Terms of Use

The original version of the Terms of Use is in French language. Any translated version is for your convenience and information only. In case of disputes the French text shall prevail.

Who are we?

Symplicy is a Belgian limited liability company that specializes in the development of IT solutions for the legal profession and the general public. Symplicy is a Belgian startup aimed at making law more accessible, simpler and understandable for everyone. We are active in Belgium, thereby respecting Belgian and European legislation. We invite you to consult our legal notices for further information about us.

What is the purpose of this contract?

The aim of this Contract is to define the contractual relationships established between You (hereinafter referred to as “You” and / or “Litigant”) and Symplicy (hereinafter referred to as “We”). By browsing and/or using one of our Services i.e. :

  • The Symplicy Website: www.symplicy.com.
  • The Symplicy application, hereinafter referred to as the “Software”.

you declare that you have read our General Terms and Conditions of Use and that you expressly accept them.

What do these basic concepts mean?

In this Contract, it is agreed that the following expressions or words, whether used in singular or plural, have the following meanings:

“Lawyer Directory”: Database within the meaning of Directive 96/9/EC on the legal protection of databases, which consists mainly of the following information: photos, first name, surname, schedule, skills tags, telephone numbers, email, fax, website, LinkedIn link, registered bar, argued court decisions, contract templates, training, spoken languages, the name of the lawyer’s firm, the lawyer’s bank account, schedules and fees. The information from the Lawyer Directory constitutes the Lawyer’s profile.

“Lawyer”: Any natural person (a lawyer registered with a Belgian and/or foreign bar) or legal entity (law firm) wishing to use our Services and be indexed in the Lawyer Directory.

“Concrete Case”: Database within the meaning of Directive 96/9/EC on the legal protection of databases, consisting of legal problems, legal needs, legal requests, legal concerns, and legal questions.

“UUID Key”: Unique sequence of symbols, letters, numbers or special characters provided to the Lawyer to authorize the legal use of the Software, its specific version or the extension of the license in accordance with this Contract. Therefore, it is a unique identifier that allows the Lawyer to identify themselves within Symplicy’s database and to make the Forms usable on their Website. This UUID is unique to each Lawyer. This UUID is personal to each Lawyer and is therefore limited to one Lawyer and One Domain Name.

“Contract”: This agreement between Symplicy and you. These are the general terms and conditions of use.

“Personal data”: Personal data has the meaning given in European Regulation and Council n°2016/679 relating to the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC.

“Intellectual Property Right”: Set of patents, designs (registered and unregistered), trademarks (registered and unregistered), copyrights, rights related to databases, confidential information, domain names, trade secrets, know-how, both existing and future, and all applications related to any of these rights, as well as any equivalent right of any kind existing anywhere in the world.

“Personal Space”: Platform through which the Lawyer can manage the influx of requests received via a Form, carry out legal research, import court decisions or document templates, configure their account.

“Force Majeure”: Circumstances beyond the reasonable control of the parties, which prevent a party from fulfilling or executing an obligation under the Contract. These circumstances include, but are not limited to, the following events: natural disasters, pandemics, epidemics, surprise strikes, floods, storms, operations, fires and all natural disasters, acts of war, acts of public enemies, acts of terrorism, riots, civil insurrections, intentional damages, sabotage and revolution.

“Form”: Interactive form to be completed by the Litigant, consisting of:

  • A graphic interface protected by copyright.
  • Original textual content composed of questions and pre-constructed answers, which may contain multiple fields or areas. The Litigant can enter text, tick boxes, make a choice from a list of predefined terms, press buttons, etc. The Form prepares the first interaction between the Lawyer and the Litigant. There are two types of Forms:
    • Forms referred to as “general” or “default”: These are Forms created by Symplicy. These are Form templates that Symplicy makes available to the Lawyer.
    • Forms referred to as “customized”: These are Forms co-created by the Lawyer and Symplicy.</ li>

“Hosting”: The activity of storing a Website on a Web Server, with the aim of making it available to any Litigant who requests it electronically.

“Hyperlink”: A hypertext or web link that allows for the transition from one web page to another with a click.

“Indexing”: Operation that involves including the URL of a Website in the databases of Search Engines and directories.

“Litigant”: Any natural person on whose behalf a Concrete Case is submitted through the interactive Form.

