Client Portal Terms of Use

Purpose

The client portal is where people working with NEO, a licensed paralegal firm, follow their matter, share documents, send messages, sign agreements and pay invoices. These terms apply to everyone with a client portal account, whether you opened it yourself or we opened it for you, together with our Terms of Service, our Privacy Policy and, for a client we act for, the signed retainer. If these terms and a signed retainer differ, the retainer governs. By using your account, you agree to these terms. Our own team's use of the portal is governed by our internal policies.

An account is not a retainer

Opening an account, sending an intake form, uploading documents or using the assistant does not create a paralegal-client relationship. We act for you only once a written retainer is signed, as our Engagement and Non-Engagement Policy explains. Until then, your deadlines remain your responsibility.

Joint matters: who sees what

When two or more people retain us together, our staff link each of them to the matter. Every client linked to a matter sees the same things on it: its documents, messages, invoices, appointments, agreements and intake forms, and each of them can upload and send messages there. The main exception is identity-verification images, which open only for the person they belong to and our team.

• Assume every other client on the matter will see what you upload or send.
• Phoning us instead does not make it secret: under a joint retainer, what one client tells us about the matter may be shared with the others.
• If you are worried about another client seeing something, tell us you have a concern, without the details, and we will explain your options.

Naming someone in the portal only tells our staff; nobody is linked until we do it. See our Joint Retainers Policy.

Your account

• One person per account. Never share your sign-in or use someone else's. Each email address and phone number can belong to only one account.
• Accurate details. Keep your contact details up to date. We may rely on the last ones you gave us.
• Secure sign-in. Keep your password, and any Google, Microsoft or Facebook account you sign in with, secure. Protect your email account too, since password-reset links and verification codes go there. We will never ask for your password.
• Tell us straight away if you think someone else has used your account.
• What comes from your account. We may treat messages, instructions and signatures from your account as yours unless you have told us it may have been misused. For important instructions, such as accepting a settlement, we may also confirm with you directly.

Uploads

• Upload only documents you have the right to share, and only for your matter.
• Don't upload malware, or anything obtained unlawfully, such as someone else's private messages, a recording of a private conversation you were not part of, or a recording of a court hearing made without the court's permission. If unsure, ask us first. See our Recording Calls and Meetings Policy.
• Keep your originals and your own copies. The portal is not a storage service.
• An upload is not notice of a deadline. If a document has a date in it, phone us as well.

Documents are stored privately and open only for signed-in people authorized to see them: the people working on your matter, our administrators, you, and any co-client on the matter.

Messages are not for emergencies

Portal messages are the preferred way to reach us about your matter, but they are not watched around the clock. If a hearing, filing deadline or eviction is close, or you have just received court or tribunal papers, phone us, as our Urgent Matters Policy explains. Our Client Service Standards set out when to expect a reply.

Keep messages courteous; see our Respectful Conduct Toward Our Team Policy. If any message asks you to send money to new payment details, call us on a number you already have before acting.

The AI assistant

The portal's assistant gives general information. It is not legal advice, does not see your file, and can be wrong. A question to it is not a message or instruction to our team. Check anything important with your paralegal. Questions and answers are recorded, and daily use is limited. Your questions are processed by an outside AI service, so don't type identity, card or bank numbers into it. See our Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence Policy.

Signing and paying

• Signatures. We treat your electronic signature in the portal as your signature, and Ontario law generally gives it the same effect as a handwritten one, so read the whole document and ask us anything first. See our Electronic Communications and E-Signatures Policy.
• Payments. Card payments are handled by our payment processor; NEO never sees or stores full card numbers. Payments are applied under your retainer and our Payments and Refunds Policy. On a joint matter, every linked client can see and pay its invoices.

When the portal is unavailable

We work to keep the portal available and secure, as our Information Security and Data Breach Response Policy explains, but it may sometimes be slow or down, for maintenance, a provider outage or a problem with your device or connection. We don't promise it will always be available or error-free, and no online system is completely secure.

Deadlines don't move because the portal is down. If you can't use it and something is time-sensitive, phone or email us. Our duties on your matter continue, and we will reach you another way.

Don't try to get around the portal's security, open anything that isn't yours, or test it for weaknesses except as our Security Vulnerability Disclosure Policy allows. Report security problems to info@neolegalservices.com with "Security" in the subject line, and call us straight away if you think someone has got into your account.

Suspending an account

We may suspend, restrict or close an account, without notice where security requires, if it is misused or used unlawfully, if we believe someone else is using it, or if it is used to threaten or harass anyone (see our Respectful Conduct Toward Our Team Policy). When it is safe to, we tell you in writing why. This never ends our duties on an open matter: we will stay in touch another way, and any decision to stop acting follows our Withdrawal of Services Policy and the Paralegal Rules of Conduct.

When your matter ends

• Your account stays open when your file is closed, unless you or we close it. Accounts no longer needed may be closed later; where practical, we will tell you first.
• Save what you want to keep. You can open and save your matter's documents in the portal, and we offer a complete copy of your file under our File Closing and Retention Policy.
• Closing your account. Ask us at any time. This does not delete your file: we keep your file and the records the Law Society's By-Laws and other laws require for the periods in our File Closing and Retention Policy, then destroy them securely. Under our Privacy Policy, you can ask us to delete information we are not required to keep.

Our responsibility

Nothing in these terms limits our professional responsibility to you as your licensed paralegal, including for negligence, or any right you have under Ontario's consumer protection law or other law that can't be waived. Otherwise, to the extent the law allows, we are not responsible for loss caused by the portal being unavailable, by your device, connection or email account, by someone using your sign-in before you told us it may have been misused, or by relying on the assistant instead of your paralegal. The limits in our Terms of Service also apply.

Changes

We may update these terms; the version on this page is the current one. We will tell account holders about significant changes, for example in the portal or by email, and using your account after that means you accept them. A change to these terms never changes a signed retainer. We reserve all rights not expressly given in these terms, and if part of these terms can't be enforced, the rest still applies.

Review

This policy is reviewed at least once a year, and whenever the Law Society's By-Laws or rules change. The principal approves every change.

Questions

Email info@neolegalservices.com, call 647-200-3526 or toll-free 888-519-2435, or write to us at Unit 236, 1099 Kingston Road, Pickering, Ontario L1V 1B5.