Terms of Use

PLEASE READ THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS BEFORE ACCESSING OUR WEBSITE

This page states the "Terms of Use" under which you may use this website, which is an interactive on-line service operated by Accord Group, LLC. (“us”), consisting of information services and content provided by us and other third parties (the “Site”). These Terms of Use include the Site Privacy Policy and form a binding agreement between you and Accord Group, LLC. Your access to or use of the Site indicates your acceptance of these Terms of Use.

1) Acceptable Use. This Site is intended to provide users with general information. We do not recommend or endorse any specific professionals, tests, products, procedures, opinions, or other information that may be mentioned on the Site. Reliance on any information provided by us, our employees, others appearing on Site at our invitation or other visitors to the Site is solely at your own risk. Your use of the Site is a privilege.

2) Rules of Conduct. We are the sole interpreter of the Site rules of conduct described in these Terms of Use. Users who violate these rules may have their access and use of the Site suspended or terminated at our discretion. We may at any time take any action with regard to user materials that we deem in our sole discretion to be necessary or appropriate.

a) Posting Rules.

i) Materials you post to the Site may not contain: (1) URLs or links to web sites that compete with the Site; (2) copyrighted material (unless you own the copyright or have the owner's permission to post the copyrighted material); (3) trade secrets (unless you own them or have the owner's permission to post them); (4) material that infringes on or misappropriates any other intellectual property rights, or violates the privacy or publicity rights of others; (5) anything that is sexually explicit, obscene, libelous, defamatory, threatening, harassing, abusive, or hateful; or (6) anything that is embarrassing or offensive to another person, group or entity.

ii) You may not use your Materials to: (1) impersonate another person, living or dead; (2) post false, inaccurate or misleading information; (3) except as provided in your directories of you own services, post advertisements or solicitations of business (including, but not limited to, franchises, "club memberships," distributorships, or anything requiring a monetary investment, including a request for payment to obtain job listings); (4) post chain letters or pyramid schemes; or (5) post opinions or notices, commercial or otherwise.

iii) Materials that encourage our users to "email for more details" are not permitted. Materials from any third party charging a fee are not permitted.

iv) We are under no obligation to monitor the materials posted on the Site by users, but we may monitor materials at random. Any materials we find in our discretion to violate these Terms of Use may be removed. If we are notified by a user that any user materials on the Site violate these rules, we may investigate and determine in good faith whether we agree with such allegation, in which case we may remove or request the removal of user materials. We are not required to make any such investigation or to remove any user materials, and we will not be liable to any user for taking or not taking such actions.

b) Conduct Rules:

i) You may not respond to postings by other users in any manner or for any purpose other than that which is expected. Responses soliciting business are prohibited.

ii) You may not send (or encourage or help others to send) unsolicited commercial email to our users.

iii) Report inappropriate postings or conduct to [email protected].

iv) You may not delete or revise any material posted by any other person or entity.

v) Any conduct by a user that in our sole discretion restricts or inhibits any other user from using or enjoying the Site is prohibited.

vi) We are under no obligation to monitor the conduct of our users, but we may investigate and respond when violations are reported.

c) Security Rules:

i) Users are prohibited from violating or attempting to violate the security of the Site, including, without limitation: (1) accessing data not intended for such user or logging into a server or account which the user is not authorized to access; (2) attempting to probe, scan or test the vulnerability of a system or network or to breach security or authentication measures without proper authorization; (3) attempting to interfere with service to any user, host or network, including, without limitation, via means of submitting a virus to the Site, overloading, "flooding", "mailbombing" or "crashing"; (4) sending unsolicited e-mail, including promotions and/or advertising of products or services; (5) forging any TCP/IP packet header or any part of the header information in any e-mail or newsgroup posting.

ii) Violation of these Security Rules may result in civil or criminal liability. We will investigate occurrences which may involve such violations and may involve, and cooperate with, law enforcement authorities in prosecuting users who are involved in such violations.

d) Registration Rules.

i) To post certain material to the Site, such as blogposts and professional profiles in the directory, you will be required to register. We will request information from you, including your name and email, for your registration. You must provide us with true and accurate registration information. We will not share your registration information with third parties, except as necessary to provide you with services you request or with your permission as provided in the Site Privacy Policy.

ii) We will assign a user name and password to you. You may not share your account, user name or password with anyone else, and you will be responsible for the actions of anyone who obtains your user name and/or password and uses them to access the Site. You must notify us immediately of any unauthorized use of your user name and password.

iii) If at any time during the term of this agreement we come to the understanding that you: (1) misled us as to your business practices and/or services, (2) misled site visitors about your qualifications, or (3) purchased services that do not describe your precise business, we reserve the right to terminate your account. We may terminate your account and/or your access to the Site at any time if we deem in our sole discretion such to be necessary or appropriate.

