Terms of Service — Bench IQ

BENCH IQ, INC.

Welcome to Bench IQ! These Bench IQ Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your use of the proprietary software platform and related services which are accessible via the Bench IQ website app.benchiq.com (the “Site”). The Site, Bench IQ platform and related services are collectively referred to as the “Services”. The Services are made available to you by Bench IQ, Inc. and its affiliates and subsidiaries (“Bench IQ”) hereunder, and are designed to facilitate the review and analysis of court hearing transcripts.

These key terms as well as others are further described below.

Bench IQ will provide the Services to you only if you accept these Terms. If you click on the “I accept” button on the sign-up page or use the Services, you are indicating that you understand and accept these Terms. If you are entering into these Terms on behalf of a company or other legal entity, you represent that you have the authority to bind such entity to these Terms, in which case the terms “You” or “Your” will refer to such entity. If you do not accept these Terms, then you are not authorized to use the Services.

Account. In order to use the Services, you must create an account (“Account”) and establish a username and a password or utilize a Single Sign-On (SSO) account provided by an approved third-party identity provider. In addition to your username or SSO credentials, in connection with Account set up and use of the Services, we will collect your name, role, email and other relevant account information, along with automatically created information inherent to the delivery of online services (such as IP/MAC addresses, browser/device information, and other unique identifiers) in order to: (i) to manage your information and accounts, (ii) provide access to our Services, (iii) detect security events, (iv) prevent fraud, (v) improve/upgrade/enhance our Services, and (vi) share with necessary third party sub-processors (such as our cloud hosting services). We will retain this information only for as long as necessary, and you may request that it be deleted by emailing us at [email protected].

You agree to provide accurate, current and complete information about your Account. Bench IQ reserves the right to suspend or terminate your Account if any information provided during the registration process or thereafter proves to be inaccurate, false or misleading. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and Account, and agree to notify Bench IQ if your password is lost, stolen, or disclosed to an unauthorized third party, or otherwise may have been compromised. You will not share your Account credentials with any other person or otherwise permit any other person or entity to access or use the Services. You agree to notify us immediately of any unauthorized use of your account, user name or password. We are not liable for any losses you incur as a result of someone else’s use of your account or password, either with or without your knowledge. You may be held liable for any losses incurred by us, our affiliates, officers, directors, employees, consultants, agents and representatives due to someone else’s use of your account or password.

You acknowledge that we have the right to monitor your access to and use of the Services for the purposes of operating and improving the Services (including without limitation for fraud prevention, risk assessment, investigation and customer support purposes, analytics, and advertising), to ensure your compliance with these Terms, and to comply with applicable law or the order or requirement of a court.

When you use the Site, which may be hosted in part or its entirety by a third party, the Site may collect information indirectly and automatically (through, for example, the use of “cookies” or your “IP address”) about your activities. We use this activity information (the “Activity Information”) for internal purposes such as to administer the Site, improve the Site, and help us understand how the Site is being used. “Cookies” are small pieces of information stored on your hard drive, not on the Site. You are always free to decline cookies if your browser permits, but in that case, some portions of the Site may not operate properly. An “IP address” is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer when you use the internet.

Beta Features. You acknowledge that: (a) some features of the Services are designated “BETA”. The features so designated are in beta; (b) these features may not operate properly, be in final form or fully functional and may contain errors or omissions, design flaws or other problems; (c) use of these features may result in unexpected results, corruption or loss of data, information, content or communications, or other unpredictable damage or loss; and (d) Bench IQ has no obligation to release a commercial version of these features. You assume all risks arising from use of these features, including, without limitation, the risk of damage to your computer system or the corruption or loss of data, information or content.

The Services. Subject to these Terms, Bench IQ grants you the right to use the Services. When you use the Services, you may choose to submit text queries (“User Input”) to the Services. By submitting User Input to the Services, you authorize Bench IQ to use such User Input and you grant to Bench IQ a non-exclusive, transferable, worldwide, royalty-free, license, with the right to sublicense, to use, copy, modify, create derivative works based upon, distribute, publicly display, and publicly perform your User Input in connection with operating, providing, marketing and promoting the Services. When you use the Services your User Input is used to generate content displayed by the Services (“Service Output”) and for development of our statistical models, for example, to allow us to improve the quality and performance of our search result generators.

