Website Terms of Use & Disclaimer

Introduction

This page sets out the terms on which you may use the Shallon Legal website. It also contains our legal disclaimer. The Website is published for general information only. Nothing on it is legal advice, and no lawyer and client relationship arises from using it.

These terms govern your use of the Website only. They are separate from our Terms and Conditions, which govern the provision of services to clients under a Letter of Engagement. Governing law and jurisdiction are dealt with at Clause 19.

1. Who we are and what these terms cover

1. This website at www.shalloncsp.com (the “Website”) is operated by Shallon Legal FZ LLC, an entity registered in the Fujairah Creative City free zone, United Arab Emirates (“Shallon Legal”, “we”, “us” or “our”).
2. These terms of use, together with our Privacy Policy, govern your access to and use of the Website. By accessing or using the Website you accept these terms. If you do not accept them, you should not use the Website.
3. We may amend these terms at any time by publishing the amended terms on the Website. The version published at the time you access the Website is the version that applies. Please check these terms each time you use the Website.

2. No legal advice and no lawyer and client relationship

1. The content of the Website is provided for general information only. It is not legal advice, and it must not be relied upon as legal advice.
2. Nothing on the Website, and no communication sent to us through the Website, by email, by telephone or by messaging application, creates a lawyer and client relationship between you and Shallon Legal. A lawyer and client relationship arises only when we have completed our client acceptance procedures, including identification and anti-money laundering checks and a conflicts assessment, and we have issued and you have accepted a written engagement letter or written terms of engagement.
3. Until that has happened, we owe you no duty of care in respect of any matter, we are not acting for you, and we are not obliged to take any step to protect your position, including any step to preserve a limitation period, a filing deadline or any other time limit.
4. The law changes, and the application of the law depends on the particular facts. Information that is correct in general terms may be wrong for your circumstances. You should obtain specific advice on your own position before acting or refraining from acting.
5. If you require advice, please contact us using the details at the end of these terms so that a proper engagement can be considered.

3. Accuracy and currency of the information

1. We take reasonable care in preparing the content of the Website, but we do not warrant that it is accurate, complete or current, and we do not undertake to update it.
2. References to legislation, court rules, registry requirements, procedures and fees reflect our understanding at the date of publication. These change, sometimes without notice. Any reference to a statute, rule or authority should be checked against the current official source before it is relied upon.
3. Where the Website describes the position for a particular category of person, such as non-Muslims making a Will in the UAE, that description is general. Eligibility, formalities and outcomes depend on individual circumstances and on the requirements of the relevant court or registry at the time.

4. Fees, court fees and other charges

1. Any fee stated on the Website is our professional fee for the service described, is indicative, and is subject to confirmation in a written engagement letter. Fees may vary where the matter is more complex than the description assumes, where additional work is required, or where our published rates change.
2. Unless expressly stated otherwise, fees quoted on the Website are stated exclusive of value added tax, which is charged in addition at the applicable rate.
3. Court fees, registry fees, notarial fees and other third party charges referred to on the Website are set by the relevant authority and not by us. They are subject to change without notice, are payable in addition to our fees, and should be confirmed with the relevant authority at the time of instruction. We do not accept responsibility for any change in such charges.
4. Translation, certification, legalisation, courier and other disbursements are payable by the client at cost in addition to our fees, whether or not they are referred to on the Website.

5. Case results, testimonials and third party reviews

1. Any description of a matter in which we have acted is a summary of that matter only. Every matter turns on its own facts, evidence and law. A result described on the Website is not a prediction, promise or guarantee of the result in any other matter, including yours.
2. Where a matter is described, it is described from publicly available court records or with the client’s consent, and parties may be anonymised.
3. Any client review, testimonial or rating displayed on or linked from the Website is the independent opinion of the person who published it, is reproduced without alteration, and does not constitute a representation or warranty by us as to the service any other person will receive.

6. The jurisdictions in which we act, and our regulatory status

1. Shallon Legal provides legal and corporate services from the United Arab Emirates. Our lawyers are qualified and registered as stated on the Website, and rights of audience before any court are held only where expressly stated.
2. Proceedings before the onshore courts of the United Arab Emirates are conducted in conjunction with licensed local advocates holding the rights of audience required before those courts.
3. The Website is directed to persons in the United Arab Emirates and to persons outside the United Arab Emirates who seek information about services in or connected with the United Arab Emirates. It is not, and must not be treated as, an offer or solicitation to provide legal services in any jurisdiction in which we are not authorised to provide them. If you access the Website from outside the United Arab Emirates, you do so on your own initiative and are responsible for compliance with the laws of the jurisdiction in which you are located.

7. Communications with us

1. Communications sent to us by email, through any form on the Website, or by messaging application including WhatsApp, are not necessarily secure and may be intercepted, delayed, corrupted or lost. You send such communications at your own risk.
2. We monitor and may record communications for quality, security and compliance purposes, and we process personal data in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
3. Sending a communication to us does not create any obligation on our part to respond, to act, or to accept instructions.

8. Unsolicited and confidential information

1. Please do not send us confidential or sensitive information about a potential matter until we have confirmed in writing that we are able to accept your instructions.
2. Information sent to us before we have accepted instructions is not protected by any duty of confidence owed to a client, may not be treated as privileged, and may not prevent us from acting for another party in the same or a related matter.
3. We reserve the right to decline any instruction without giving reasons.