3) Rights Reserved.

a) We hereby grant you a limited, terminable, non-exclusive right to access and use the Site only for your personal use. This authorizes you to view and download a single copy of the material on the Site solely for your personal, noncommercial use. Except for materials licensed under a Creative Commons license, you must include the following notice in any downloaded materials: “Copyright Accord Group, LLC. Except as otherwise expressly permitted under copyright law, no copying, redistribution, retransmission, publication or commercial exploitation of downloaded material will be permitted without the express written permission of Accord Group, LLC.”

b) Except as expressly stated in these Terms of Use, we reserve all rights to all materials on the Site, including, without limitation, written content, graphical and design elements (including the Site’s “look and feel”), and service marks and trademarks. By submitting material to any area of the Site, you automatically grant, or warrant that the owner of such material has expressly granted, to us the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate and distribute such material (in whole or in part) worldwide and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media or technology now known or hereafter developed for the full term of any copyright that may exist in such material. You may not sell, transfer or assign any products or services or your rights to any products or services provided by us to any third party without our express written authorization. You may not copy, modify, alter, or excerpt (or encourage or help others to copy, modify, alter, or excerpt) the Site materials. You may not use (or encourage or help others to use) the Site for any purpose or in any manner that is prohibited by these Terms of Use or by applicable law. You acknowledge and agree that these Terms of Use in no way convey any right, title or interest to you in any materials on the Site, including, without limitation, any statutory or common law copyright, patent or other intellectual property right in such materials.

4) Disclaimer.

a) We make no representations or warranties whatsoever regarding the Site and any materials on the Site. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY IN THESE TERMS OF SERVICE OR ELSEWHERE, THE SITE IS PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” BASIS. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE HEREBY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF NON-INFRINGEMENT AND ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY. WE MAKE NO WARRANTY ABOUT THE ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, COMPLETENESS OR TIMELINESS OF THE SITE. WE MAKE NO WARRANTY THAT THE SITE’S SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, THE SITE’S FUNCTIONS SHALL BE ERROR-FREE OR, THAT THE SITE OR THE SERVERS THAT MAKE IT AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS.

b) The Site is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice. Under no circumstances will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information obtained through the Site. It is your responsibility to evaluate the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, opinion, advice or other content available through the Site. Please seek the advice of professionals, as appropriate, regarding the evaluation of any specific information, opinion, advice or other content. Never disregard professional advice, including legal advice, or delay in seeking it, because of something you have read on this Site.

c) You are solely responsible for the content of any posting you make to the Site and any consequences arising from such posting. We assume no responsibility for materials posted by our users or any other actions, conduct or omissions of our users. We act as a service provider for users to distribute and publish their materials. We do not undertake responsibility for screening or monitoring our users’ materials.

d) Our bloggers who post articles to our Site are not employed by us or Accord Group, LLC. Each blogger is solely responsible for the content of his or her articles. Each blogger owns the copyright to the articles they upload. We do not undertake responsibility for screening or monitoring our bloggers’ materials. The opinions expressed by the bloggers are their own and are not our opinions or endorsed by us.

e) Further, we explicitly disclaim any responsibility for the accuracy, content or availability of information found on a site that links to or from the Site (a "third-party site"). We may offer links to, or incorporate into the Site, third-party sites that offer various products and/or services. We cannot ensure that users will be satisfied with any products or services that are purchased from such a third-party site, since such sites are owned and operated by others. We do not endorse any of such products or services, nor have we taken any steps to confirm the accuracy or reliability of any of the information contained in any third party sites. We do not make any representations or warranties as to the security of any information (including credit card and other personal information) users might be requested to give a third-party site. We strongly encourage users to make their own investigation of third-party sites before proceeding with any transaction with such third parties.

f) We do not endorse, and nothing on the Site shall be deemed to be an endorsement, representation or warranty of, any third party (including our directory members, users and bloggers), whether in relation to such third party’s products, services, websites, experience or background or otherwise. We do not make any representations or warranties with regard to any materials posted by our users, directory members or bloggers. The information in our directories is provided exclusively by participating professionals.

g) Some of the material on this Site may be provided by Accord Group, LLC, the publisher of Mediation Resource. You accept that Accord Group, LLC disclaims all warranties and limits all liability arising in connection with this Site to the same extent and in the same manner as we do in these Terms of Use. You expressly agree that Accord Group, LLC. may rely on your acceptance of such disclaimers and limits.

h) Your use of the Site, the Internet, any materials you post or access via our Site and your conduct online or offline are at your own risk.