Intellectual Property Rights. The Services are owned and operated by Bench IQ, and contain materials that are proprietary and are protected by copyright laws, international treaty provisions, trademarks, service marks, and other intellectual property laws and treaties. Except as otherwise expressly authorized by Bench IQ in writing, none of the Services or content appearing on the Services may be copied, reproduced, republished, downloaded, uploaded, posted, displayed, transmitted or distributed in any way, and no part of the Services shall be construed to confer any license under any of Bench IQ’s intellectual property rights, whether by estoppel, implication or otherwise. Any rights not expressly granted in these Terms are reserved by Bench IQ.

Any trademarks, logos, taglines, and service marks displayed on the Services constitute registered and unregistered trademarks or service marks of Bench IQ.

You represent and warrant that you own all of your User Input or that you have all rights necessary to grant Bench IQ the rights in your User Input under these Terms and that your User Input does not infringe any third-party intellectual property rights, rights of publicity or privacy, or violate applicable law. As between you and Bench IQ, Bench IQ owns all right, title, and interest in and to the Services and all Service Output, including all intellectual property rights therein.

No Guarantee of Results; No Legal Advice; No Attorney-Client Relationship. Bench IQ provides the Services, and the data associated with the Services, to allow you to utilize your professional judgment in serving your clients. Bench IQ does not guarantee that your use of the Services will lead to any specific outcome nor have any guaranteed result. Bench IQ through the Services is not providing legal advice. Neither the Services nor the Service Output constitute legal advice. Your use of the Services does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and Bench IQ.

No Warranty of PACER Data. Bench IQ acquires transcript and transcript-related data directly from PACER. There may be instances in which data in PACER is incomplete or incorrect. Bench IQ is not responsible for incomplete or incorrect PACER data.

Geographic Applicability of the Services. Bench IQ’s registered office is based in the state of Indiana in the United States. We provide the Services for use only by persons located in the United States. We make no claims that the Services or any of its content is accessible or appropriate outside of the United States. Access to the Services may not be legal by certain persons or in certain countries. If you access the Services from outside the United States, you do so on your own initiative and at your own risk, and are responsible for compliance with local laws.

Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) and Generative AI Features. The Model Rules of Professional Conduct promulgated by the American Bar Association and adopted by state bar associations, and similar rules, contain ethical rules that may apply to the use of AI. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and applicable state procedural rules contain certain accuracy requirements that apply to an attorney submitting a court document. Further, some courts have implemented special rules governing the use of AI and generative AI. Some of the Services involve the use of AI, such as Bench OpinionsTM and “transcript Q&A”. In connection with your use of the Services you are responsible for knowing the applicable ethical and procedural rules; Bench IQ is not responsible for your violation of court or ethical rules regarding the use of AI or generative AI. You are responsible for using your professional judgment when utilizing the Service Output.

Feedback. You may choose to provide Bench IQ with feedback and comments and suggestions for improvements to the Services (collectively, “Feedback”). As part of providing Bench IQ with such Feedback, we may ask you to complete any surveys or other questionnaires that Bench IQ may send to you from time to time regarding your experience in using the Services. We may edit, copy, publish, distribute, translate, and otherwise use any Feedback that you forward to us. We are not obligated (1) to maintain any Feedback in confidence; (2) to pay compensation for any Feedback; or (3) to respond to any Feedback. You acknowledge and agree that all Feedback will be the sole and exclusive property of Bench IQ and that Bench IQ may use the Feedback at its sole discretion in connection with its provision of the Services. You hereby assign to Bench IQ and agree to assign to Bench IQ all of your right, title, and interest in and to all Feedback, including all intellectual property rights therein. At Bench IQ’s request and expense, you will execute documents and take such further acts as Bench IQ may reasonably request to assist Bench IQ to acquire, perfect and maintain its intellectual property rights and other legal protections for the Feedback.

Electronic Communications. You agree to receive all communications and notices that we provide in connection with the Services (“Message Services”), including, but not limited to, communications related to our delivery of the Services via electronic means, including by e-mail, text, in-product notifications, or by posting them on the Services. If you do not wish to continue participating in a Message Service we offer, you may opt out by contacting [email protected] with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line.

