Privacy Policy

By accessing or using our Website you agree to be bound by all the Lightning Law Policies, including this Privacy Policy. Any capitalized or defined term (including “you” and “user”) not defined in this policy, shall have the meaning as defined in our Terms of Service.

At Lightning Law we recognize your privacy is important. This Privacy Policy discloses how we collect, use, and disclose personal information obtained through our Website or that is received by email or other electronic communications we have with you, or that you submit to us directly in any manner.

This Privacy Policy is designed to reflect our intended compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998, codified as 15 U.S.C. §§ 6501—6506, as may be amended from time to time, (“COPPA”), the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1798.100—1798.199, as may be amended from time to time, (the “CCPA”). We strive to educate all users, including parents and their children, about how to appropriately safeguard their privacy when using our Website.

The privacy practices described in this Privacy Policy apply to information gathered by us through our Website or as otherwise described above. It does not apply to information you may submit to our Service Providers (defined below) or to companies or organizations to which we may link or who may link to us.

BY USING THIS WEBSITE (OR GIVING CONSENT FOR YOUR MINOR CHILD TO DO SO) YOU GIVE YOUR CONSENT THAT ALL PERSONAL INFORMATION YOU (OR YOUR CHILD) SUBMIT, OR THAT IS SUBMITTED TO OUR WEBSITE FOR OR ABOUT YOU (OR YOUR CHILD) BY OTHERS, MAY BE USED, PROCESSED, AND DISCLOSED IN THE MANNER AND FOR THE BUSINESS PURPOSES DESCRIBED IN THE LIGHTNING LAW POLICIES. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS, DO NOT USE THIS WEBSITE.

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you about significant changes in the way we treat your personal information by posting an update to this Privacy Policy on our Website or by otherwise providing such notice to you. Your continued use of our Website after such changes are posted will constitute your acknowledgment of the modified Privacy Policy and your agreement to abide and be bound by it. You agree that it is your responsibility and that you will advise anyone to whom you provide an access code or link of changes we make to Lighting Law Policies, including this Privacy Policy.

If at any time you disagree with any of the Lightning Law Policies, including this or any modified Privacy Policy, you must discontinue use of our Website.

Purpose. Lightning Law provides a secure and efficient online service where users can conduct and record legal proceedings, including depositions, hearings and trials, organize legal information and exhibits, identify and engage court reporters and expert witnesses, purchase transcripts and recordings of legal proceedings, and connect with lawyers with specific expertise.

Types of Information We Collect. In order to provide the content, features, services, and software through our Website and provide the products and services you have requested from us, we collect several types of information about our users.

Personal Information. We collect personal information that lets us know specifics about your identity. We collect contact information and other personally identifiable information from you and others when you engage in certain activities on this Website. Examples include your first and last name, email address, mailing address, signature, bar number, information about your education, employer, job title, telephone and facsimile numbers, an audio visual recording of you, your photograph or image, and other identifying information. The following list includes the most common ways you provide personal information about yourself or others to us:

• Set up a user account on our Website
• Schedule up a deposition or other proceeding and invite participants
• Participate in a deposition or other proceeding
• Offer to sell or buy transcripts through our Website
• Upload exhibits or other documents
• Use the audio-video and/or recording features
• Create a professional profile on our Website
• Send us email or communicate with customer support
  

Children’s Personal Information. We may collect only that personal information from a minor child under 18 years of age as is required to permit a child to participate in a deposition through our Website, but we do not knowingly permit collection of such information without the prior consent of the child’s parent and/or guardian consistent with the requirements of COPPA.

Non-Personal Information. When you interact with us, we may also collect certain information that does not identify you individually, and our servers may automatically keep an activity log of your use of our Website (the “Non-Personal Information”).

Source IP Address and Account Data. We collect and store your device’s IP address, which may disclose the physical location of your device when you access our Website and we may also store other information we learn about you associated with your account.

Cookies. Like many websites, we use “cookies,” which are small text files that are stored on your computer or equipment when you visit certain online pages and that record your preference and actions. We use cookies, and we may allow our Service Providers to user our cookies or place their own cookies on your device. Please be advised that if you do not accept cookies, you cannot login or use our Website. If you delete your cookies or if you set your web browser to decline cookies, our Website may will not work.

How We Use Personal Information.

Consistent with Your Intent. We collect, use, process, and disclose personal information, much of which is considered personally identifiable information, only with the understanding that by using our Website you intend to and have agreed to use our Website to intentionally interact with third parties, and that you direct us and such third parties to intentionally disclose your personal information for the business and commercial purposes described in the Lighting Law Policies and/or available through our Website. We use and process personal information so that we can offer, tailor, and deliver content, features, services, and software through our Website consistent with our business purpose.

For example, when you agree to give testimony in a deposition through our Website, you will be required to provide various types of personal information both in order to use our Website’s secure audio-video service and in the course of giving your deposition through our Website. The only way we can provide the services and products that we offer to our customers and that you have requested of us, is if you: (a) voluntarily provide it to us, (b) direct us to intentionally disclose your personal information to certain third parties; and (c) use our Website to intentionally interact with such third parties. If this is not your intent, we cannot provide our services to you and you should not use our Website.

