Terms of Service.

01Eligibility

The Service is offered to individuals at least 18 years old who are physically located in California and whose legal matter is governed by California law. By using the Service you confirm that both are true.

02What the Service is

The Service consists of:

• An intake form where you describe your situation.
• A 20-minute voice consultation conducted by an AI agent trained for legal triage.
• A written Legal Situation Report covering issues identified, options ranked, and recommended next steps, reviewed and signed by a California-licensed attorney.
• An optional offer of representation, on separate engagement terms, if your matter warrants it.

The first consultation and the report are free. Representation, if engaged, is paid under a separate written engagement letter.

03Your account

We authenticate users by phone number using a one-time code sent over SMS. Your phone number is your account. Keep your device secure; anyone who can receive your texts can access your consultations and reports.

04Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• Submit information about another person without their permission, or impersonate anyone.
• Use the Service for matters with no California connection (you may, but the AI may not be able to help, and we cannot represent you on out-of-scope matters). Federal questions that intersect with a California situation are in scope; purely federal matters that require specialist counsel admitted in a federal court are not.
• Attempt to bypass the disclaimer, inject prompts intended to elicit advice the attorney has not reviewed, or otherwise misuse the AI.
• Re-sell or redistribute the Legal Situation Report. The report is for your use; you may share it with another attorney you engage.

05Intellectual property

The website, the AI agent, the report template, and all OpenCounsel branding are owned by OpenCounsel and its licensors. The contents of your Legal Situation Report (which describes your situation) belong to you; we keep a copy under our retention policy described in the Privacy Policy.

06Disclaimers

The Service is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. We make no warranty that the AI will be available at any given time, or that any particular outcome will follow from the report. See the Disclaimer for the limits on what the Service is and is not.

07Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by California law, OpenCounsel's aggregate liability for any claim arising out of your use of the free consultation and report is limited to direct damages not to exceed one hundred dollars ($100). Where you have engaged us under a separate written engagement letter, the limits in that letter control.

Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited under California law, including attorney professional-responsibility rules.

08Termination

You may stop using the Service at any time. We may suspend or terminate access for any user who violates these Terms or whose use creates a conflict of interest with the firm or its existing clients. Audit-log entries we are required to retain by California Bar rules will be retained even after termination.

09Governing law and venue

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. Any dispute arising under these Terms will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in San Francisco County, California, and you and OpenCounsel each consent to that jurisdiction.

10Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms as the Service evolves. We will post the revised Terms here and update the “Last updated” date at the top. Continued use of the Service after changes take effect constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms.

11Contact

Questions about these Terms: hello@opencounsel.co.