Privacy. You acknowledge that, except as described in these Terms, the information you provide to us or that we collect will be used and protected as described in our Privacy Policy. You also acknowledge that we may process User Input in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

Confidentiality. “Confidential Information” means: (a) the Services, including any Feedback that you provide to Bench IQ; (b) any Bench IQ business or technical information that is disclosed to you in connection with your use of the Services, including, but not limited to, any information relating to Bench IQ’s plans, designs, technical features, business opportunities or know-how that is designated by Bench IQ as “confidential” or “proprietary” and if orally disclosed, is reduced to writing by Bench IQ within thirty (30) days of such disclosure; and (c) any tests, assessments or trials related to the Services, including any data, results or information from such tests, assessments or trials. Confidential Information excludes any information that: (a) is or becomes generally known to the public other than as a result of your breach of these Terms; (b) is rightfully known to you at the time of disclosure without restrictions on use or disclosure; (c) is independently developed by you, without access to or use of any Confidential Information; or (d) is rightfully obtained by you from a third party, who has the right to disclose it and who discloses it without restrictions on use or disclosure. You will maintain all Confidential Information in strict confidence and you may disclose Confidential Information only to persons who have a bona fide need to know such Confidential Information for the testing and evaluation of the Services and providing Feedback, provided that any such person first executes or is otherwise already bound by a written agreement that contains use and nondisclosure restrictions at least as protective of the Confidential Information as those set forth in this Agreement. You will not use Confidential Information, except solely as necessary to test and evaluate the Services. You will protect Bench IQ’s Confidential Information from unauthorized use and disclosure using efforts equivalent to the efforts that you ordinarily use with respect to your own confidential information and in no event less than a reasonable standard of care.

General Prohibitions. You agree not to: (i) access, tamper with, “hack”, or use non-public areas of the Services, Bench IQ’s computer systems, or the technical delivery systems of Bench IQ’s providers; (ii) attempt to probe, scan or test the vulnerability of any Bench IQ system or network or breach any security or authentication measures except as allowed by Bench IQ’s Responsible Disclosure policy https://benchiq.com/responsible-disclosure; (iii) attempt to decipher, decompile, disassemble or reverse engineer any of the software or code used to provide the Services; (iv) collect or store any personally identifiable information (“PII”) from the Services from other users of the Services without their express permission; (v) impersonate or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity; (vi) violate any applicable law or regulation; (vii) download transcripts in bulk, and/or scrape transcript content from the Site (you may, however, download individual transcripts in the course of your research on the Site); (viii) distribute computer viruses or other code, files, or programs that interrupt, destroy, or limit the functionality of any Bench IQ computer software or hardware or electronic communications equipment; (ix) remove, circumvent, disable, damage, or otherwise interfere with the Services’ security-related features, or features that enforce limitations on use of the Services; (x) access or use the Services for the purpose of developing or operating products or services intended to be offered to third parties in competition with the Services, allow access to your Account by a direct competitor of Bench IQ; or (xi) encourage or enable any other individual to do any of the foregoing.

Changes to the Services. The Services are evolving over time and we may change or discontinue all or any part of the Services, at any time and without notice, at our sole discretion. We may remove or disable access to any content on the Services, at any time and without notice. We are not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension or discontinuance of the Services or removal or disabling of access to any content on the Services.

Changes to These Terms. Bench IQ may modify the Terms at any time, in our sole discretion. If we do so, we’ll let you know either by posting the modified Terms on the Site and/or through email. It is important that you review the Terms whenever we modify them because if you continue to use the Services after we have posted modified Terms, you are indicating to us that you agree to be bound by the modified Terms. If you do not agree to be bound by the modified Terms, then you are no longer authorized to use the Services.

Term; Termination. These Terms will remain in effect until terminated. Bench IQ may terminate these Terms without advance notice, at any time and for any reason including your violation of these Terms. You may terminate these Terms at any time upon written notice to Bench IQ. Upon expiration or termination: (i) your right to access and use the Services and related content will immediately terminate; and (ii) you will promptly destroy or return any Bench IQ Confidential Information in your possession or control. Some provisions of these Terms will survive termination, such as any obligation you have to pay us or indemnify us, any limitations on our liability, and any provisions regarding ownership of intellectual property rights.

Disclaimers. THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS,” “WITH ALL FAULTS”, AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS. BENCH IQ DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICES. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU ARE USING THE SERVICES AT YOUR SOLE RISK. Bench IQ makes no representations or warranties regarding the suitability of the Services for your intended requirements or purposes or regarding any data, information or content that you access through the use of the Services.

WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT ACCESS TO OR USE OF THE SERVICES WILL FUNCTION WITHOUT INTERRUPTION, WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, IS FREE OF MALICIOUS CODE OR THAT IT IS FREE OF ERRORS OR OMISSIONS, OR LOSS OR SECURITY BREACH OF TRANSMITTED INFORMATION, OR THAT NO VIRUSES WILL BE TRANSMITTED THROUGH ACCESS TO OR USE OF THE SERVICES.

SOME STATE LAWS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON IMPLIED WARRANTIES. IF THESE LAWS APPLY TO YOU, SOME OR ALL OF THE FOREGOING DISCLAIMERS, EXCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU, AND YOU MIGHT HAVE ADDITIONAL RIGHTS.

Limitation of Liability. IN NO EVENT WILL BENCH IQ BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING LOSS OF USE, DATA, BUSINESS OR PROFITS) ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THESE TERMS OR THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THE SERVICES, WHETHER SUCH LIABILITY ARISES FROM ANY CLAIM BASED UPON CONTRACT, WARRANTY, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE, AND WHETHER OR NOT BENCH IQ HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH LOSS OR DAMAGE.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL THE TOTAL AGGREGATE AMOUNT THAT BENCH IQ IS LIABLE TO YOU EXCEED THE GREATER OF (I) $100.00 OR (II) THE AMOUNTS PAID BY YOU TO BENCH IQ IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICES IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTH PERIOD PRECEDING THE EVENT ON WHICH YOUR CLAIM IS BASED. THE FOREGOING CAP ON LIABILITY SHALL NOT APPLY TO BENCH IQ’S LIABILITY FOR (1) DEATH, TANGIBLE PROPERTY DAMAGE, OR PERSONAL INJURY CAUSED BY OUR GROSS NEGLIGENCE OR FOR (2) ANY INJURY CAUSED BY OUR FRAUD OR FRAUDULENT MISREPRESENTATION.

SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE PRIOR LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. THE FOREGOING LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS OF LIABILITY AND DISCLAIMERS FORM AN ESSENTIAL BASIS OF THE BARGAIN BETWEEN THE PARTIES, AND WE WOULD NOT ENTER INTO THIS AGREEMENT WITHOUT SUCH LIMITATIONS, EXCLUSIONS, AND DISCLAIMERS.

Indemnification. You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold us, our affiliates, officers, directors, employees, suppliers, consultants, and agents harmless from any and all third-party claims, liability, damages, and costs (including, but not limited to, attorney’s fees) arising from or related to, as applicable: (a) your access to and use of the Services; (b) violation of these Terms by you; or (c) infringement of any intellectual property or other right of any person or entity by you.

We retain the exclusive right to settle, compromise, and pay, without your prior consent, any and all claims or causes of action that are brought against us. We reserve the right, at your expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter for which you are required to indemnify us and you agree to cooperate with our defense of these claims. You agree not to settle any matter in which we are named as a defendant and/or for which you have indemnity obligations without our prior written consent. We will use reasonable efforts to notify you of any such claim, action, or proceeding upon becoming aware of it.

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 Section 1542 that governs your rights in the jurisdiction of your residence.

General. These Terms will be governed by the laws of the State of New York. You may not assign these Terms without Bench IQ’s prior written consent, and any attempt by you to do so will be void and of no effect. Bench IQ may freely assign these Terms. The failure by Bench IQ to enforce any provision of these Terms will not constitute a waiver of that or any other provision. If any provision of these Terms is held to be unenforceable or invalid, that provision will be enforced to the maximum extent possible and the other provisions will remain in full force and effect. These Terms are the complete and exclusive understanding and agreement between the parties regarding their subject matter, and supersede all other proposals, understandings or communications between the parties, oral or written in this regard. Nothing in these Terms will be construed to create a partnership, joint venture or agency relationship between Bench IQ and you. Any notices or other communications provided by Bench IQ under these Terms, including those regarding modifications to these Terms, will be given: (i) via email; and/or (ii) by posting to the Site. For notices made by e-mail, the date of receipt will be deemed the date on which such notice is transmitted. The headings used throughout these Terms are solely for the convenience of reference and are not to be used as an aid in the interpretation of these Terms.

If you have any questions or concerns about the Services or these Terms, please contact us at [email protected].