Terms applying to everyone

1. Agreement and parties

MatterPath is operated by WD Ventures Pty Ltd, referred to in these terms as MatterPath, we, us or our. You agree to these terms when you use the website, create or access an account, start an assessment, submit a professional application or otherwise use a MatterPath service.

If you use MatterPath for an organisation, you confirm that you are authorised to act for it. The organisation is responsible for actions taken through its authorised accounts.

2. What MatterPath provides

MatterPath is a technology platform that helps consumers organise information about a legal matter and identify participating law firms using the requirements supplied by the consumer and verified information supplied by law firms.

MatterPath is not a law firm, does not provide legal advice and does not act for either a consumer or a law firm. Using MatterPath does not create a lawyer-client relationship with MatterPath. A lawyer-client relationship can arise only under a separate arrangement between a consumer and a law firm.

Matching is informational. It does not establish that a matter has merit, predict an outcome or require a participating law firm to assist. Each law firm independently decides whether it can accept instructions.

MatterPath does not monitor court dates, filing dates, limitation periods or other legal deadlines. If a deadline, safety issue or urgent legal need may apply, contact a qualified lawyer or an appropriate emergency service directly and do not wait for a match.

3. Accounts and authority

You must provide accurate account information and keep access methods secure. Do not share sign-in links or passwords. Tell MatterPath promptly if you believe an account has been accessed without authority.

MatterPath may rely on instructions given through an authenticated account unless we know, or reasonably suspect, that the instruction is unauthorised. Organisation owners and administrators are responsible for keeping their authorised users current.

4. Acceptable use

You must not use MatterPath to:

• break a law, court order or professional obligation;
• impersonate another person or provide information you know is materially false;
• harass, threaten, discriminate against or unlawfully contact another person;
• upload malicious code or interfere with the security or operation of the platform;
• scrape, copy or systematically extract data without written permission; or
• use consumer information for a purpose that the consumer did not authorise.

5. Information and privacy

Our Privacy Notice explains how MatterPath collects, uses, stores and discloses personal information. The notices shown at an assessment, selection, preview or introduction step also form part of the information provided to you about that step.

You retain ownership of information you submit. You give MatterPath permission to process that information only as reasonably required to provide, secure, maintain and support the services you request, comply with law, retain records where required and carry out the sharing choices you make. MatterPath will not use identifiable legal-matter information to train artificial-intelligence systems or improve its services unless you make a separate, express choice permitting that use.

Information supplied to MatterPath is not automatically protected by legal professional privilege. A consumer controls which selected law firms receive identifying information, subject to the separate disclosure choices shown in the consumer workflow.

Paid introductions are unavailable for matter categories that MatterPath classifies as a prohibited referral matter or as requiring compliance review. Consumers may still view restricted public profiles, receive non-paid suggestions, choose a firm and expressly authorise disclosure to that firm. No introduction or outcome is guaranteed.

Participating law firms may pay fixed MatterPath membership or advertising fees. For personal injury and compensation matters, MatterPath does not charge a law firm per claimant or accepted introduction, by claim value, by legal fees or by outcome. Consumers choose which firm may receive their identifying information. Personal Injury Advertising Membership is A$299 per month from signup. No founding discount or accepted-introduction fee applies.

Membership does not purchase access to a particular claimant and does not guarantee any minimum number of enquiries, introductions, clients or revenue. The fixed monthly payment covers public directory/profile presence, advertising visibility, platform and account tools, and consumer-directed contact and disclosure functionality.

Accepted-introduction fees apply only to eligible standard-introduction matters for eligible non-personal-injury organisations. For personal injury and compensation matters, consumers may view restricted public profiles, receive non-paid suggestions, select a firm themselves, expressly authorise disclosure to that selected firm, and contact it directly. No firm acceptance or claimant-linked payment is required before consumer-authorised disclosure.

6. Electronic communications

You agree that account, security, consent, payment and service notices may be provided electronically to the contact details recorded in your account. You are responsible for keeping those details current and checking your junk or spam folder for requested account emails.

7. Intellectual property

MatterPath and its licensors own the platform, branding, software, assessment structure and other platform content, excluding information submitted by users. You may use the platform only for its intended purpose. No other licence is granted.

8. Third-party services

MatterPath uses service providers for functions such as hosting, authentication, email, translation and payments. Some features may also link to independent websites. Those providers are responsible for their own services and terms. MatterPath remains responsible for obligations that cannot lawfully be transferred or excluded.

9. Availability and changes

We aim to keep MatterPath available and accurate, but online services sometimes require maintenance or experience interruptions. We may make reasonable changes to improve security, accessibility, legal compliance or functionality. We will give reasonable notice of a material change where practicable.

10. Suspension and termination

We may restrict or suspend access where reasonably necessary to protect a person, secure the platform, investigate suspected misuse, comply with law or address a material breach of these terms. Where appropriate, we will explain the reason and provide a reasonable opportunity to respond.

You may stop using MatterPath at any time. Stopping use does not automatically cancel a law-firm subscription or remove records that MatterPath must retain. The Law-Firm Participation Terms and Privacy Notice explain those consequences.

11. Statutory rights and liability

Nothing in these terms excludes, restricts or modifies a guarantee, right or remedy that cannot lawfully be excluded, including under the Australian Consumer Law.

To the extent permitted by law, MatterPath is not responsible for a legal deadline, outcome or independent decision of a consumer or law firm, or for loss caused by materially inaccurate information supplied by a user. This limitation does not apply to liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or to loss caused by our fraud, wilful misconduct or failure to exercise due care where the law requires it.

12. Complaints and disputes

Contact info@matterpath.com.au with a complaint and enough information for us to investigate it. We will acknowledge the complaint and try to resolve it fairly. Nothing in this process prevents either party from using a statutory complaint process or seeking urgent relief.

Complaints about a lawyer or legal service should ordinarily be raised with the relevant law firm or legal-services regulator. MatterPath may also investigate whether the law firm should remain eligible to participate on the platform.

13. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms for a legal, security, operational or service change. The current version and effective date will appear on this page. We will give reasonable notice before a material change takes effect and will not retrospectively change a fee already fixed for a transaction, unless required by law.

14. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of Victoria, Australia. The parties submit to the courts of Victoria and courts entitled to hear appeals from them. This does not remove any right to bring a claim in another place where a law permits or requires it.

15. Contact