Everything in our public repository is Apache 2.0. You can read it, run it, change it, and run your own version commercially. You must keep the notices and you may not use our name to imply that your version is ours. The managed service — us operating your firm’s instance, with uptime and support commitments — is a paid service, not a withheld piece of the software.
Why we open-sourced it
Law firms are asked to trust practice software with the most sensitive material they hold. That trust is usually requested, rarely demonstrated. Publishing the software lets a firm — or its IT partner — verify the claims that matter: that firm data is separated, that money movements are recorded the way the rules require, that nothing is sent anywhere unexpected.
It also removes lock-in honestly. If we stop being the right choice, the firm keeps the software and the data.
1 · What the licence grants
We license the software under the Apache License, Version 2.0. That licence is permissive, and it grants you:
- Use — for any purpose, including running your own firm’s practice on it.
- Modify — change the code, add features, adapt it to your practice and your jurisdiction.
- Distribute — share your version, including commercially.
- Patent grant — contributors grant a patent licence for their contributions, which is a stronger assurance than many permissive licences give.
- Private use — no obligation to publish your changes.
2 · Your obligations under the licence
- Keep the copyright, licence and attribution notices intact in the source you distribute.
- State clearly what you changed, if you distribute a modified version.
- Do not use our trademarks in a way that suggests endorsement (see section 5).
- Accept that the software is provided without warranty — as with any Apache-2.0 project, the licence disclaims warranties and limits liability. Running your own instance means owning your own patching, backups and availability.
3 · What is not open
To be precise, because precision is the point of this page:
- The managed service. Hosting your firm’s instance, keeping it current, monitoring it and answering support requests is a service we sell, with service levels set out in the managed service terms. If you would rather run it yourself, the software is right there — nothing is withheld to force you onto the service.
- The name and the marks. “OpenLPM” and the logo are ours, and the trademark policy below governs their use.
- Third-party components. Some dependencies carry their own licences, which are listed with the software. Where a component cannot be redistributed, we publish the integration rather than the component.
- Your data, and ours. The licence is about software. It does not grant anyone access to any firm’s data — including ours.
We do not hold security fixes back from the public repository. A firm running a self-hosted deployment should track releases the same way it tracks any other software it depends on.
4 · Self-hosting
Self-hosting means you control the deployment, the release cadence and the operations. That is a real advantage for firms with strong IT; it is also a real responsibility.
| Responsibility | Managed by us | Self-hosted by you |
|---|---|---|
| Software updates and security patches | We apply, verify and can roll back | You apply, at your cadence |
| Backups and rehearsed restores | Scheduled, drilled, reported | Yours to schedule and test |
| Availability and monitoring | We operate and report | Yours |
| Support and incident response | Contracted response targets | Community channels, or buy support |
| Infrastructure costs | Included in the subscription | Paid directly by the firm |
The deployment runbook in the repository documents how a firm instance is created and updated, step by step. It is the same document we work from.
5 · Trademark policy
Open source licences cover copyright and patents; they do not grant trademark rights. Our policy is deliberately simple:
- You may state factually that your product or service is built on OpenLPM, use the name in articles and reviews, and use screenshots with attribution.
- You may not use “OpenLPM” or the logo as the name of your product or service, or in a way that suggests we sponsor, certify or endorse it.
- If you fork and distribute, rebrand it. Your users should not have to guess who is responsible for the version they are running.
6 · Contributing
Contributions are welcome — especially jurisdiction-specific procedure templates, trust-accounting rules and translations, which are the parts of practice management software that no single team can get right everywhere.
- Sign-off. Contributions carry a Developer Certificate of Origin sign-off (git commit -s), certifying you have the right to submit the work.
- Licence of contributions. Contributions are accepted under the same Apache 2.0 terms; you keep your copyright.
- Security issues. Never open a public issue for a vulnerability — write to security@openlpm.com.
- Substantial changes. Open an issue describing the problem before writing the patch, so nobody duplicates a week of work.
7 · Support paths
| Path | What you get | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Self-hosted, community | Repository, documentation, runbook, community channels | Free (Apache 2.0) |
| Self-hosted, supported | The same deployment with contracted support and update guidance | Support subscription |
| Managed | We operate the instance: uptime, updates, backups, support targets | Per-firm subscription — see managed pricing |
8 · Questions people actually ask
Can we fork it and sell it?
Apache 2.0 permits commercial distribution. Rebrand it, keep the notices, and do not imply that we run or endorse your service.
Do we have to publish our changes?
No. Apache 2.0 is permissive: private modifications carry no publication obligation. We would welcome them back, but that is an invitation, not a term.
Is there an “enterprise edition” with features held back?
No artificial withholding of core practice features. What we sell is the operated service and the support around it. Where a capability exists only in a managed deployment, we say so on the pricing page.
What happens to the licence if we stop paying?
Nothing. The licence is perpetual for the version you have. You lose the right to use our hosted service and support, not the software.