To enter the Learning Center, Library and Resource Office, you must be an enrolled member in the LawPartnering^SM Institute. You will need to log in each time you want to visit these member-only areas of the site. Through the Learning Center, you can access our Member Lounge and various Discussion Forums. Faculty members also have access to the Faculty Lounge.

The Institute's rules for participating in our online discussion groups are described below. Generally speaking, these rules simply require respect, good manners and little common sense.

We encourage you to use the Lounges and Discussion Forums to share your ideas and knowledge, ask questions or begin a new topic for discussion. With the assistance of our search facility, you can also search for specific information that may have been posted previously in the online discussions. Remember, if you elect to participate in the discussion groups, your name and email address will be included with any message that you post.

Discussion Forum Rules

By enrolling in the LawPartnering^SM Institute and participating in our discussion groups, you agree to abide by the following rules. These rules are incorporated by reference in your Membership Agreement. You also acknowledge that LawPartnering, Inc., has the right to enforce and modify these rules at its sole discretion.

1. The Discussion Forums and other resources at this Web site allow members and faculty to obtain and exchange information regarding lawpartnering^SM arrangements. In using these facilities, it is important to keep in mind the source of the information you receive. Many of our faculty and members will have substantial partnering experience. They may be on the cutting edge of partnering thinking, initiatives, strategies and tactics. Their ideas may be novel or groundbreaking. Other members, however, may have little or no lawpartnering^SM experience. The LawPartnering^SM Institute takes no responsibility for the content or opinions posted in online discussions. As a practical matter, you should exercise discretion before relying on any advice, opinion or information provided in comments offered by other members. There is always the possibility that such information may be incorrect, unreasonable or misleading when applied to your particular situation.

2. In our Member and Faculty Lounges, you can chat about whatever topic you like, subject to our general restrictions against improper comments and demeanor. Our "General Discussion" forum is available for "undirected" dialogue regarding lawpartnering^SM and related issues and concerns. The rest of our Discussion Forums are tailored to address specific Lawpartnering^SM Strategies and Tactics, explore issues regarding partnering that uniquely concern legal administrators and law marketing professionals, or examine in greater depth the numerous success stories that are proving that lawpartnering^SM is the preeminent business model. Discussion Forum topics are listed and described our LawPartnering^SM Curriculum and Syllabus. The faculty members who guide the discussions may, at their discretion, elect to limit, move or re-direct discussion threads. As a member, you are responsible for initiating new discussion threads in the appropriate forum and for confining your comments and questions to the subject to which the forum is dedicated. If you think that a new topic should be added to the Discussion Forums, please email us with your suggestion.

3. Every message posted to our Discussion Forums and Lounges is considered "off-the-record," confidential and not intended for public attribution or publication without the author's express written permission. You agree that you will utilize, download, copy and/or print the content of our Discussion Forums or Lounges only for your personal, non-commercial use. You also agree not to reproduce, retransmit, repost, recompile, reverse engineer, disassemble, reformat, distribute, sell, publish, broadcast, create derivative works from, perform, or in any way commercially exploit any of the content, or infringe upon copyrighted information or trademarks or service marks displayed or received through the Discussion Forums and/or the Member or Faculty Lounges of this Web site.

4. You agree not to post the same message or initiate the same discussion thread in different forums without permission of the Faculty Members in charge of the respective forums or the Discussion Forums Administrator.

5. "Flaming" of other members is strictly forbidden, as is any communication to the law department, law firm or other employer of a member regarding his or her comments or participation in the Institute's Discussion Forums.

6. "Spamming," in any form, is also strictly forbidden. Any use of another member's email address without his or her express consent is prohibited. Any misuse of another member's email address will result in the immediate termination of the offender's membership in the LawPartnering^SM Institute.

7. You further agree not to use the online discussions to solicit clients, customers or charitable donations or to advertise or promote your specific skills, products or services or any commercial endeavor without prior permission from the Discussion Forums Administrator. This prohibition includes direct posts, as well as active links to other Web sites in the body of your message. You may, however, refer to other URLs or use active links for the purpose of expanding on your comments or offering additional information relating to a specific discussion thread. This rule is not intended to prohibit you from making reference to the fact that you have specific knowledge about a given subject or experience in a particular area in making a relevant substantive comment, or from providing detailed contact information in your signature block, including reference to your company's or firm's Web site.

8. The online discussion service at this site is provided "AS-IS." As a member of the LawPartnering^SM Institute, you participate in the online discussions at your own risk; and you take responsibility for the postings you make and for the use of any information you obtain from this site. LawPartnering, Inc., reserves the right to remove any posting to the online discussions without notice, for any reason. While inappropriate content and language are prohibited, LawPartnering, Inc., has no obligation to delete content or language that you may find objectionable or offensive.

9. You acknowledge that the following actions, among others, may result in the immediate removal of posted comments and/or termination of your membership in the LawPartnering^SM Institute: providing false or misleading information upon enrollment; impersonating another individual when posting messages; using any portion of or information available from this Web site for any illegal purposes or for the transmission of material that is deemed by LawPartnering, Inc., in its sole discretion, to be unlawful, harassing, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, abusive, threatening, harmful, vulgar, obscene, tortious or otherwise inappropriate or objectionable; restricting or inhibiting any other member from using and enjoying the Discussion Forums or other bulletin boards; or interfering in any with the administration of the Institute's services.

Last revised, December 1, 2001.