These Advocate Terms apply to advocates and law firms who list a profile and offer consultations or services on Vallume ("Advocate"). They are in addition to our Terms of Use.
1. Eligibility and verification
- You must be enrolled with a State Bar Council under the Advocates Act, 1961 and entitled to practise, and must not be suspended or debarred.
- You must provide your enrolment number and supporting documents for verification, and keep your details current. Tell us straight away if your right to practise changes.
- Law firm accounts are responsible for every advocate who uses them.
2. Professional conduct
- You remain fully responsible for your professional conduct and advice, and must follow the Bar Council of India Rules, including the rules on advertising and solicitation.
- Your profile must be factual (qualifications, experience, practice areas, languages, fees). Do not make claims about results, rankings or comparisons with other advocates.
- Do not solicit users through the forum, discussions, messages or reviews.
- Keep client information confidential, and check for conflicts of interest before accepting a booking.
3. Role of Vallume
Vallume provides the listing, scheduling, payment, chat and video tools. Vallume does not supervise or direct your advice and does not share in legal fees as a partner; any amount Vallume retains is a fee for the use of the Platform and its services. Your engagement with the client is between you and the client.
4. Bookings
- Keep your availability calendar up to date and honour the bookings you accept.
- If you must cancel, do so as early as possible. Cancellations and no-shows by you entitle the client to a refund under our Refund & Cancellation Policy, and repeated ones may lead to suspension.
- Bookings made through Vallume must be paid through Vallume. Do not take payment for them off-platform.
5. Fees and payouts
- You set your consultation and service fees in your profile.
- Vallume deducts the platform fee shown in your dashboard, applicable taxes and gateway charges, and pays the balance to your registered bank account or UPI ID after the session or service is completed and any refund window has passed.
- Tax is deducted at source where the law requires. You are responsible for your own taxes.
6. Reviews
Clients may review your services. You may respond professionally but must not offer anything in exchange for reviews or post reviews of yourself. We may remove reviews that break our Community Guidelines.
7. Suspension and termination
You may close your profile at any time after completing or cancelling pending bookings. We may suspend or remove a profile that fails verification, breaks these terms or the professional rules, or receives serious and repeated complaints.
8. Data
Use client data received through Vallume only to provide the engaged service, and handle it in line with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and our Privacy Policy.
9. Contact
Advocate support: legal@vallume.com.