or successors in interest, and assigns, as well as all authorized or unauthorized users or beneficiaries of the sited provided under the Terms.

Arbitrator. The arbitration proceeding will be administered by the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) before an arbitrator selected pursuant to the AAA rules. The decision of the arbitrator will be final and binding. Any final award or judgement may be filed and enforced in any court of competent jurisdiction. The parties shall share equally in the costs assessed for the arbitration, and each party shall bear its own attorneys’ fees and costs. Any arbitration proceeding may not be consolidated or joined with any other proceeding and will not proceed as a class action. The parties understand that they would have had a right or opportunity to litigate disputes through a court, to have a judge or jury decide their case, and to participate in a class action other proceeding involving multiple claimants, but they instead choose and agree to have all disputes as set forth herein decided through individual arbitration.

Venue. The place of arbitration shall be Cook County, Illinois, unless otherwise agreed to in writing by all parties to the arbitration. The parties acknowledge that this Arbitration Agreement evidences a transaction involving interstate commerce and the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. Sections 1-16, shall govern the interpretation, enforcement and proceedings pursuant to this Arbitration Agreement. The parties expressly agree that any and all actions taken under the Arbitration Agreement and related provisions, including but not limited to all filings, orders, judgments, and awards made in any arbitration proceeding, are confidential and may not be disclosed to any third party.

Survival. This Arbitration Agreement provision will survive the termination of these Terms.

Time Limitation of Claims. The parties agree that they must initiate arbitration within one (1) year after any Dispute arose; otherwise, the Dispute is permanently barred.

21. Governing Law. These Terms of Use and all matters regarding your use of the Sites shall be governed by, construed in accordance with, and enforced under the laws of the state applicable to contracts made and executed and wholly performed in the State of Illinois, without regard to choice of law principles. Neither the Uniform Computer Information Transaction Act nor the United Nations Convention on Contracts for International Sale of Goods apply, and their applicability is expressly excluded. Printed copies of any and all agreements and/or notices in electronic form shall be admissible in any legal, investigative or regulatory proceedings.

22. Waiver and Severability. The failure of ABE to exercise or enforce any right or provision in these Terms of Use shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of these Terms of Use is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, such provision shall be enforced to the fullest extent of the law, and all other provisions shall remain in full force and effect.

23. Complete Agreement. These Terms of Use, together with any revision, any Additional Terms or Conditions incorporated by reference, and any Click-Through Agreement, constitutes the entire agreement between you and the relating to the Sites and their use by you, and supersedes any previous written or oral communication regarding use of the Sites. The Sites are intended to be consistent with and in furtherance of the ABE’s policies.

24. Contact Information. If you have any questions or concerns regarding these Terms of Use or the Sites, please visit our Contact Us page.

25. Statute of Limitations. Regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to your use of the Sites must be filed by you within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred.

26. Use of Websites and Content outside of the United States. ABE makes no claims regarding access or use of the Sites or the ABE Content outside of the United States. If you use or access the Sites or the ABE Content outside of the United States, you do so at your own risk and are responsible for compliance with the laws and regulations of your jurisdiction as well as these Terms of Use.

27. Use of Social Media. The ABE provides opportunities for user interaction within its Sites and social media profiles on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and various blogging sites. On those social media profiles, content and links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the organizations, entities, views, or content contained therein. The ABE is not responsible for content or links posted by others.

30. User Generated Content. ABE welcomes your views, comments and other communications, on our Sites which may include discussion boards, blogs and other services that allow users to provide feedback, comment or content ("User Content"). By contributing User Content to any of the Sites or social media profiles, users understand and acknowledge that this information is available to the public and grant the ABE a nonexclusive license to display, reproduce, transmit, modify such User Content, and that the ABE may use the User Content for internal and external marketing purposes. You are solely responsible for the User Content you submit. If you believe any User Content infringes on your proprietary rights, contact the ABE’s Executive Director as identified in these Terms of Use. The ABE does not approve, endorse, or adopt any User Content, and the ABE assumes no liability for any User Content submitted by you or others. You agree to indemnify the ABE against all claims and liabilities resulting from User Content. Users who do not wish to have information they have made available via these Sites used, published, copied and/or reprinted, should not post on the social media profiles. Please note that other participants may use posted information beyond the control of the ABE. All user content is read at your own risk, and the ABE recommends that you not rely on the information or advice in any of these postings.

The ABE retains the right to remove any content for any reason, including but not limited to, content that it deems threatening, demeaning, profane, obscene, a violation of intellectual property rights or privacy laws, off-topic, commercial or promotion of organizations or programs, or otherwise injurious or illegal. The ABE also retains the right to ban or block a user from posting on ABE social media profiles without notice for a pattern of inappropriate postings or as it deems necessary.

You acknowledge, consent and agree that the ABE may access, preserve and disclose your account information and the User Content you have posted by Users of the Services if required to do so by law or in a good faith belief that such access preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary in the sole opinion of the ABE to: (a) comply with legal process; (b) enforce the Terms of Use; (c) respond to claims that any Content violates the rights of third parties; (d) respond to your requests for customer service; or (e) protect the rights, property or personal safety of the Administrators, its Users and the public.

31. Other Terms of Use/Services. On sites not operated by the ABE, you are also subject to the Terms of Service (TOS) of that host site. Information (comments, photos, videos, etc.) you share with or post to ABE social media profiles is also subject to the TOS of the host site and may be used by the owners of the host site for their own purposes under the host site’s TOS. For more information, consult the host website's TOS.

This Terms of Use is subject to amendment or modification at any time.

Revised January 2022.