What this platform is for, and what it is not for.

• Seek or provide legal and professional services through licensed lawyers and verified, licensed professionals. All cases must be real disputes or real legal matters.
• Upload documents relevant to your matter.
• Communicate professionally through the WLS portal, in compliance with your association's code of conduct.
• Provide dispute settlement services within the scope of this platform.

You agree not to use WLS to do any of the following.

Illegal activity

Fraud, money laundering or any other crime, including cyber bullying. This is a professional platform.

Malicious content

Uploading viruses, malware, spam or phishing links.

Copyright violation

Uploading documents you do not own the rights to.

False information

Impersonating someone, or using a fake bar number, wrong qualifications or a fake identity document.

Circumvention

Taking clients, lawyers or other professionals off the platform to avoid your financial obligations to it.

Harassment

Threatening, abusing or discriminating against anyone. Racial abuse is not acceptable under any circumstances.

Scraping

Copying, scraping or reverse engineering the WLS platform or its artificial intelligence tools.

Unauthorised legal advice

Nobody who is not properly qualified to do so may give legal advice on this platform.

Conflict of interest

Acting where you are conflicted. A conflict must be declared before instructions are accepted.

• Accept instructions only from jurisdictions you are licensed to practise in. To accept a cross border case you must comply with the requirements of that jurisdiction.
• Do not solicit clients for the referral of cases by WLS.
• Maintain professional confidentiality at all material times.
• Do not use the WLS platform to advertise outside services.

Any violation of these rules results in immediate suspension from the platform and possible forfeiture of pending payments.

Your content

The documents you upload remain yours. You grant WLS authority to host, process and display them to your matched lawyer or professional.

WLS content

The WLS logo, and all tools and templates, are owned by WLS. You may not copy them without express written authority.

Work product

Legal advice and other professional advice, reports and related documents are owned by the client.

Confidentiality

All court documents are confidential and members may not share them without the specific approval of WLS. WLS complies with all data protection laws.

Ownership

The platform, the branding and the matching algorithms are WLS intellectual property.

WLS does not take equity in any member's practice and does not own client intellectual property. It owns platform intellectual property only.

Enforcement of this policy takes any of the following forms.

• Suspension for a defined period not exceeding 6 months.
• A permanent ban where there is repeated breach.
• Reporting the violation to your professional body or to law enforcement.

The association is still paid its levy even where the member is banned, for work that has been completed. Payment to the association may be based on the milestones reached at the time of the suspension or the ban.

WLS is committed to safety, legality and professional integrity. We take down content or access where that is required.

What we can take down

• Fraudulent cases, illegal requests, or cases outside the scope of this platform.
• Fake member profiles and credentials, banned members, and policy violations.
• Copyrighted material, forged documents, and confidential data uploaded without the requisite permission.
• Defamatory, abusive or threatening content.
• The profile of any member who loses accreditation with their association.

1. 01Any member on the platform can report a violation of this policy.
2. 02WLS may also start the take down process of its own motion, following a random audit.
3. 03The WLS compliance department reviews the evidence. Where the matter is serious the account is suspended immediately.
4. 04The member is notified of the alleged violation and asked to comment within 7 days.
5. 05A decision is taken within 7 days of the member's comments.
6. 06Where there is no violation, the content is reinstated without apology.
7. 07Where there is a minor violation, the member is given a warning and the content is removed.
8. 08Where the violation is serious, the content is permanently taken down, the member is permanently banned, and their association is notified.
9. 09The member may appeal to a senior manager of WLS within 14 days, and a final decision is delivered within 14 days of the appeal.

The member always sees the allegation and answers it before a decision is taken. The name of the person who reported it is never shown to them.

• Where a case is taken down before completion, a full refund is made to the client from the trust account.
• Where a member is banned mid case, WLS completes the case with another member. The original member receives 50% of the work already done.
• The association levy is still paid to the association for any cases completed before the ban.

Your association can request the immediate take down of any member who falls into one of the following.

• Loses their membership of the association.
• Is suspended by the association for disciplinary action.
• Is convicted of professional misconduct.

Where an association suspends or expels a member, WLS takes the member's profile down within 24 hours of written notice, and active cases are reassigned.

World Legal Services is a marketplace for lawyers and associated professionals who provide litigation and related support to lawyers. It is not a law firm. We do not give legal advice. We guarantee payment of fees for services rendered, and not the outcome. We are not liable for expert negligence: such claims lie against the member and their professional indemnity.