Terms of Use

This English version is a convenience translation of the firm’s Chinese-language document and is provided for general reference only. In the event of any inconsistency or dispute, the Chinese version prevails.

1. About these Terms

These Terms of Use (the “Terms”) apply to your access to and use of nslegal.com.au and the web pages, forms, live chat, content and other website functions operated by NS LEGAL PTY LTD (ABN 35 652 857 595, trading as NS Legal, “the Firm”, “we” or “us”) (together, the “Website”). By accessing or using the Website you agree to these Terms; if you do not agree, please do not use the Website.

The Firm’s Privacy Policy forms part of these Terms. If the Firm agrees to provide legal services, those services will be governed separately by a costs agreement, letter of engagement or other retainer terms; if there is any conflict between those documents and these Terms in relation to legal services, the retainer documents prevail.

2. General information only — not legal advice

Laws and procedures may change, and their application depends on the specific facts. The Firm does not warrant that the Website content is always current, complete or fit for a particular purpose. Before taking or refraining from any action you should obtain professional advice, particularly where limitation periods, hearing dates, visa deadlines, settlement dates or other time limits are involved.

Nothing on this Website constitutes a promise, prediction or guarantee of any outcome, including the grant of a visa, success in litigation or the completion of a transaction.

3. No automatic solicitor–client relationship

Accessing the Website, using live chat, making a booking, subscribing to updates, or sending information through a form or by email does not itself create a solicitor–client relationship, a fiduciary relationship or a retainer between you and the Firm.

The Firm will only agree to act for you after completing the necessary conflict-of-interest and identity checks, confirming the scope of work and accepting the engagement in writing (usually by signing a costs agreement or letter of engagement). Until then, please do not assume that the Firm acts for you, will protect your interests, has accepted responsibility for any deadline, or will reserve capacity for your matter.

An automated acknowledgement of receipt, a booking confirmation or a live-chat reply only confirms that information has been received; it does not mean that the Firm has accepted instructions.

4. Contacting the Firm and confidential information

Unless the Firm asks you to submit through an approved channel, please do not send confidential, privileged or highly sensitive material, or original documents, through this Website or via live chat. The Firm may use information received before a formal retainer to carry out conflict-of-interest checks and to assess whether it is able to assist. Although the Firm will handle information in accordance with applicable privacy and professional obligations, an unsolicited communication does not necessarily give rise to any duty owed to a client, nor does it necessarily prevent the Firm from acting for others to the extent permitted by applicable law and professional conduct rules.

You should ensure that the information you provide is accurate, complete, lawful and authorised for disclosure. If you provide another person’s information, you must have a proper basis to do so and, where necessary, make that person aware of the Firm’s Privacy Policy.

5. Bookings, enquiries and electronic communications

Booking requests are subject to the Firm’s availability and to confirmation. The Firm may reschedule or decline due to conflicts of interest, capacity, location, the type of matter or regulatory restrictions.

Electronic communications may be delayed, intercepted, corrupted or misdirected. If a matter is urgent, please telephone the Firm and expressly confirm that the Firm has received and accepted the relevant instructions. The Firm will not be responsible for any deadline merely because material has been submitted through this Website.

6. Legal and professional services

The Website may contain general information about various areas of law and the professional services the Firm may provide. That information does not indicate that the Firm handles matters of every type, in every jurisdiction or for every person, and it is not a substitute for advice based on your specific facts and the applicable law.

If the Firm agrees to accept an engagement, the scope of services, the parties’ responsibilities, professional fees, other disbursements and related terms will be set out in a separately executed costs agreement, letter of engagement or other formal retainer document. Any disclosure, services agreement, consumer guide or other document required by law for particular legal or professional services will be provided separately where applicable. These Terms are not a substitute for those documents.

Legal processes, negotiations, transactions, applications and administrative decisions all involve factors beyond the Firm’s control. The Firm does not guarantee any particular outcome, timing, amount of compensation or recovery, approval or decision.

