BY CREATING AN ACCOUNT ON OUR PLATFORM, YOU AND/OR YOUR ORGANIZATION WILL BE LEGALLY BOUND BY THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS (THESE TERMS). YOUR APPLICATION AND THESE TERMS WILL FORM PART OF A BINDING CONTRACT BETWEEN YOUR ORGANIZATION AND THE GREENRIDGE FOUNDATION.
PLEASE PRINT OFF AND RETAIN A HARD COPY OF THESE TERMS.
This Agreement represents the final, entire, and exclusive agreement between You and GreenRidge Foundation and supersedes all other prior agreements or understandings relating to GreenRidge Foundation.
Delay or failure by either party in enforcing this Agreement at any time will not constitute a waiver by that party of its rights or remedies.
The Foundation may modify any of the terms of this Agreement at any time by notices posted on the GreenRidge Foundation Members Web Portal, or otherwise communicated to You and such modification shall be effective from the date that the notice is first made available on the GreenRidge Foundation Members Web Portal or is otherwise communicated to You.
If the Foundation makes substantial changes to these terms, You will be required to agree to the changes before submitting any new Requests for Legal Assistance or providing Responses to requests.
If any part of this Agreement is held to be invalid or unenforceable, the validity or enforceability of the remainder will not be affected.
You may not assign or sub-license any of your rights and obligations under this Agreement or any part of them, and any assignment or sub-license made by You shall be ineffective.
You agree that the Foundation may assign any or all of its rights under this Agreement to a member of its group of companies without your consent.
In this Agreement the following words and phrases have the meanings set out below, unless otherwise indicated:
"Agreement" means these membership terms and the Data Protection Notice and Acceptable Use Policy.
“Appeal” means a request for pro bono legal assistance submitted by a Pro Bono Client that has been reviewed by the Foundation and assigned to a legal member.
"Application Form" means your application for membership of GreenRidge Foundation in the relevant form available on the GreenRidge Foundation Members Web Portal.
"Data Protection Notice" means the Foundation data protection notice, as amended from time to time, which can be found at https://www.greenridgefoundation.org/privacy-and-cookies/.
“Eligibility Criteria” means GreenRidge Foundation’s eligibility criteria for membership (available when a user applies to register a business or a law firm on the portal.
“Legal Member” means a law firm, in-house legal team, or other organization giving legal advice that meets GreenRidge Foundation’s Eligibility Criteria and has been accepted as a Member of GreenRidge Foundation, enabling it to accept or reject requests for pro bono legal assistance.
“Member” means either a Legal Member or a Pro Bono Client, as the case may be and as the context permits.
“Project” means a request for pro bono legal assistance submitted by a Pro Bono Client that has been reviewed by the Foundation, and assigned to a legal member.
“Pro Bono Client” means a startup, business or company that meets GreenRidge Foundation’s Eligibility Criteria and has been accepted as a Member of GreenRidge Foundation.
"Request for Legal Assistance" means the request for legal assistance form available on the GreenRidge Foundation Members Web Portal for Pro Bono Clients requiring pro bono legal assistance to complete.
“Response” means a Legal Member’s acceptance to assist with a Project on a pro bono basis, which can include details of the Legal Member’s experience, dedicated resources, envisaged timeline for the completion of the work, and the jurisdiction/s where the Legal Member can assist.
"GreenRidge Foundation" or “the Foundation” is a non-profit organization registered under the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with Registration number CAC/IT/NO 125867. It connects law firms and corporate legal teams around the world with startups and MSMEs. GreenRidge Foundation is a charitable organization and does not give legal advice or practice law.
"GreenRidge Foundation Members Web Portal" means the form and content of https://www.greenridgefoundation.org/login (or such other website of which the Foundation may notify you from time to time), including the password-protected section of the site that can be accessed using a unique set of log-in details.
"You" means the partnership, company or other corporate entity specified by you in your Application Form, Response or Request for Legal Assistance or, as the circumstances require, any relevant individual within that partnership, company or other corporate entity.
The Foundation reserves the right to accept a Member at its sole discretion.
The Foundation will determine the acceptability of any potential Member, taking into consideration the Eligibility Criteria. By approving the application for membership of any potential Member, the Foundation in no way makes any representations or warranties about that Member.
The Foundation reserves the right to re-vet an existing Member and to revoke that Member’s GreenRidge Foundation membership if that member no longer meets the Eligibility Criteria.
GreenRidge Foundation is not a legal adviser and does not provide legal advice. Nothing in this Agreement, contained in any written correspondence, or said during the course of Your interactions with GreenRidge Foundation and/or the Foundation shall constitute or be construed as legal advice or create a lawyer-client relationship between You and the Foundation.
