Special Appearance App is a quick and easy way to find an attorney to cover routine court matters. No more calling all your friends and colleagues or sending out group texts, emails or Facebook postings.
Post your request on Special Appearance App and an attorney who has indicated that he or she is willing to cover cases in that county will receive notice of your request. Multiple attorneys can accept your request and you choose which one you prefer to handle your matter. When the matter is complete, you are notified, billed $60, and the appearing attorney is paid $50. There is an option for paying the attorney extra money if that is the agreement between the attorneys.
Special Appearance App is not a law firm or lawyer referral service and does not practice law, provide legal advice, make appearances in court, or employ any individuals to make appearances in court.
Attorneys who request, accept, and provide services through the App do so at their own discretion as independent contracting parties and at their own risk.
Your access and use of the Special Appearance App constitutes your agreement and intent to be bound by the terms.
Acceptance
These terms constitute a legal agreement between Special Appearance App and you, enforceable like any written negotiated agreement signed by you.
By creating an account, accessing, or using the Special Appearance App, you expressly acknowledge that you have read, understand, and accept the Terms. If you do not agree to any part of the Terms, do not access or use Special Appearance App.
You are responsible for regularly reviewing the Terms as it may be modified at any time. If you are not satisfied with any update to the Terms, your sole remedy is to discontinue your use of the Special Appearance App. Your continued use of the Special Appearance App after an update constitutes your acceptance of the updated Terms.
License
Subject to your compliance with these Terms, Special Appearance App grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, sub-licensable, non-commercial license for use on your personal device solely in connection with work you perform through the Special Appearance App. All rights not specifically granted under this Agreement are reserved by Special Appearance App and Special Appearance App’s licensors. Your license confers no title or ownership in the App and should not be construed as a sale of any rights in the App. Special Appearance App reserves the right to revoke this license for cause or breach of the Terms.
No Offer of Legal Services
Special Appearance App is not a law firm or lawyer referral service and does not practice law, give legal advice or make appearances in court. Special Appearance App has no relationship with any of our user’s clients and owes no duties to any such clients. Special Appearance App does not review any information users provide through the App as it relates to the clients. Users who submit appearances and users who accept appearances do so entirely at their own discretion and risk. Apart from offering, maintaining, and facilitating the operation of the App, Special Appearance App does not participate in the communication, interaction, relationship or work performed by the users. Special Appearance App does not have the right to, and shall not be deemed to, direct or control users with regard to the provision of any agreement between the users. Users retain the sole right to determine if, when, where, and for how long to utilize the Special Appearance App.
Eligibility
By using the Special Appearance App, you also represent and warrant that (a) you are 21 years of age or older; (b) you are legally able to enter into a contract; (c) you are a licensed attorney in good standing of the state bar where you practice; (d) all information you submit to Special Appearance App is truthful and accurate; (e) you will maintain the accuracy of such information; and (f) your use of the Special Appearance App conforms to the purpose of the Special Appearance App, complies with these Terms, and does not violate any applicable law or regulation. If you do not meet the eligibility requirements set forth above, you may not use the Special Appearance App.
Intellectual Property Rights
(A) Ownership. All title, ownership rights and intellectual property rights in and to the App (including but not limited to any patches and updates) and any and all copies thereof (including but not limited to any titles, computer code, themes, objects, catchphrases, locations, concepts, artwork, animation, sounds, musical compositions, audiovisual effects, methods of operation, moral rights, any related documentation, and “applets” incorporated into the Licensed Application) are owned by Special Appearance App. The Licensed Application is protected by the copyright laws of the United States, international copyright treaties and conventions and other laws. You acknowledge that Special Appearance App owns all rights in and to the App, including, but not limited to worldwide statutory and common law rights associated with (a) patents and patent applications; (b) works of authorship, including copyrights, copyright applications, copyright registrations and “moral rights;” (c) the protection of trade and industrial secrets and confidential information; (d) trademarks; and (e) divisions, continuations, renewals, derivative works, and re-issuances of any of the foregoing, now existing or acquired in the future.
Automatic Monitoring/Audits
(A) You acknowledge that Special Appearance App reserves the right, at any time and without notice, to monitor compliance with the terms of this Agreement and to otherwise protect its rights in the Licensed Application. The App may include product activation and other security technology that is designed to prevent the unauthorized access, use and/or copying of the App, including any violations of this Agreement. This technology may cause your device to automatically connect to the Internet, may transmit information about you and the device used to access the App (including personal information) to Special Appearance App, and may prevent uses of the App that are not authorized or permitted pursuant to the terms of this Agreement.
(B) Special Appearance App reserves the right, with reasonable notice, to audit or have audited your use of the App to verify compliance with the terms of this Agreement. Such audit shall be at Special Appearance App’s expense unless noncompliance by you is found by the auditor, in which case, you shall reimburse Special Appearance App for the reasonable costs of the audit in addition to payment of all fees necessary to obtain valid licenses to bring your use back into compliance.
Consent to Use of Data
Your access and use of the App is not private or confidential. You agree that Special Appearance App may collect and use technical data and related information, including but not limited to, technical information about your device, system and application software, and peripherals, that is gathered periodically to facilitate the provision of software updates, product support and other Special Appearance App to you (if any) related to the App. Special Appearance App may use this information, as long as it is in a form that does not personally identify you, to improve its products or to provide Special Appearance App or technologies to you.
