1. The agreement
Handoff, Inc. (“Handoff”, “we”, “us”) operates the referral management platform at casehandoff.com and the related applications, APIs, and integrations (together, the “Service”). By creating an account, ticking the consent box at sign-up, or using the Service, you agree to these Terms of Service (the “Terms”) and to our Privacy Policy, which is part of them.
“You” means the law firm or other organization that holds the account (the “Firm”) and every person who uses the Service under it. A person who accepts these Terms on a Firm’s behalf represents that they are authorized to bind it.
If your Firm has signed a separate written agreement with us that covers the Service, that agreement controls where the two conflict.
2. Accounts and eligibility
The Service is for law firms, licensed attorneys, and the staff who work under their supervision. It is not for consumers, and it is not for anyone under 18. By registering you confirm that your Firm is a bona fide legal practice, that attorneys using the account are licensed and in good standing in the jurisdictions where they practice, and that the information you give us about the Firm is accurate.
You are responsible for everything done under your account, including by people you invite. Keep your credentials private, use the invitation tools to add colleagues rather than sharing a login, and tell us at hello@casehandoff.com as soon as you learn of any unauthorized use. We can suspend an account that we reasonably believe is compromised.
Firm and attorney profiles may appear in our public directory. You control that listing from your settings, and a profile you mark private is not published.
3. What Handoff is, and is not
Handoff is software. It lets firms list the case types they take, send matters to other firms, receive matters, track them through intake, negotiate and sign referral agreements, and run campaigns to source cases. We provide the tools. We do not practice law.
- Not a law firm, not a lawyer referral service. Handoff, Inc. is not a law firm and does not employ attorneys to represent users or claimants. We do not evaluate the merits of any claim, and we do not recommend that any claimant retain any particular firm.
- No legal advice. Nothing on the Service, including agreement templates, AI-generated summaries, fee schedules, or intake criteria suggestions, is legal advice. You are responsible for reviewing every document you sign and every decision you make.
- No attorney-client relationship with us. Using the Service does not create one between Handoff, Inc. and you.
4. Referrals between firms
A referral on Handoff is an arrangement between the sending firm and the receiving firm. We are not a party to it. The fee split, the scope of work, and the duties owed to the client are theirs to set and theirs to honour.
Each Firm that sends or receives a referral is responsible for:
- Complying with the rules of professional conduct that apply to it, including rules on fee division between lawyers in different firms (such as ABA Model Rule 1.5(e) and its state equivalents), client consent, confidentiality, and conflicts of interest.
- Obtaining any client consent that its jurisdiction requires before sharing a matter or agreeing to a fee division, and documenting that consent in the form the jurisdiction requires.
- The accuracy of what it says about a matter, a claimant, or its own capacity to take a case.
- Its own decision to accept, decline, or refer a matter. A screening result, a fit score, or a suggestion from the Service is information, not a decision.
The agreement templates in the Service are starting points. Firms may edit them, and each Firm should have counsel review the final document before signing. We do not warrant that any template complies with the rules of any jurisdiction.
5. Your data and claimant data
“Firm Data” means everything you upload, enter, or generate on the Service: case records, claimant details, documents, notes, agreements, criteria, and messages. You own it. We claim no rights in it beyond the licence in this section.
You grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide licence to host, copy, transmit, display, and process Firm Data as needed to provide the Service to you, to the firms you choose to share with, and to keep the Service secure and working. That licence ends when the data is deleted, subject to the retention terms in section 13.
Much of Firm Data is personal information about claimants, and some of it is sensitive: injuries, medical conditions, dates of incidents. You confirm that:
- You have the right, and any consent your jurisdiction requires, to put that information on the Service and to share it with the firms you share it with.
- You will only share a matter with another firm for the purpose of a referral or co-counsel arrangement that the client has authorized.
- You will not upload information that you are prohibited from disclosing, including information protected by court order or sealed by law.
- You comply with the privacy and data-protection laws that apply to you, and you will not use the Service in a way that puts us in breach of the laws that apply to us.
We process Firm Data on your instructions as a service provider. How we handle it, who our sub-processors are, and how long we keep it are set out in the Privacy Policy.
We may use aggregated, de-identified data derived from use of the Service (for example, average acceptance rates by case type) to operate and improve it, provided the data cannot reasonably be used to identify a Firm, an attorney, or a claimant.
6. AI features
Parts of the Service use large language models supplied by third parties to screen inbound matters against your criteria, suggest column mappings for imports, draft referral memos, review agreement language, and answer questions about your own data. These features are marked in the product.
AI output is advisory. It can be incomplete, out of date, or simply wrong, and it can be confidently wrong. A person at your Firm must review any AI output before relying on it, and no AI output is a substitute for the professional judgment of a licensed attorney. You are responsible for every decision made with the help of these features.
Which providers we use, what data reaches them, and what they may do with it are described in the Privacy Policy and in the AI disclosure in your company settings. Our providers are contractually barred from training models on your data. If your Firm would rather not use AI features, contact us and we will turn them off for your account.
7. Electronic signatures
Referral agreements on the Service are signed electronically through our e-signature provider. By signing, you agree that your electronic signature has the same effect as a handwritten one under the U.S. Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, and similar laws, and you consent to receive and keep signed documents in electronic form. You may download a copy of every agreement you have signed from the Service.