The information contained on the GreenRidge Foundation Members Web Portal is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
It is your responsibility to keep your details and the details of your organization up-to-date. The portal has been designed in a way that allows users update their information at will.
If the Foundation identifies outdated information it reserves the right to remove your membership.
You agree that the Foundation can revoke your membership of GreenRidge Foundation if you do not make use of your membership for a prolonged period of time or if you are unresponsive or uncooperative in your dealings with the Foundation or other Members.
You also agree that the Foundation can revoke your membership of GreenRidge Foundation if the Foundation deems that:
you have brought GreenRidge Foundation or the Foundation into disrepute, or
your behaviour regarding a Project or towards another Member is not deemed appropriate.
The Pro Bono Client will fill in a Request for Legal Assistance.
The Foundation will review the Request for Legal Assistance and assign it to a legal member firm.
The Legal Member then accepts the request and contacts the pro bono client. The pro bono client has the right to reach out to the legal member, whose contact information shall be made available to the pro bono client upon acceptance by the legal member.
All legal advice provided by a Legal Member on a Project will be provided pro bono.
Pro Bono Clients are responsible for the payment of any government fees or registration costs associated with the Project, for example, the costs to register a company or file a trade mark application.
Legal Members are responsible for ensuring that they are suitably qualified and meet all other professional requirements and standards in the relevant jurisdiction and have suitable professional experience to advise on the particular Project.
Once the connection has been created, the pro bono client agrees to conform to all the formal and internal engagement processes of the legal member before commencement of the engagement.
The Foundation cannot guarantee that a Project will receive a Response or that a Response will be received within a particular timeframe. The Foundation shall however work towards ensuring that responses are provided within 3 to 5 working days.
After the commencement of the engagement, the Foundation will contact the Pro Bono Client and the Legal Member who was selected to work on the Project, for feedback.
The Foundation is not responsible for any change in scope in the work from that initially explained in the Project.
A Legal Member is under no obligation to carry out work beyond the scope of a Project.
Should a Pro Bono Client require advice and assistance beyond the scope of the Project, it is within the prerogative of the legal member to decide whether to continue to offer the services pro bono.
Legal members are encouraged to do all within their best to assist the pro bono client, as the overall interest is to ensure they are successful and stable enough to contribute to the economy.
The Foundation is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. Any personal data we collect from You, or that You provide to the Foundation, will be processed and stored by the Foundation in accordance with the Data Protection Notice.
All Projects including summaries thereof must be treated as confidential, unless the Pro Bono Client agrees otherwise. You must not publicly communicate or publish the involvement of a Legal Member in relation to a Project without the Legal Member’s agreement. If, following receipt of appropriate confirmation, You mention a Project publicly, You agree to refer to the role of the Foundation in the Project.
You agree that a Legal Member working on a Project may discuss the Project with the Foundation.
The Foundation is not responsible for the use made by any Member of any information it receives from any other Member, either via the GreenRidge Foundation Members Web Portal or through a lawyer-client relationship established between parties. The transfer of confidential information between Members will be governed by their own agreement.
The Foundation will specifically request that the legal member and pro bono client approves for their information to be made public.
The Foundation will not provide professional indemnity insurance on behalf of Members.
To the extent required in any relevant jurisdiction, a Legal Member is responsible for ensuring that it has appropriate professional indemnity insurance to cover any legal advice it gives to a pro bono client, or that an appropriately insured Legal Member approves any advice provided.
A Legal Member may request assistance to find another, appropriately insured, Legal Member to approve legal advice provided on a Project. Where the Foundation provides such assistance, it shall not in any way be party to the arrangement between Legal Members, the terms of which shall be governed entirely by the Legal Member's own agreement.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Foundation shall have no liability to You under this Agreement (whether in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise) or in relation to any legal advice given or received pursuant to any relationship established between Members.
Nothing in this Agreement shall exclude or restrict the Foundation’s liability for death or personal injury resulting from the negligence of the Foundation or its employees or agents.
Neither the Foundation, nor its affiliates, nor any of their respective employees or agents warrant that the GreenRidge Foundation Members Web Portal will be uninterrupted or error free, nor do they make any warranty as to the accuracy or reliability of the content or any information provided by a third party (including members) through the GreenRidge Foundation Members Web Portal.
You acknowledge and agree that access to the GreenRidge Foundation Members Web Portal is provided to You without any warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to warranties as to merchantability, satisfactory quality or fitness for a particular purpose except for any warranties which are implied and incapable of exclusion, restriction or modification under the laws applicable to this Agreement;
You warrant that You have all necessary power and authority to enter into this Agreement and bind your organization to the terms of this Agreement.
