Terms of Service

Advooca provides an operating system and marketplace for legal professionals and clients in South Africa, including AI-assisted document analysis, practice management, a lawyer directory (Find a Lawyer), an instruction marketplace (The Brief), fixed-fee storefronts and secure case rooms. By creating an account or using any of these services you agree to these Terms of Service.

You must be at least 18 and provide accurate information when registering. You are responsible for keeping your credentials safe and for everything done through your account. You may not use Advooca to distribute unlawful content, to misrepresent your professional status, or in a way that violates the professional conduct rules of your admission as an attorney, advocate or other legal practitioner.

Advooca verifies the professional details of legal practitioners before they appear in the directory, apply to briefs, or open a storefront. Verification reduces risk but is not a warranty of a practitioner's standing, expertise or availability. You, as a client or instructing attorney, remain responsible for your own engagement decisions, and we encourage a written mandate.

Free and paid plans are described on our pricing page. Paid plans and add-ons (Promoted Profile, Storefront Pack, Brief Pass, Case Room Pack and AI Boosts) are billed monthly in advance in South African Rand. You may cancel before the next billing period to avoid renewal. AI credits do not roll over and are consumed by report generation, document chat and drafting features. Refund requests for the current billing period are considered on reasonable cause.

Instructions posted to The Brief and services listed on storefronts are contractual offers between the instructing attorney (or client) and the responding practitioner. Advooca facilitates these interactions but is not a party to the underlying contract and does not interfere in fee arrangements between you and your counsel, except by enforcing the platform rules — for example, disallowing fees expressed as a percentage of the amount recovered.

We may suspend or terminate accounts that breach these terms, that are used for unlawful activity, that harass other users, or that bring the marketplace into disrepute. Where reasonable, we will give notice and an opportunity to remedy. You may close your account at any time; your records remain exportable.

Advooca provides tools to augment — not replace — professional judgment. AI output should be reviewed before reliance. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Advooca is not liable for indirect or consequential loss, and our aggregate liability is limited to the amounts you paid in the twelve months before the event giving rise to the claim. Nothing in these terms limits rights you have under South African consumer law, including the Consumer Protection Act.

These terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa. Disputes will be subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of South Africa. We may update these terms from time to time and will notify you of material changes — by continuing to use Advooca you accept the updated terms.