“Software”: Computer program and all its components, particularly the Forms. The Software refers to the entire content of the disks, CD-ROMs, DVDs, emails and attachments, or other media provided with this Contract, including the object code form of the Software, supplied on a data transport medium, via email or downloaded from the Internet. The Software also refers to any written explanatory document and other types of documents related to the Software, including any description of the Software and its characteristics, any description of the properties and functioning of the Software, any description of the operating environment in which the Software is used, the instructions for the use or installation of the Software, or any description of how to use the Software (“Documentation”).

“Document Template”: Digital format writing serving as an information, note, conclusion, request or question-answer. This document is previously imported by the Lawyer into their Personal Space.

“Domain Name”: Web address where the Lawyer hosts their Website and makes it available to the Litigant.

“Referencing”: Operation that ensures that a Website, or the pages that make it up, is well ranked in the results of search tools (Search Engines) for given keywords or expressions. The goal of referencing is to increase the frequency and traffic of a website.

“Web Server”: Computer connected to the Internet and hosting the websites.

“Service”: Service provided by Symplicy under this Contract.

“Website”: Set of web pages and resources linked by hyperlinks, defined and accessible via a Domain Name. A Website is hosted on a Web Server and is accessible via the global Internet network.

“Tag”: Database under the meaning of Directive 96/9/EC on the legal protection of databases containing multiple labels illustrating in a simplified manner a Lawyer’s expertise.

What are the characteristics of our Services?

Symplicy’s Website: www.symplicy.com

You can navigate our Website, learn about our Symplicy startup and the Services we offer. You can contact us via email or schedule an appointment.

Symplicy’s Software

Symplicy has developed a Software (Software as a Service). The Software is not sold but licensed as a Service to the Lawyer who accepts it. Symplicy remains the owner of the Software and its components.

Our Software allows the Lawyer to:

  • Initiate contact with a Litigant via Forms.
  • Manage, through a Personal Space, requests received via Forms.
  • Import, through a Personal Space, court decisions and/or Document Templates.
  • Conduct legal research through a Personal Space.

The Software operates as follows:

  • Our Form is installed on the Lawyer’s website.
  • The Litigant visits the Lawyer’s website and clicks on a contact button to trigger the Form.
  • The Litigant expresses their legal issue in their own words in the search bar of the Form.
  • Based on the Litigant’s words, we try to rephrase his legal need. The wording corresponds to concrete Cases present in our database. The Litigant selects and clicks on a concrete Case present in our database.
  • A Form appears according to the selected concrete Case.
  • The Litigant responds to this Form.
  • Once the content is validated by the Litigant, the Form is automatically sent to the Lawyer’s email address. The content of the Form is also communicated in the Lawyer’s Personal Space.
  • In the Lawyer’s Personal Space, we communicate to the Lawyer the form completed by the Litigant, the court decisions and the Document Templates related to the concrete Case selected by the Litigant.
  • In the Lawyer’s Personal Space, the Lawyer can import and/or conduct searches for court decisions and/or Document Templates.

Our Software remains stored on Symplicy’s servers and/or on servers designated for this purpose by Symplicy at all times. Our Software is available in French and the Services are provided in French.

What are your obligations and responsibilities?

You agree and are required:

  • To use our Services in accordance with this Contract.
  • Not to hinder or distort the operation of our Services, infringe on any part of its elements, or to fraudulently access them.
  • Not to copy, distribute, extract components or create derivative works based on the Software and databases.
  • Not to use, modify, translate, reproduce or transfer the usage rights of the Software or copies of the Software in any way other than those provided for in this Contract.
  • Not to sell, sublicense, lease or rent the Software or use the Software to offer commercial services.
  • Not to reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble the Software or attempt in any other way to discover the source code of the Software.
  • Not to use the Lawyer Directory for commercial purposes and / or for prospecting to sell services or products.
  • Not to reuse, store, reproduce, represent or keep, directly or indirectly, on any media, by any means and in any form whatsoever, all or part of the content of our databases.
  • Not to use a manual process, automated system or software intended to extract data from our Services, particularly with the aim of displaying the data on another website (“framing””screenshot capturing” “Web scraping”).
    • We reserve the right to take any action or claim necessary to enforce this prohibition, including in the context of legal proceedings, without prior notice.

