Privacy Policy

Judicial District 18 Bar Mentoring Committee Listserv User Agreement

By using this website and its email platform (herein “District Bar Email Platform”), User agrees to the terms and conditions contained in this agreement. This agreement may be modified at any time without notice and such modifications shall be effective upon its posting to the District 18 Bar website at https://www.18barnc.org/

User of District Bar Email Platform certifies that User is a member of the North Carolina State Bar Judicial District 18 Bar. User agrees to the following as a condition of participation:

  1. Informal Advice; No Professional Liability or Co-Counsel Relationship. Reply postings are to give informal and general information, and shall not be relied upon in a way that would create professional liability for the responder.  User is solely responsible for determining if any particular suggestion or answer is appropriate for that User’s case. Using the District Bar Email Platform does not create a co-counsel relationship. 

  2. Remember who is on the Platform Before Posting.  Before deciding whether to post and how to word a query, consider that opposing counsel may also be on the Platform.  If that is a concern, options are to post the question in a general way or to contact a particular user of the Platform offline to ask the question. In appropriate cases, a User may reply to a question, “contact me offline.”

  3. Not to be Used for Advertising. District Bar Email Platform will not be used to advertise products or services unless such product or service is specifically sponsored by the North Carolina Judicial District 18 Bar. However, Users may utilize the platform to make others aware of Continuing Legal Education (CLE) programs sponsored by other professional organizations.  In addition, Users may utilize the platform when seeking to make a referral for a client or prospective client of the User to a suitable practitioner, and when responding to those inquiries (including indicating that the responding User is available for the referral).  Users may describe their practice, but may not make unsolicited requests for referrals to them.

  4. Postings Not Privileged or Confidential. Postings on District Bar Email Platform are not privileged, confidential, or, in the event of litigation, protected from discovery. Therefore, User should not post any message that User would be embarrassed or concerned to be made public.

  5. Purpose; Topics. The purpose of the District Bar Email Platform is to allow interested members of the District Bar to ask and answer questions and to discuss topics of legal issues, practice management, referrals, express mentoring, professionalism, and similar related topics of professional interest. District Bar Email Platform postings should be limited to those issues. Messages should be clear and as concise as possible.
  6. Prohibited Content.  The purpose of the District Bar Email Platform is to facilitate the ready exchange of information to enable members to better serve clients and meet professional obligations. The District Bar Email Platform will not be used to send messages which include:
  1. Jokes, items for sale, or political content.
    B.  Defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive or illegal information or materials.
    C.  Copyrighted materials or information without the consent of the copyright owner.
    D.  Content that could be viewed as anti-competitive and that may raise issues under antitrust laws. For  example, discussing any of the following subjects on the District Bar Email Platform would raise antitrust concerns and must be avoided:
                            i.   Hourly rates lawyers or paralegals should establish;
                            ii.  Salaries to be paid to new associates;
                            iii. Fees that should be charged for a particular service;
                            iv. Boycotting or exclusion from the market of lawyers who fail to insist that clients receive and pay for a particular “package” of services in connection with a transaction; OR
                            v.  Exclusion from the market or the injuring of non-lawyers, whose activities threaten economic harm to lawyers.

 

  1. UPL and Consumer Protection with State Bar. It is permissible to use District Bar Email Platform to exchange or gather information that can be provided to the North Carolina State Bar to address concerns that may arise regarding a non-lawyer’s unauthorized practice of law or that consumer welfare is being threatened. However, User should not use District Bar Email Platform as a means to police such conduct or to organize any activity other than providing information to the North Carolina State Bar.

 

  1. Duty Not to Disclose to Unauthorized Persons. Material or information obtained via District Bar Email Platform will not be disclosed to anyone who is not authorized to receive such information but may be used in the User’s legal practice.
  1. Not for Profit. None of the information or material obtained from District Bar Email Platform will be sold or distributed for profit under any circumstances.
  1. District Bar Right to Audit. All communications on District Bar Email Platform will be used for business purposes only and in accordance with these procedures. All District Bar Email Platform are subject to audit and monitoring by North Carolina Judicial District 18 Bar staff members as well as the District Bar Email Platform contractor for business and security purposes.
  1. User’s Responsibility/Liability For Certain Posts. User may be held individually liable for any communications sent on District Bar Email Platform, including but not limited to defamatory, discriminatory, antitrust, anti-competitive, false or unauthorized information. User must comply with all state and federal copyright, trademark and patent laws and regulations.
  1. By using District Bar Email Platform, User agrees to indemnify, defend and hold harmless, North Carolina Judicial District 18 Bar and its committees, subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, agents, parents, insurers, successors or assigns from and against all loss, claims, demands, causes of action, liabilities, expenses, including reasonable attorney’s fees and costs arising from any claim arising out of or resulting from in whole or part any breach of agreement by User or any omission or act taken by User. In no event will the North Carolina Judicial District 18 Bar be responsible to the User for any indirect, consequential, special or punitive damages or losses User may incur in connection with District Bar Email Platform or any of the data or other materials transmitted through or residing on any District Bar Email Platform, even if the North Carolina Judicial District 18 Bar has been advised of the possibility of such damage or loss.
  1. District Bar May Remove for Violations. The North Carolina Judicial District 18 Bar may remove User from any or all District Bar Email Platform for violation of this agreement.
  1. This agreement is effective immediately upon its posting on the North Carolina Judicial District 18 Bar website, ________________________________________,
    and upon email or District Bar Email Platform message delivery to User. Modifications to these terms are effective when posted on the said website and upon such email or message delivery to User.