You keep your client data and your professional judgement. We keep the software working, and we treat your files as confidential. You can leave at any time and take everything with you.
1. What this agreement covers
OpenLPM is legal practice management software. It can be used in two ways, and these terms apply to both:
- Self-hosted — you obtain the source code under its open-source licence (Apache 2.0) and run it on infrastructure you control. Our obligations are limited to the licence, the documentation and any support you have purchased.
Managed — we operate the instance set on your behalf under a subscription. In that case the Managed Service Terms also apply and take precedence where they deal with service levels, support and operations.
2. Definitions
- Firm or you — the legal practice (or other organisation) using the Service.
- User — an individual your firm has authorised to sign in, including clients who sign into the portal.
- Client Data — everything your firm and its clients put into the Service: matters, documents, messages, time, invoices, contact details and anything derived from them.
- Instance — the firm’s own deployment of the software, including its database and file storage.
- Service — the OpenLPM software, together with any hosting, updates, support or control-plane features we provide.
3. Your account and your users
You are responsible for who you invite, what they can see, and the accuracy of the details your firm records. You must keep credentials confidential, use the security features we provide (including multi-factor authentication), and tell us promptly if you believe an account has been compromised.
You confirm that you have authority to bind the firm to these terms, and that each User is authorised by the firm. You may not share a User account between people: attribution in a legal file matters, which is why every action is recorded against an individual.
4. Licence and scope of use
The OpenLPM source code is licensed to you under the Apache License 2.0 — see open source & licence. That licence governs your rights in the code itself.
Where you take a managed subscription, we additionally grant your firm a non-exclusive, non-transferable right for your Users to access and use the hosted Service for your firm’s internal practice during the subscription term. This does not permit you to resell, sublicense or provide the Service to third parties as a service of your own without a separate written agreement.
5. Acceptable use
You agree not to:
- use the Service for anything unlawful, or to store material you have no right to hold;
- attempt to access another firm’s instance or data, or to test our security without prior written consent;
- circumvent usage limits, authentication or access controls;
- introduce malicious code, or use the Service in a way that degrades it for others;
- use AI or drafting features to produce advice that is issued without review by a qualified lawyer.
We may suspend access where we reasonably believe continued use presents a security, legal or operational risk — and we will tell you why, promptly, unless we are legally prevented from doing so.
6. Client data, confidentiality and professional responsibility
Your firm owns the Client Data. We claim no ownership of it and we do not use it for our own purposes.
- We treat Client Data as confidential, and we access it only where necessary to operate, support or secure the Service, or where you ask us to.
- We do not sell Client Data, we do not use it for advertising, and we do not use it to train third-party models.
- Where we process Client Data on your behalf in a managed deployment, we act as your processor and you remain the controller.
- Legal professional privilege, and responsibility for the advice given, remain with your firm. The Service is a tool for recording and managing work; it does not give legal advice.
7. Fees, taxes and payment
Self-hosted use of the open-source software is free of charge. Managed subscriptions are invoiced in advance, as set out on the managed cloud pricing page or in your order form.
- Fees are exclusive of taxes, which are added where applicable.
- Invoices are payable within the period stated on the invoice; we may suspend a managed deployment for persistent non-payment, after notice.
- We may change subscription pricing with at least 60 days’ notice, effective at your next renewal. You may cancel before that renewal takes effect.
- Usage-based items (for example storage above your tier) are passed through at cost and itemised.
8. Availability, updates and changes
In a managed deployment we deliver updates to your instance on a schedule we control, verified before release and recoverable afterwards; service levels and support commitments are set out in the Managed Service Terms. In a self-hosted deployment, you control your own release cadence.
We may deprecate a feature. Where a deprecation materially reduces functionality, we will give reasonable notice and, where practical, a migration path.
9. Intellectual property
We (and our licensors) own the OpenLPM software, the documentation and the brand. Nothing in these terms transfers our intellectual property to you, except the licences expressly granted.
If you send us feedback or suggestions, we may use them without obligation or restriction. Open-source components included in the Service remain subject to their own licences, which are listed in the repository.
10. Third-party services
The Service can connect to services you choose — payment providers, e-signature providers, email and messaging channels, storage you control. Your use of those services is governed by their terms, and your firm decides which are enabled. We are not responsible for a third party’s acts or omissions.
11. Warranties and disclaimers
We will provide the Service with reasonable skill and care, and materially as described in the documentation. Except as expressly stated, the Service is provided without further warranties, whether express or implied, including fitness for a particular purpose.
We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted or error-free, or that it will meet every regulatory obligation that applies to your firm. Regulatory and professional compliance — including client-money rules, record-keeping and supervision — remains the firm’s responsibility.
12. Limitation of liability
Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded — including for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or any statutory rights you have.
Subject to that, our total aggregate liability arising out of or relating to the Service is limited to the fees your firm paid us in the twelve months before the event giving rise to the claim (or, for self-hosted use where no fees were paid, to a nominal sum). We are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, loss of profit, loss of goodwill, or loss or corruption of data caused by something outside our reasonable control.
We recommend, and for managed deployments we operate, scheduled exports and rehearsed restores. In self-hosted deployments, backups are your responsibility.
13. Indemnities
We will defend your firm against a third-party claim that the Service, used as permitted, infringes their intellectual property, and pay damages finally awarded — provided you tell us promptly and let us control the defence. We have no liability where the claim arises from Client Data, from modifications you made, or from combining the Service with something we did not supply.
You will indemnify us against claims arising from your unlawful use of the Service or from Client Data you did not have the right to hold.
14. Term, suspension and termination
- Either party may terminate a managed subscription at the end of the then-current term, on the notice period in your order form (30 days unless agreed otherwise).
- We may suspend or terminate immediately for material breach that is not remedied within 14 days of notice, for non-payment after notice, or where continued provision would be unlawful.
- On termination, your firm’s access ends, and your data is handled as set out in the section below.
15. Data export and exit
Self-hosted: the data is already in infrastructure you control. Nothing changes on termination.
Managed: on request, and in any event within 30 days of termination, we provide a complete export of your data in open formats, together with the instance keys needed to operate it. We retain the deployment for a handover window so you can verify the export, then delete it, and confirm the deletion in writing on request.
There is no exit fee for taking your own data out.
16. Changes to these terms
We may update these terms to reflect changes in the Service or the law. Material changes are notified by email to your administrators and take effect no earlier than 30 days after notice; continued use after that date is acceptance. If you do not agree, you may terminate before the change takes effect.
17. Governing law and disputes
These terms are governed by the laws of the jurisdiction in which OpenLPM is established, and the courts of that jurisdiction have exclusive jurisdiction — both to be stated in the final published version once the operating entity is incorporated. Until then, pilot firms agree dispute resolution with us directly in the order form.
Before starting proceedings, both parties agree to attempt good-faith resolution through named senior contacts for 30 days.
18. Contact
Legal notices: legal@openlpm.com. Security reports: security@openlpm.com. General: contact.