When you fill out a Form and/or contact a Lawyer following the use of our Services, you commit and are obliged to:

  • Provide correct, legal, true and relevant information to a Lawyer.
  • Not to communicate false, inaccurate, misleading, defamatory, slanderous, unlawfully threatening, unlawfully harassing or obscene information to a Lawyer.
  • Not to transmit promotional information to a Lawyer.
  • Guarantee the truthfulness and legality of all data communicated to the Lawyer via the Forms.
  • Respect privacy, particularly the General Data Protection Regulation (No. 2016/679).

You expressly confirm that the data (texts, images, drawings, videos, photos, software, databases) that you provide to the Lawyer via the Forms respect the rights of third parties and are not illegal. You expressly confirm to us that you have all the Intellectual Property Rights and necessary authorizations and that these software, works, and inventions contain nothing that may fall under the laws and regulations relating, in particular, to counterfeiting, unfair competition, privacy, protection of personal data, intellectual property rights, image rights, personality rights, and, in general, infringe on the rights of third parties. You alone are responsible for all the content you transmit to the Lawyer via the Forms. Therefore, we are not liable and are not required to make any refund that could result from a failure on your part to use our Services. The Form can in no case replace a physical meeting between a Lawyer and a Litigant.

What are our responsibilities?

You acknowledge and accept that:

  • Our Services are solely a meeting point between You and a Lawyer.
  • We are completely separate from any contractual relationship that existed, exists, or will exist between you and a Lawyer.
  • We manage an IT and software infrastructure made available to you. Therefore, we are neither agents, nor employees, nor representatives of the Lawyers and of you.
  • Our Services provided constitute an obligation of means and not of result.
  • We cannot assure or guarantee that your use of our Services will meet your needs and situation.
  • We do not exercise any degree of authority or control over the Lawyers indexed on our Services.
  • In no case can we be held responsible for the loss of a right or an opportunity resulting from a delay caused by a lack of reaction from the Lawyer and/or from your side.
  • Our Services are third party and not determinant to the realization of an agreement that could arise between you and a Lawyer.
  • We cannot be held responsible for any damages resulting from disputes between you and a Lawyer, especially regarding the extent of the Lawyer’s duties, the payment of fees.
  • The transmission of content via a Form is immediate and without us exerting any control or prior validation on the sent content. This measure was taken to respect the confidentiality requirements imposed by the Lawyer’s professional ethics and secrecy.
  • Once the content is validated by the Litigant, the Form is automatically sent to the Lawyer’s email address. The content of the Form is also communicated in the Lawyer’s Personal Space.
  • The Form can in no case replace a physical meeting between a Lawyer and a Litigant. The Lawyer is personally obliged to check his email and SPAM box regularly to prevent a Case from remaining without a useful response. Under no circumstances can we be held responsible for the loss of a right or an opportunity resulting from a delay caused by a lack of reaction from you and/or the Lawyer.
  • We cannot be held responsible for a lack of information, false, illegal, inaccurate information transmitted, harassing between a Litigant and the Lawyer via the Forms. Since we do not have direct access to the content of your request via the Forms, we cannot filter, censor, modify, and control the information transmitted between the Litigant and the Lawyer.
  • We cannot be held responsible when you send to the Lawyer via the Forms content that violates an Intellectual Property Right and/or the Personal Data of a third party. Since we do not have direct access to the content of your request via the Forms, we cannot filter, censor, modify, and control the information transmitted between the Litigant and the Lawyer.
  • We cannot guarantee the regular registration of Lawyers in a Belgian bar as well as the legality of practicing the Lawyer’s profession.
  • We do not guarantee that the servers hosting our Services will be free of viruses and other dangerous components. It is therefore up to you to take all appropriate measures to protect your own data and/or software from possible viruses circulating on the Internet. Any material, file downloaded and/or obtained, in any way, during the use of our Services, is at your own risk.
  • In case of a security incident, Force Majeure, technical failure, or maintenance affecting the normal operation of our Services, we commit, to the best of our ability, to restore the continuity of operation of our Services. However, considering the complexity of the technical chain implemented, we cannot guarantee the complete continuity of the operation and access to the Services. The security incident, technical failure, Force Majeure, and/or maintenance do not entitle to any compensation or refund on our part.
  • We are not responsible for non-compliance in whole or in part with an obligation and/or failure of the operators of transport networks to the Internet world, particularly your Internet service providers.
  • The information concerning the Lawyer Directory may contain inaccuracies or errors, especially regarding postal addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, Lawyer competency tags, Lawyer’s fees. We do not guarantee the accuracy, truthfulness, relevance, completeness, legality, or updating of the Lawyer Directory and disclaim any responsibility for the information regarding this Lawyer Directory. We do not verify the truthfulness, completeness, relevance, and legality of the content of the Lawyer Directory. Therefore, we are not liable and not obliged to any reimbursement for damages that could result from a lack of truthfulness, completeness, relevance, and legality of this information. If a lawyer informs us that there is an error in the Lawyer Directory, we make every effort to correct these errors. We are bound by an obligation of means and not of result.
  • We disclaim any responsibility for any document or information provided by or published by websites to which we publish Hyperlinks, or that redirect to us. You visit such websites at your own risks.
  • We are not responsible for the content published on the Lawyer’s Website. We do not intervene in the editing of this content. We do not exercise any control over the quality, safety, or legality of the content published on the Lawyer’s Website. Symplicy does not act at all as the publisher of the content published through its Services on the Lawyer’s Website and which Symplicy cannot control for truthfulness, accuracy, relevance, and legality.