Our Website. Generally, we use personal information we learn from and about you to permit us to provide the content, features, services, and software through our Website and to continually improve your experience. For example, we may use your personal and non-personal information in the following ways:

• Provide verified and secure access to users to participate in legal proceedings
• Permit you to provide Submitted Content to our Website
• Record your likeness and voice
• Disclose it to third parties who also participate in such legal proceedings
• Facilitate the offer and sale of transcripts by court reporters
• Communicate with you about your account and use of our Website, and to provide user support
• Personalize content and experiences on our Website, including providing reports, recommendations, and tailored services
• Optimize or improve our content, features, services, and software
• Diagnose issues with our Website or the servers we use
• Detect, investigate, and prevent activities that may violate our Lightning Law Policies
• Perform user statistical, demographic, and marketing analyses
  

Recordings. We may make video and audio recordings of legal proceedings conducted through our Website, which may be available for purchase through our Website. By using or participating in the recording features or services offered through our Website, you consent to being recorded and to our collection, use, processing, and/or sale of any and all of your personal information captured by and/or contained in such recordings, consistent with our business purposes and the Lightning Law Policies. Except to provide our services, we do not monitor, access, watch, or use any recordings or transcripts unless a user requests us to, for example, to provide technical support, to ensure compliance with the Lightning Law Policies or as required by law.

Transcripts. We facilitate the engagement of court reporters and the sale of transcripts they generate in connection with the legal proceedings they participate in through our Website. Transcripts are records of facts and necessarily contain Submitted Content, including personal information, provided by other users. Court reporters receive such information by participating in the proceeding through our Website, and subject to an agreement between Lightning Law and such court reports requiring that they will only use personal information they receive and/or is disclosed through our Website to perform the stenography services they have been paid to provide through our Website.

Marketing; Communications. We may, from time to time, use your personal information to send you messages through our Website or by email regarding new content, features, services, and software which may be of interest to you. If you do not want to receive information about new content, features, services, or software from us, you can “opt-out” by changing the permissions in your user account profile to stop receiving such offers. Even if you opt out of receiving such offers, when you access or use our Website, or send an email, message, or other communication to us electronically, you consent to receive communications from us electronically by any means, including by notices or messages through or posted on our Website.

We Do Not Sell Your Personal information. We do not allow marketing companies, advertisers, or similar companies to access personal information in exchange for payment. Users are permitted to market their services on our Website, using its content, features, services, and software, but we prohibit users from using any personal information they learn through our Website to advertise or promote their services directly or outside of our Website.

Disclosure. Consistent with our business purpose and the Lightning Law Policies, we use, process, disclose, and make available for purchase on our Website, content, features, services, and software that may contain or rely upon the personal information of users. However, third parties who obtain or to whom we disclose the personal information of our users are not permitted to use it for their own commercial purposes, except for those purposes that users agree to and intend (including the generation and sale of transcripts by court reporters) by using our Website.

In no event will we sell or rent your personal information as part of a customer list.

Your personal information may be disclosed to the following categories of third parties for the uses, including business or commercial purposes, as explained in this Privacy Policy.

• Other Website Users. When using our Website’s content, features, services, and software, other users may receive your personal information to contact or interact with you for reasons consistent with our business purpose and the Lightning Law Policies. For example, other users will receive your name and email address, which may be provided by you or by another user on your behalf, to invite you to participate in a legal proceeding through our Website and/or to provide access to documents, exhibits, or transcripts to you. Other users may also receive your personal information (such as participant names and contact information) when they generate reports for themselves using our Website or when they access your public profile on our Website.
• Other Participants. When you participate in a legal proceeding through our Website, your name, likeness, audio-visual representation (which may also be recorded), and all personal information you provide or that is disclosed about you in the legal proceeding will be processed and disclosed to other participants in the legal proceeding, including to court reporters, witnesses, and attorneys with access to the legal proceeding on our Website. For example, when you participate in a deposition, your name will appear on the participant list, when your audio is turned on your voice and the things you say will be heard by other participants, and when your video camera is on, your image will be visible to other participants. If you participate in a recorded legal proceeding then your name and all personal information you provide during such legal proceeding will be disclosed to those other persons in the legal proceeding as well as to other attorneys and/or persons they provide the recording to. This also means that all documents provided during a legal proceeding, including any exhibits which may contain your personal information will also be disclosed to the other participants and to those additional persons to whom participants provide access to the transcripts, recordings, and/or related documents and exhibits, as applicable.
  We do not control, and our Privacy Policy does not govern, how your personal information contained in any recording of a legal proceeding or transcript is used or disclosed once it is purchased and downloaded from our Website. Such purchaser may store it, delete it, or disclose it at their discretion.
• Court Reporters. A court reporter receives and uses personal information provided through our Website to generate transcripts of the legal proceeding, which the court reporter may sell through our Website to other users associated with the legal proceeding. Court reporters may transfer such transcripts to Lightning Law, and we may store and facilitate the disclosure, sale and/or transfer of transcripts to purchasers who may download them from our Website for a fee paid to the court reporter and to us.
• Service Providers. We only provide our Service Providers with the personal information they need to provide their services to us and to you. Our agreements with our Service Providers require that they do not collect, use, process, disclose, sell, or keep personal information for any purpose other than for the specific purpose of performing services for us, and that they will not retain, use, disclose, or sell such personal information outside of their business relationship with Lightning Law. Although our treatment of your personal information is governed by this Privacy Policy, our Service Providers’ treatment of your personal information will be governed by their privacy policies.
• Enforcement. We may disclose your personal information to appropriate governmental authorities in response to a court order, subpoena, other legal process, or to cooperate with a law enforcement investigation, which may include disclosing the jurisdiction where you are located or from where you have accessed our Website. We intend to fully cooperate with law enforcement agencies in identifying those who use our services for illegal activities. We reserve the right to report to law enforcement agencies any activities that we in good faith suspect may be illegal. We may also disclose your personal information when reasonably necessary to preserve, exercise, and/or defend our legal rights.
• Advertisers and Sponsors. We may disclose Non-Personal Information about user purchases, sales, traffic patterns, and/or related Website information to third party advertisers, but such information does not include any personal information from our users.
• Public Areas. You should also be aware that when personal information is voluntarily disclosed (i.e. your name, email address, business name, etc.) in any professional profile, discussion forum, or areas accessible to the general public on this Website, that information, along with any information disclosed in your communications, can be collected and used by third parties and may result in unsolicited messages (including unwanted spam messages) from third parties. Such activities are beyond our control and this Privacy Policy does not apply to such information.