You warrant that You and your organization have the necessary professional indemnity insurance, malpractice insurance or equivalent to give pro bono legal advice to the extent it is required in your jurisdiction. For in-house legal teams, to the extent professional indemnity insurance is required to provide legal advice in the jurisdiction in which you are working, You warrant that any pro bono advice You provide will be reviewed by an appropriately insured lawyer prior to it being provided to the Pro Bono Client.
When you apply for membership to GreenRidge Foundation, You will then be notified by email to verify your account. The password you create will allow access to the secure parts of the GreenRidge Foundation Members Web Portal. One password will be required for each officer or employee in your organization who requires access to the GreenRidge Foundation portal.
You and every relevant individual agree to keep your password(s) confidential, and not to assign, share, sell, barter, transfer, or exchange your password(s) with anyone, including but not limited to any other member or employee of your organization not involved in the process.
Password(s) must be secure. If You learn or suspect that your password has been obtained by another person You must promptly notify the Foundation.
You must then promptly alter your password. Any attempt to access any part of GreenRidge Foundation which requires a password without the required password is unlawful and could result in criminal and/or civil penalties.
All rights in the layout, design and organization of GreenRidge Foundation and the GreenRidge Foundation Members Web Portal are reserved by the Foundation.
The Foundation owns all rights in or has a license to or relevant permission to use the material published on the GreenRidge Foundation Members Web Portal.
Any publication or information related to Projects used by GreenRidge Foundation will be duly cited and credited as content of that organization to clarify where the information products originate and who is responsible for their accuracy.
Neither party to this Agreement shall be held liable to the other for any action relating to third party content transmitted by the other. Members may print or download extracts from the GreenRidge Foundation Members Web Portal and make copies of these for use within their organization. If you wish to use any material, including photographs and other images, for promotional or other related purposes, please contact the Foundation team.
The Foundation owns all rights in or has a license to the materials published or distributed in relation to the Foundation’s training courses. You may make copies of these for use within your organization but if you wish to use the materials for other purposes, please contact the Foundation team.
Except as permitted above, You must not reproduce or redistribute any part of the GreenRidge Foundation Members Web Portal or transmit it or store it in any other web site or disseminate the material in any other form, without permission from us and, where relevant, from any other Member concerned.
The Foundation’s trademarks include its name, its logo, signs etc.
Except as expressly authorized in this Agreement You shall not use GreenRidge Foundation name or any Foundation or GreenRidge Foundation trademarks without the Foundation’s prior written consent. Any use by You of GreenRidge Foundation’s name or any of GreenRidge Foundation trademarks will inure to the benefit of the Foundation.
Notwithstanding 13.1. above, members may use the Foundation’s logo and name on its website or any other material for the purpose of highlighting its partnership with the Foundation.
You will ensure that each of your officers or employees to whom access to the GreenRidge Foundation Members Web Portal is given will comply with this Agreement as though he or she were a party to this Agreement in place of You and You will be liable for any default by any such officers or employees.
You agree to comply fully with all applicable laws in relation to your use of the GreenRidge Foundation Members Web Portal.
The Foundation may modify or cancel any part of its services without notice.
These membership terms and your rights and obligations under this Agreement will take effect from the date on which the membership application process is completed, which culminates at verifying your account.
Your membership shall be determined either by voluntary deactivation of account, suspension or outright termination.
The Foundation may at its sole discretion and without affecting any of its other rights, suspend Your access to the GreenRidge Foundation Members Web Portal at any time.
The Foundation may terminate this Agreement and your access to GreenRidge Foundation and the GreenRidge Foundation Members Web Portal immediately if You are in breach of any of your obligations under this Agreement and You fail to remedy such breach within 14 days of the Foundation requesting that You do so.
Either party may terminate this Agreement at any time and for whatever reason on 15 days’ notice.
The Foundation may at its sole discretion terminate Your access to GreenRidge Foundation and the GreenRidge Foundation Members Web Portal at any time.
This Agreement will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
In event of any dispute, you agree that efforts shall be made to resolve the disputes amicably between parties, before interventions by any third party(ies).
Where all efforts as envisaged in 21.2 above are exhausted and the dispute remains unresolved, you agree that the dispute shall be referred to Arbitration and resolved in accordance with the Arbitration and Conciliation Act of Nigeria.
If there is any inconsistency between the English language version of this Agreement and any foreign language version, the English language version will prevail.
Any foreign language version of this Agreement is provided for reference purposes only and is not intended to create a legally binding agreement between You and the Foundation.
You will be required to confirm your acceptance of these terms before proceeding with your registration on the membership portal. Please note that such confirmation makes this agreement binding on you.