8. Acceptable use
You agree not to, and not to let anyone using your account:
- Use the Service to solicit clients in a way that violates the advertising or solicitation rules of your jurisdiction, or to pay or receive anything of value for a referral where the law or the rules of professional conduct prohibit it.
- Upload data you do not have the right to share, or that is false.
- Access another firm’s data except as the Service intends when that firm shares a matter with you.
- Probe, scan, or test the security of the Service, or attempt to bypass access controls, rate limits, or tenant boundaries.
- Scrape the public directory or use it to build a marketing list.
- Reverse-engineer the Service, resell it, or use it to build a competing product.
- Introduce malware or interfere with the Service for other users.
- Use AI features to generate content that is defamatory, deceptive, or intended to mislead a court, a client, or another firm.
We may investigate suspected violations and may suspend or terminate an account that breaches this section, with notice where practicable.
9. Fees
Any fees for the Service are set out in your order form, your subscription settings, or a written agreement with us. Where the Service is offered without charge, we may introduce fees for new or existing features with at least 30 days’ notice to the account owner. Fees are exclusive of taxes, which you are responsible for where they apply.
Referral fees between firms are not our fees. We do not collect, hold, or distribute fees paid between firms unless a separate written agreement says otherwise.
10. Confidentiality
We treat Firm Data as confidential. We will not disclose it except to provide the Service, to the firms you choose to share with, to our sub-processors under written confidentiality obligations, as required by law, or with your permission. Where the law allows, we will tell you before disclosing Firm Data under legal compulsion so that you can seek a protective order.
Information another firm shares with you through the Service is that firm’s confidential information and, where it concerns a client, is subject to your own professional duties.
11. Integrations and third parties
The Service connects to third-party products at your election: intake and CRM systems, Slack, e-signature, calendar, and research tools. When you connect one, you authorize us to exchange data with it on your behalf, and the third party’s own terms and privacy policy govern what it does with that data. We are not responsible for a third-party service, for changes to it, or for its availability.
Content from public sources that the Service surfaces, such as court records or web research results, is provided as found. We do not verify it.
12. Intellectual property
The Service, including its software, design, templates, documentation, and trademarks, belongs to Handoff, Inc. and its licensors. These Terms give you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use it for your Firm’s internal business while your account is in good standing. Nothing here transfers ownership.
If you send us feedback or suggestions, you agree we may use them without obligation to you.
13. Term and termination
These Terms apply from the day you first accept them until your account is closed. You can close your account at any time from your settings or by writing to us. We can suspend or terminate an account for a material breach of these Terms, for non-payment after notice, if required by law, or if we discontinue the Service, in which case we will give at least 30 days’ notice where we can.
After termination, your access ends. For 30 days you may ask us to export your Firm Data in a standard format. After that, we delete it from live systems in the ordinary course, and from backups on their normal rotation, except where we must keep a copy to comply with law, resolve a dispute, or enforce these Terms. Signed agreements may also remain in the other party’s account, since they are that firm’s records too.
Sections 5 (licence to the extent needed for retention), 10, 12, and 14 through 18 survive termination.
14. Disclaimers
THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE”. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT THE LAW ALLOWS, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT ANY REFERRAL WILL RESULT IN A SIGNED CLIENT OR A FEE, THAT ANY AGREEMENT TEMPLATE COMPLIES WITH THE RULES OF ANY JURISDICTION, OR THAT ANY AI OUTPUT IS ACCURATE OR COMPLETE.
Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties, so parts of this section may not apply to you.
15. Limitation of liability
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT THE LAW ALLOWS, HANDOFF, INC. AND ITS OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AND SUPPLIERS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOST PROFITS, LOST FEES, LOST CLIENTS, OR LOST DATA, ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THE SERVICE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY. OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THE SERVICE WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF THE FEES YOUR FIRM PAID US IN THE TWELVE MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM AROSE AND ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS.
These limits do not apply to liability that cannot be limited by law, or to either party’s breach of section 10.
16. Indemnification
You will defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Handoff, Inc. and its officers, employees, and agents from any third-party claim, and the resulting damages, costs, and reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising from Firm Data, from your Firm’s referral arrangements with other firms, from your breach of these Terms, or from your violation of any law or rule of professional conduct. We will notify you promptly of any such claim and let you control the defence, provided you do not settle in a way that admits fault on our behalf without our consent.
17. Changes to these terms
We may update these Terms as the Service changes. For a material change we will give at least 14 days’ notice by email to the account owner or by a notice in the product before it takes effect. Continued use after the effective date means you accept the change. If you do not, close your account before then. The effective date at the top of this page is the date of the current version.
18. Governing law and disputes
These Terms are governed by the laws of the state in which Handoff, Inc. is organized, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules. Any dispute arising from these Terms or the Service will be brought in the state or federal courts located there, and each party consents to their jurisdiction. Before filing, the parties will try in good faith to resolve the dispute through direct discussion for at least 30 days.
Nothing in this section prevents either party from seeking an injunction to protect its confidential information or intellectual property.
19. Contact
Questions about these Terms go to hello@casehandoff.com.