5) Indemnification. You shall indemnify and defend us, and our officers, employees, consultants and trainers against any costs, expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees whether arising out of a third-party claim or in enforcing this indemnification), claims, judgments, settlements and damages (including all damages awarded to third parties payable by us, but in all cases only our direct damages) arising out of, or related to, your use of the Site, any materials posted to the Site or provided to other users by you or any violation of these Terms of Use.

6) Limits of Liability.

A) NEITHER WE, NOR ANY OF OUR OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS, WILL BE LIABLE TO YOU OR TO ANY OTHER PERSON FOR ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR SPECIAL DAMAGES (“NON-DIRECT DAMAGES”), OF ANY CHARACTER, WHETHER IN AN ACTION IN CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THESE TERMS OF USE, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

B) THE LIABILITY OF US AND ANY OF OUR OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS TO YOU OR TO ANY OTHER PERSON FOR DIRECT DAMAGES SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE GREATER OF US$100 OR THE FEES PAID BY YOU FOR OUR SERVICES DURING THE 12 MONTHS PRECEDING THE EVENTS THAT GIVE RISE TO YOUR FIRST CLAIM AGAINST US FOR DAMAGES.

C) BECAUSE SOME STATES OR JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR NON-DIRECT DAMAGES, THE LIMITATIONS IN PARAGRAPH (A) ABOVE MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU, BUT IN SUCH CASE, THE LIMITATIONS IN PARAGRAPH (B) SHALL APPLY TO BOTH DIRECT AND NON-DIRECT DAMAGES.

7) We respect the rights of all copyright holders. If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide our Copyright Agent the following information required by the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. §512:

8) Governing Law and Jurisdiction/Waiver of Jury Trial. These Terms of Use and any claim or dispute arising out of, relating to or in connection with these Terms of Use or the transactions contemplated hereby, whether in contract, tort or otherwise, shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Vermont without giving effect to its conflicts of law principles. Each party irrevocably consents and agrees that any legal action, suit or proceeding against either of them arising out of, relating to or in connection with the transaction contemplated hereby or disputes relating hereto may be brought only in United States District Court for Vermont, or if such court does not have jurisdiction, in the courts of the State of Vermont located in Chittenden County and hereby irrevocably accepts and submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the aforesaid courts in personam, with respect to any such action, suit or proceeding. EACH PARTY WAIVES TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW ANY RIGHT TO TRIAL BY JURY IN ANY ACTION, SUIT OR PROCEEDING BROUGHT TO ENFORCE, DEFEND OR INTERPRET ANY RIGHTS OR REMEDIES ARISING UNDER, RELATING TO OR IN CONNECTION WITH THESE TERMS OF USE.

9) Notices. You shall send notices to us by mail or by email to our contact information listed below and addressed to the attention of LEGAL. Notices to you will be sent by mail or by email to the addresses you provide when registering. Notices shall be deemed given on the day actually received by recipient, if received as provided in this paragraph before 5pm on a business day in the recipient’s location. Notices received after 5pm or on a non-business day shall be deemed received on the next business day.

10) Amendment. We may change these Terms of Use, including the Site Privacy Policy, at any time. We will post notification of changes on the Site and e-mail them to registered users. Your continued use of the Site after the posting on the Site of any changes (whether or not you have also received notice by email) indicates your acceptance of such changes.

11) General. We and you are independent contractors of each other. Neither party shall be deemed in default for failure to comply with any provision hereof, if such failure results from acts or events beyond its reasonable control, other than payment of money. If any provision of these Terms of Use is found to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, the validity, legality and enforceability of the remaining provisions shall not in any way be affected or impaired thereby. No waiver of any provision of these Terms of Use shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such provision or any other provision. All provisions of these Terms of Use, except provisions that grant you access to or use of the Site, shall survive the termination of the agreement between us and you. These Terms of Use shall be binding upon the parties, their legal representatives, successors and permitted assigns, but may not be assigned by you. Except as may be expressly stated in any other written agreement signed by you and us, these Terms of Use, including the Site Privacy Policy (as amended from time to time by us as provided in these Terms of Use) contain the entire understanding between you and us and supersede any prior agreement between you and us, whether written or oral.

Contact Information Send all correspondence related to this agreement to [email protected].