9. Permitted use of the Website

1. You may access and view the Website, and print or download extracts, for your own personal or internal business use.
2. You must not: use the Website for any unlawful or fraudulent purpose; copy, reproduce, republish, distribute, sell or exploit any part of the Website commercially without our prior written consent; systematically extract or scrape content from the Website other than by a search engine or artificial intelligence crawler operating in accordance with our robots.txt file; attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Website or any server, computer or database connected to it; introduce any virus, trojan, worm or other malicious material; or take any action that imposes an unreasonable load on our infrastructure.
3. We may suspend or withdraw access to the Website, in whole or in part, at any time and without notice.

10. Intellectual property

1. All intellectual property rights in the Website and in its content, including text, graphics, logos, wordmarks, photographs, layout and design, are owned by us or licensed to us. The name Shallon Legal, and the associated logos and devices, are our trading name and marks.
2. Nothing on the Website grants you any licence or right in respect of that intellectual property, other than the limited permission set out in the clause headed Permitted use of the Website.
3. Where you are permitted to reproduce any extract, our status as the author must be acknowledged and the extract must not be altered or used in a misleading way.

11. Links to and from other websites

1. The Website may contain links to third party websites, including the websites of courts, registries and authorities. Those links are provided for convenience only. We do not control, endorse or accept responsibility for the content, availability or practices of any third party website, and your use of any such website is at your own risk and subject to that website’s own terms.
2. You may link to the home page of the Website provided that you do so in a way that is fair, lawful and does not damage our reputation or suggest any association, approval or endorsement that does not exist. We may withdraw permission to link at any time.

12. Availability of the Website

1. The Website is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. We do not warrant that the Website will be available uninterrupted, secure or free from error, defect or virus.
2. You are responsible for configuring your own information technology and platform to access the Website, and for using your own virus protection software.

13. Use of artificial intelligence

1. We use artificial intelligence tools in the preparation and administration of certain content and communications. Such use is subject to review by appropriately qualified personnel and does not replace professional judgment or responsibility.
2. We also publish information about the firm in a format intended to be read by artificial intelligence assistants and search engines. Where an artificial intelligence assistant reproduces or summarises information about us, we do not control that output and are not responsible for it. Any statement about our services should be verified against this Website or confirmed with us directly.

14. Personal data, privacy and cookies

1. We process personal data in accordance with our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these terms and which explains what personal data we collect, how we use it, and the rights available to you under the UAE Personal Data Protection Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021) and, where it applies, the EU or UK General Data Protection Regulation.
2. The Website uses cookies and similar technologies as described in our Privacy Policy. Where your consent is required for non-essential cookies, we will seek it, and you may manage or withdraw consent through your browser settings or the cookie controls on the Website.

15. Limitation of liability

1. Nothing in these terms excludes or limits any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, including liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or any liability which cannot be excluded under the professional or ethical obligations applicable to us or under applicable consumer protection legislation.
2. Subject to clause 15.1, we shall not be liable to you, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty or otherwise, for any loss or damage arising out of or in connection with your use of, or inability to use, the Website, or your reliance on any content on it, including: loss of profits, revenue, business, contracts or anticipated savings; loss of or damage to goodwill or reputation; loss or corruption of data; and any indirect or consequential loss.
3. Subject to clause 15.1, our total aggregate liability arising out of or in connection with your use of the Website shall not exceed one thousand United Arab Emirates dirhams (AED 1,000).
4. This clause does not apply to our liability to a client under a written engagement letter or our Terms and Conditions, which is governed by those documents.

16. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify us against all liabilities, costs, expenses, damages and losses which we suffer or incur arising out of or in connection with your breach of these terms or your unlawful use of the Website.

17. Relationship with our Terms of Business

1. These terms govern your use of the Website only.
2. Where we accept instructions and enter into an engagement with you, the terms of that engagement are set out in the engagement letter and in our Terms and Conditions as published and amended from time to time. In the event of any conflict between these terms and the engagement letter or our Terms and Conditions in relation to the services we provide to a client, the engagement letter, and then our Terms and Conditions, shall prevail.

18. General

1. If any provision of these terms is or becomes invalid, illegal or unenforceable, it shall be severed and the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.
2. No failure or delay by us in exercising any right or remedy shall operate as a waiver of it, and no single or partial exercise shall prevent any further exercise.
3. You may not assign or transfer any of your rights or obligations under these terms. We may assign or transfer ours.
4. A person who is not a party to these terms has no right to enforce any of them, and the application of any legislation conferring rights on third parties is excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law.
5. These terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and us in relation to your use of the Website.

19. Governing law and jurisdiction

1. These terms, and any dispute or claim (including non-contractual claims) arising out of or in connection with them, their subject matter or formation, shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the United Arab Emirates as applied in the Emirate of Dubai.
2. The parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), save that we may at our sole discretion elect to resolve any dispute by arbitration in Dubai under the Rules of the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC), before a sole arbitrator, in English.
3. Nothing in this clause prevents us from seeking injunctive or interim relief in any jurisdiction.
4. Where you are a consumer resident in a jurisdiction whose law confers on you rights that cannot be excluded by agreement, nothing in this clause deprives you of the protection of those rights.

20. Contact

Shallon Legal FZ LLC, Office 2002, 20th Floor, Creative Tower, PO Box 4422, Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. Telephone and WhatsApp: +971 58 518 2116. Email: info@shalloncsp.com. For data protection enquiries: data@shalloncsp.com.