What about our intellectual property?

All information, data and resources, including notably:

  • The source code.
  • The Software Documentation.
  • The design, interfaces, drawings and models, color arrangement, architecture of the Software and Forms.
  • The databases of Concrete Cases, Forms, the Attorney Directory, Tags, court decisions, models of documents.

are protected by copyright, rights related to databases, any other intellectual property right and / or by this Contract. Any use and / or reproduction and/or public communication without our prior written consent is prohibited and constitutes a breach of this Contract, and may infringe a violation of our intellectual property rights. We integrate into our Services API modules developed by third-party companies whose use is governed through licenses.

What are the rules regarding privacy, confidentiality and protection of personal data?

We invite you to read our Personal Data Protection Policy. We invite you to read our Cookie Policy.

Our Personal Data Protection Policy and our Cookie Policy form an integral part of this Contract and are inseparable from it. In the context of using the Software on the Attorney’s website, this Personal Data Protection Policy is available in the Software interface. This Policy is communicated and accepted by the Justiciable. His consent is obtained via a checkbox in the Software interface.

What about changes to this Contract?

We may unilaterally modify or delete this Contract, in whole or in part, for legal, technical or regulatory purposes, if we deem it necessary or following a change to the Services provided, the nature or presentation of our Services. You expressly agree to be bound by this Contract as amended. We reserve the right to modify, suspend or discontinue any aspect of the Services. We can also limit or restrict your access to all or part of our Services, without notice or any other obligation, for technical or security reasons, to prevent unauthorized access, loss or destruction of data, or when we perceive, at our sole discretion, that you are violating the provisions of this Contract, a Law or Regulation, and when we decide to stop providing our Services. By continuing to use our Services now or after modifications have been posted, you signify that you accept these changes.

What about Hyperlinks to our Services?

You may not create Hyperlinks pointing to our Services without our prior written permission.

What law applies?

This Contract will be interpreted by and in accordance with Belgian law.

What to do in the case of a dispute?

In the event of a dispute between the parties relating to the validity, interpretation or execution of this Contract, which could not be resolved amicably, the parties will first attempt to resolve this dispute through mediation. The parties will appoint a mediator among the mediators accredited by the Federal Mediation Commission in Belgium. If mediation does not resolve this dispute, the dispute will be brought exclusively to the courts of Liège, Namur division, materially competent.

Miscellaneous clauses

In the event that one of the provisions of this Contract is declared null or without effect, it would be deemed unwritten, without this affecting the validity of the other provisions. The original version of this Contract is in French. The translated version in Dutch and English is available for your convenience and information only. In case of a dispute, the French version of the text will be considered predominant. Do you have questions, suggestions, comments about our General Terms of Use? Contact us via info@symplicy.com. The version of this Contract is dated May 27, 2024. You can download a copy of this version onto a durable medium (PDF format) by clicking here.