Legal advisor Terms

1.The short version#

In short: You stay independent and fully responsible for your professional work. Clients contract with you directly. We verify your licence, give you tools and introductions, and expect you to keep your licence current and treat clients’ information with care.

2.Joining and verification#

• You must hold a current licence or authorisation, in good standing, from the regulator for each jurisdiction and area in which you offer services on e-Passage.
• When you apply, we check the information you give us against your regulator’s public register and may ask for evidence of your licence, identity, professional liability insurance and any disciplinary history.
• We may repeat these checks at any time, and will do so at regular intervals.
• Approval is at our discretion. Being listed is not an endorsement by e-Passage of your skill or the quality of your services.

3.Keeping your licence and details current#

You must tell us within 5 business days if:

• your licence is suspended, restricted, made subject to conditions, or ends;
• you become subject to a disciplinary finding, or an investigation you are allowed to disclose;
• your professional liability insurance lapses; or
• any information on your profile, such as practice areas, languages or availability, is no longer accurate.

You may offer services on e-Passage only within the scope of your licence.

4.Independence and professional responsibility#

• You are an independent professional. Nothing in these terms makes you an employee, agent or partner of e-Passage, and e-Passage does not direct your professional judgement.
• As a licensed professional, you are solely responsible for the legal advice and services you give, for meeting your regulator’s rules (including on conflicts of interest, competence, advertising, fees and client identification), and for your own professional liability insurance.
• Information, scores and requirements shown by e-Passage are tools, not advice. You must use your own professional judgement and check official sources before advising a client.
• If you sign off on requirements information in our catalogue, you confirm that you have reviewed it against the official source as at the date of your review.

5.Engaging clients directly#

• When a user chooses to engage you, the engagement is between you and the client. You are responsible for your engagement letter or retainer, scope, fees, conflict checks and any trust account requirements.
• e-Passage is not a party to your engagement and is not responsible for your fees, services or the outcome of any matter.
• You must be clear with clients about your fees before you start work, and must not promise or guarantee any immigration outcome.
• You may decline any engagement, consistent with your professional obligations.

6.Commercial terms#

e-Passage connects you with clients. It doesn’t take payment for your services, take a share of your fees or pay money out to you. Once a client chooses you, you agree services, contracts, fees and payment with them directly, outside e-Passage. Any rates or price estimates you show on e-Passage are for the client’s information only.

• Advisor plan. To be listed for clients and respond to client cases, you need an active advisor plan: a monthly subscription, billed in the currency shown when you start (US$36, CA$49, €39, £33, ₦25,000, ₹1,299, Rs 4,199, KSh 1,949, GH₵179, ₱849 or ৳1,799 a month; USD and CAD and EUR and GBP and NGN and INR and PKR and KES and GHS and PHP and BDT prices include VAT, other prices are plus any applicable taxes), after a 30-day free trial. Billing starts when the trial ends, however many client requests you have received. A card is required to start the trial; you won’t be charged if you cancel before it ends. The plan renews monthly until you cancel, and cancelling takes effect at the end of the current period. Card payments are processed by Stripe, which sells the plan on our behalf as merchant of record (“sold through Link”). Refunds follow our Refund Policy. It’s a flat platform fee: it doesn’t depend on how many clients you get or what you charge them, and it is the only charge e-Passage makes to advisors.
• If the plan ends or a payment fails, you stop appearing to new clients and can’t respond to new cases. Clients you’re already working with and your conversations carry on.
• We’ll give you at least 30 days’ notice by email before changing the plan price. It’s your responsibility to make sure the plan fits your regulator’s rules, including any rules on fee sharing, referral fees and advertising.

7.Confidentiality and client information#

• Information a client shares with you through e-Passage is confidential. You must protect it according to your professional duty of confidentiality, applicable privacy laws and these terms.
• For information you receive about your clients, you are responsible for it as an independent professional once you receive it. Where you use e-Passage tools to hold or process it, we handle it as described in our Privacy Policy and any data processing terms agreed with you.
• Access only the information a client has chosen to share with you, and only for that client’s matter. Don’t download, copy or keep it longer than your engagement and professional record-keeping obligations require.
• Tell us without delay at [email protected] if you suspect unauthorised access to client information through your account.
• Secure your account with two-step verification. Don’t share your account with staff or colleagues.

8.Professional conduct on the platform#

You must:

• treat users with respect, and respond to enquiries and engaged clients promptly;
• keep your profile accurate and not misleading, including qualifications, experience, languages and fees;
• contact a user outside e-Passage only after they have chosen you, and use what they share only for the engagement they chose you for (once they choose you, you may carry on the engagement directly with them);
• never pressure or exploit clients, especially those in vulnerable situations, and never threaten anyone with reporting them;
• follow our Acceptable Use Policy.

9.Complaints#

If we receive a complaint about you, we may share it with you and ask for your response. We may tell a client that they can complain to your regulator. Nothing in these terms limits a client’s right to do so, or your obligation to cooperate with your regulator.

10.Suspension and removal#

We may suspend or remove your listing, immediately if needed, if:

• we can’t verify your licence, or it is suspended, restricted or ends;
• we receive credible complaints suggesting a risk to clients;
• you break these terms, the Acceptable Use Policy or your regulator’s rules; or
• the law or a regulator requires it.

You may leave e-Passage at any time by telling us. In either case, you must continue to meet your professional obligations to existing clients, including managing the transfer or completion of their matters, and we may tell affected clients that you’re no longer listed.

11.Liability and indemnity#

You are responsible for claims arising from your professional services and your breach of these terms, and you agree to compensate e-Passage for reasonable losses arising from those claims, to the extent the law and your regulator’s rules allow. The limitations of liability in our Terms of Service also apply to you.

12.Governing law and changes#

These terms are governed by the laws of Canada and of the province in which MyTechOps Ltd is registered. We’ll give you at least 30 days’ notice of material changes. If you don’t agree, you may leave before they take effect.

13.Contact#

Questions about these terms? Email [email protected].