Charges and Billing
You agree that to the extent you provide Special Appearance App any payment information, you represent that you are an authorized user of the chosen method of payment, and that all payment information you provide, including but not limited to your name, credit card or other payment account identifying number, expiration date, security codes, billing address, and any other payment information will be current, complete, true and accurate. All expenses and costs incurred by you in connection with its activities hereunder, if any, are your sole responsibility. You are not entitled to reimbursement from Special Appearance App for any expenses, and you will hold Special Appearance App harmless therefrom.
Independent Contractors
Special Appearance App facilitates attorney’s finding coverage in court. Users are all independent contractors making agreements/contracts between each other.
Special Appearance App is not responsible for the conduct of any users and you hereby release Special Appearance App from any liability related thereto. Special Appearance App will not be liable for any claim, injury or damage arising in connection with your use of the Special Appearance App.
Fees, Disputes, and Refunds Between Users
As a user posting a request, you understand that Special Appearance App will charge you and forward the money to the appearing attorney and keep a portion of the charge as a fee for the Special Appearance App service. The Charges are subject to Special Appearance App’s Cancellation Policy. The Charges paid by you are final and non-refundable, unless otherwise determined by Special Appearance App. If your payment card is determined to be expired, invalid or otherwise not able to be charged, you agree to update your payment card so that Special Appearance App may successfully complete the transaction.
Special Appearance App reserves the right to establish, remove and/or revise the Charges at any time in Special Appearance App’s sole discretion.
Cancellation Policy
You may elect to cancel your request for an an appearance via Special Appearance App at any time prior to the time of the assigned appearance, in which case you may be charged a cancellation fee. This payment structure is intended to fully compensate appearing attorneys for time and service provided.
If a requesting attorney confirms an acceptance and cancels thereafter, there will be a charge payable to the accepting attorney minus $10 service fee as follows:
Cancel 9-24 hours = There is no fee.
Cancel 2-8 hours = $35
Cancel within 2 hours = $60
You acknowledge and agree that Special Appearance App only facilitates the connection, communication, and payment between you and other users. Any and all substantive communication, services, and work relating to an appearance is between you and the attorney making your appearance. Special Appearance App cannot and does not make any representations or guarantees concerning the quality and/or nature of the work provided by users. Special Appearance App does not have the right to, and shall not, in any way, direct, control, or comment on the performance of any user of the App. Special Appearance App may, in Special Appearance App’s sole discretion, investigate any concern regarding an appearance and determine whether or not to issue a partial or full refund of paid Charges.
No Warranty
Because Special Appearance App only helps connect and pay attorneys who provide courtroom coverage for other attorneys, agreements between users of Special Appearance App are not reviewed by Special Appearance App and the appropriateness of the agreements and the execution of the agreements are the sole responsibility of the users.
Special Appearance App offers no guarantees or warranties regarding the quality, dependability or competence of any user. Special Appearance App does not conduct any conflict of interest checks. Users bear sole responsibility to determine whether any attorney using the App or Special Appearance App will be appropriate for their matter.
Dispute Resolution / Governing Law
Any dispute, claim or controversy arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the breach, termination, enforcement, interpretation or validity thereof, including the determination of the scope or applicability of this agreement to arbitrate, shall be determined by arbitration in Sacramento County, California before one arbitrator. The arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person’s claims, and may not preside over any form of a representative or class proceeding. The arbitration shall be administered in accordance with the Commercial Arbitration Rules and Procedures of the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) then in effect, by the single arbitrator who shall be selected from the appropriate list of AAA arbitrators. The determination of whether a dispute is subject to arbitration shall be governed by the Federal Arbitration Act and determined by an arbitrator rather than a court. The prevailing party in any arbitration or other proceeding arising under this Agreement shall be entitled to receive reimbursement of its reasonable expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees, expert witness fees and all other expenses) incurred in connection therewith. Judgment on the award of the arbitrator may be entered in any court having jurisdiction. Either party may, without waiving any remedy under this agreement, seek from any court having jurisdiction any interim or provisional relief that is necessary to protect the rights or property of that party, pending resolution of the arbitration on the merits of the dispute.
This Agreement and the rights of the parties hereunder shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, exclusive of conflict or choice of law rules.
Notwithstanding the provision in the preceding paragraph with respect to applicable substantive law, any arbitration conducted pursuant to the terms of this Agreement shall be governed by the Federal Arbitration Act (9 U.S.C., Secs. 1-16).
Handling of Information
PERSONAL INFORMATION: When you register as a user of the Special Appearance App we collect personal information including your name, email address, phone number, and bar number. You have the option to upload a profile photo and/or a short bio about yourself .
PAYMENT INFORMATION: The first time you choose to use the Special Appearance App to find an attorney to cover a court appearance you will need to add a credit or debit card as your method of payment. This information is passed directly to Stripe, our payments processor, who secures it for your convenience regarding future assignments. Only the last four digits of the card will be retained by Special Appearance App for reference.
CASE INFORMATION: To find an attorney to cover your appearance, you must provide some information relating to your client’s case. The information will be shared with other users who have listed the county of the court as their preference to receive requests. The other users will use this information to determine if they are qualified and available. Any confidential or sensitive case information should be exchanged directly to the appearing attorney via direct contact such as text messages, phone calls, or emails. After you have selected someone to appear for you, you will each be given each other’s contact information as it was given to Special Appearance App. Users are licensed attorneys and and bound by the rules of law and professional responsibility as they apply in the state where the attorney is a sworn member of the bar.
Acceptance
Your use of the Special Appearance App signifies you have read, understand and agree to our Terms. We may update this policy from time to time. When an update contains material changes, we will notify you through the Special Appearance App. Your continued use of the Special Appearance App after such notice constitutes your acknowledgment and acceptance of the changes.