7. Permitted use

The Firm grants you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive and non-transferable licence to access and use the Website for lawful personal or internal business purposes. You must not:

• use the Website in any way that is unlawful, fraudulent, misleading, abusive or infringes the rights of others;
• introduce malicious code, interfere with security or availability, probe for vulnerabilities or attempt unauthorised access;
• scrape, harvest, index or extract Website content or personal information by automated means, except as permitted by law or with the Firm’s written consent;
• impersonate any person, submit false information, send spam or use the Website to send unsolicited marketing;
• copy, republish, commercialise, frame, reverse-engineer or create derivative works, except as expressly permitted by law; or
• use Website content to train, develop or improve artificial-intelligence models or competing professional services without the Firm’s written consent, except to the extent such a restriction is prohibited by law.

8. Intellectual property

Except where otherwise indicated, the Website and its content, branding, layout, text, graphics, publications and underlying materials are owned by or licensed to the Firm and are protected by intellectual-property law. You may view, download and print a reasonable amount of content for personal, non-commercial reference, but you must not modify or remove any rights notices. No other right or licence is granted.

NS LEGAL and related marks may be trade marks or other commercial identifiers. You must not use them in any way that suggests association, endorsement or authorisation without written consent.

9. Material you submit

You retain ownership of the material you submit. You grant the Firm a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, reproduce, transmit and use that material only as reasonably necessary to operate the Website, respond to you, assess or provide the services requested, comply with legal and professional obligations, and enforce these Terms. This licence does not displace any obligations that apply once a formal retainer has been established.

You warrant that you are entitled to submit the material and that it is not unlawful, misleading or defamatory, does not contain malicious content, and does not infringe the rights of others.

10. Third-party services and links

The Website may use or link to third-party services, including booking, live chat, maps, analytics, social-media and content platforms. Those third-party services are subject to their own terms and privacy policies. A link does not indicate that the Firm endorses the third party; the Firm does not control, and is not responsible for, third-party content, availability, security or practices.

11. Website availability and security

The Firm may change, suspend, restrict or discontinue any part of the Website without notice. The Firm will take reasonable security measures but does not warrant that access will be uninterrupted, error-free or free of viruses. You are responsible for using up-to-date security software, protecting your device and backing up the material you submit.

12. Disclaimers and statutory rights

To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Website is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis, and all representations, warranties and conditions not expressly set out are excluded. These Terms do not exclude, restrict or modify any right, warranty, remedy or liability that cannot be excluded by law, including rights under the Australian Consumer Law or applicable professional regulation.

Where a non-excludable warranty applies and the law permits remedies to be limited, the Firm’s liability is limited, at the Firm’s option, to re-supplying the relevant Website services or paying the reasonable cost of having them re-supplied. This clause does not limit liability under an accepted engagement for legal services; that liability is governed by the retainer terms and applicable law.

13. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Firm is not liable for indirect, incidental, special or consequential loss, loss of profit, opportunity, goodwill or data, or loss arising from reliance on general Website content, inability to access the Website, third-party services, network-related incidents beyond the Firm’s reasonable control, or information submitted before the Firm accepted an engagement.

These limitations apply regardless of the basis of the claim; however, they do not apply to liability that cannot be excluded by law, to fraud, to intentional misconduct, or to any other liability the law requires the Firm to bear.

14. Suspension and termination

To protect the Website, users, clients, the Firm’s systems or legitimate rights, to deal with suspected misuse, or to comply with legal and professional obligations, the Firm may restrict or terminate access where reasonably necessary. Terms that by their nature should survive termination continue to apply, including those relating to intellectual property, disclaimers, liability and governing law.

15. Changes to these Terms

The Firm may amend these Terms by publishing an updated version and changing the effective date, with changes applying prospectively only. If a change materially affects your use of existing Website functions, the Firm will take reasonable steps to give separate notice where appropriate. Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

16. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the law of New South Wales, Australia. You submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New South Wales and the courts that hear appeals from them. If any provision is invalid or unenforceable, it is to be severed to the minimum extent necessary and the remaining provisions continue in effect. A failure to enforce a right is not a waiver.

17. Contact

If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact NS LEGAL PTY LTD: info@nslegal.com.au; Level 7/263 Clarence St, Sydney NSW 2000.