Terms of Service

Legal Online is a technology platform that helps people and businesses find, engage and work with independent legal practitioners. We provide the tools — profiles, consultations, secure messaging, document sharing, payment records and, for subscribing practitioners, AI-assisted tools.

Legal Online is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. Any legal advice or service you receive comes from the legal practitioner you engage, not from us. The lawyer–client relationship is solely between you and that practitioner, and the practitioner is responsible for their professional services and for complying with the Legal Practitioners Act [Chapter 27:07], the rules of the Law Society of Zimbabwe and any other professional obligations that apply to them.

• You must be at least 18 years old and able to enter into a binding contract.
• If you register on behalf of a company or organisation, you confirm you are authorised to bind it to these Terms.
• You must give accurate, current information and keep it up to date.
• Keep your password and devices secure. You are responsible for activity on your account. Tell us immediately at support@legalonline.co.zw if you suspect unauthorised use.

Practitioners must hold a valid practising certificate and be in good standing with the Law Society of Zimbabwe (or the equivalent regulator in the jurisdiction where they practise), and must keep their details current. We check the credentials submitted to us before a profile is listed, and we may suspend any profile that fails or lapses verification. Verification confirms that the credentials were checked; it is not an endorsement of a practitioner's quality of work or a guarantee of any outcome.

Practitioners set their own fees, which are shown before you book. When you start an engagement or book a consultation you are contracting with the practitioner, on their terms of engagement. Rescheduling, cancellations and refunds of legal fees are matters between you and the practitioner, although we may help where we can.

Client payments for legal services are made directly to the practitioner — usually into their trust account — using the details they provide. Legal Online does not receive, hold or control client funds and does not act as a bank, escrow agent or payment institution.

When you upload a proof of payment, we record it and help the practitioner reconcile it against their records. Recording a payment on the Platform is not confirmation that funds have cleared. Questions about whether a payment was received should be raised with the practitioner.

Practitioners pay a monthly subscription to list and work on the Platform. Two packages are available:

• Standard — profile listing, client engagements, secure messaging, documents and payment records.
• Premium — everything in Standard, plus AI Workflows, AI-Researcher and a monthly allowance of AI credits.

Current prices are shown in the app. Subscriptions are payable monthly in advance and are activated once your proof of payment is verified. If a subscription is not paid, access to practitioner features may be restricted until it is. Subscription fees are non-refundable except where the law requires otherwise. We will give at least 30 days' notice before changing subscription prices.

AI tools generate content automatically and can be wrong, incomplete or out of date. They are drafting and research aids only. A practitioner who uses them remains fully responsible for reviewing, verifying and approving any output before relying on it or sharing it with a client. AI output is not legal advice from Legal Online.

You keep ownership of the messages, documents and other content you put on the Platform. You give us a limited licence to store, process, transmit and display that content only as needed to run the Platform for you. You confirm you have the right to share it.

Matters are private to the client and the practitioners on them. We protect your content as described in our Privacy Policy, including the limited, logged circumstances in which our authorised administrators may view a matter.

To keep the Platform safe and to provide support, a small number of authorised Legal Online administrators can view account and matter records. They do so only to respond to a support request, investigate fraud, abuse or a dispute, verify payments, or meet a legal obligation. Administrator access is read-only — administrators cannot send messages or change a matter — and every access is recorded in an audit log. Administrators are bound by confidentiality.

You must not:

• use the Platform for anything unlawful, fraudulent or misleading;
• impersonate anyone or misrepresent your qualifications;
• harass, threaten or abuse other users;
• post fake reviews or manipulate ratings;
• upload malware or try to access accounts, data or systems you are not authorised to use;
• copy, scrape or resell the Platform or its content without our written permission.

We may suspend or close an account that breaches these Terms, fails verification, or puts other users or the Platform at risk. Where appropriate we will tell you why. You can close your account at any time by contacting support@legalonline.co.zw. Some records may be kept after closure as explained in our Privacy Policy.

We work hard to keep the Platform available and accurate, but it is provided "as is" and "as available". We do not guarantee uninterrupted service or the outcome of any legal matter, and we are not responsible for the advice or services of practitioners.

To the extent permitted by law, Legal Online is not liable for any loss or damage arising from:

• the advice, services, acts or omissions of any legal practitioner, including negligence, misconduct, missed deadlines or the outcome of a matter;
• fee, billing or refund disputes between clients and practitioners;
• payments made outside the Platform, to incorrect or fraudulent account details, or that are delayed, reversed or not received — always confirm a practitioner's trust account details directly with them before paying;
• errors, omissions or inaccuracies in AI-generated content, or reliance on it;
• the accuracy of information that users or practitioners provide, including profiles and reviews;
• Platform downtime, interruptions, delays, or loss or corruption of data;
• unauthorised access to your account resulting from your failure to keep your login details or devices secure; or
• events beyond our reasonable control, such as power or network outages, or the failure of third-party services.

In any event, Legal Online is not liable for indirect or consequential loss, or for loss of profit, data or opportunity. Our total liability to you for any claim is limited to the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the claim arose. Nothing in these Terms limits rights you have under the Consumer Protection Act [Chapter 14:44] or any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.

You agree to compensate Legal Online for losses and reasonable costs arising from your breach of these Terms or your misuse of the Platform.

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by email or in the app before they take effect, and we may ask you to accept the updated Terms to keep using the Platform.

These Terms are governed by the laws of Zimbabwe. Disputes will be dealt with by the courts of Zimbabwe, but we will always try to resolve any concern with you informally first.

Questions about these Terms? Email support@legalonline.co.zw.