Transfer and Storage; Duration. We receive content and personal information from wherever users are located around the world. We transfer and store your content and personal information in the United States or any other country in which we, or our affiliates or Service Providers maintain facilities. We may transfer personal information across borders and from your country or jurisdiction to other countries or jurisdictions around the world, which means we may transfer personal information to a country or jurisdiction that does not have the same data protection laws as your jurisdiction. By using our Website, or providing Submitted Content (including personal information), you consent to the transfer to and storage of your personal information in the United States and any other jurisdiction in which we, our affiliates or Service Providers maintain facilities. In certain limited circumstances, courts, law enforcement agencies, or security authorities in the United States or other jurisdictions may be entitled to access your Submitted Content (including your personal information). We keep personal information for as long as reasonably necessary for our business purposes and use it only for the purposes for which it was collected, including to comply with any applicable legal or ethical reporting or document retention requirements.

Steps We Take to Keep Information Secure. We know that the services we provide necessarily involve sensitive and confidential matters, which is why we have designed our Website to protect against unauthorized access to or unauthorized alteration, disclosure, or destruction of the content, including Submitted Content, we collect and store, including your personal information.

• We permit you to access your Lightning Law account, which necessarily includes your personal information and may include personal information of other persons associated with each legal proceeding conducted through our Website, only by entering your unique user name and password, which is encrypted. All access codes and links provided to users who give testimony are validated.
• We encrypt content (including personal information and Submitted Content) in use, in transit, and at rest in order to prevent unauthorized parties from viewing such information.
• We implement and maintain reasonable security procedures and practices, including physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards, to protect your personal information.
• We limit internal access to your personal information to our employees, contractors, representatives, and agents who, by virtue of the work they do for us, need to know or have access to your personal information. These individuals or entities are bound by confidentiality obligations and may be subject to discipline, including termination and criminal prosecution, if they fail to meet these obligations.
• We provide access to information about the security practices and policies of our Service Providers, which you can learn more about on our Service Providers page.
• We caution you that our Website, including Submitted Content, may contain links to other websites operated by third parties. Please be advised that the practices described in this Privacy Policy do not apply to other websites. We are not responsible, and expressly disclaim any liability, for the actions and privacy policies of third parties and other websites.

Unfortunately, no information transmission over the Internet or any wireless network, including personal information, can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your personal information, you acknowledge that: (a) there are security and privacy limitations inherent to the Internet which are beyond our control; and (b) the security, integrity, and privacy of any and all information, including personal information, exchanged between you and us through this Website cannot be guaranteed.

Your Rights. You have the right to know about your (and your minor child’s) personal information that we collect, use, or disclose. This Privacy Policy generally discloses the categories of personal information we collect, the categories of sources from which we collect personal information, the business and commercial purposes for which the personal information is used, and the types of third parties to whom we disclose personal information. You also have the right to:

• Request that we delete your personal information, which we will do unless applicable law permits otherwise for specific purposes.
• Contact us at privacy@lightning.law to request, in addition to the disclosures provided in this Privacy Policy, a listing of your personal information that we have collected or disclosed for business purposes in the preceding 12 months. Upon verifying your request, we will provide an electronic copy to you of such personal information in a machine-readable format.
• Designate an authorized agent to exercise these requests on your behalf.
• Not be discriminated against for your exercise of these rights.
  

We will respond to your requests within 45 days of receipt. If we cannot verify your identity we may not comply with your request. If your request requires extraordinary cost or effort, we reserve the right to charge you a fee for fulfilling such requests.

Contact. You may contact us using any of the methods described at Contact Us.