Terms of Use

AArete Terms of Use

AArete provides information on our website (the “Site”) subject to the following terms and conditions (the “Terms of Use”). The terms “we,” “our,” “us,” and “AArete” refer to AArete LLC. The term “you” refers to each individual user of this site and if applicable, to your use, your employer or firm. By accessing or using the site, you are acknowledging that you have read, understand, and agree, without limitation or qualification, to be bound by these Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. If you disagree with these Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy (as amended from time to time) or are dissatisfied with this Site, your only remedy is to discontinue using this Site. The official language used by AArete is English; in the event of a conflict between the English language version of this document and any version translated into any other language, the English language version shall prevail.

Designated Agent

AAretes’s Designated Agent for purposes of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act may be contacted at info@AArete.com. Please refer to “Designated Agent” in the subject line of your email. You may also call us at +1 312.585.0800.

GDPR

Pursuant to the terms of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) (EU Regulation 2016/679), where AArete, either alone or jointly, determines the purposes and means of the processing of Personal Data, controls the data, and is responsible for it, and does so with respect to Data Subjects who are physically located in the European Union, AArete is a Controller. As a Controller, AArete is bound by the provisions of the GDPR and agrees to comply with those provisions when in possession of such Personal Data. “Data Subject” means an identified or identifiable natural person.

Privacy

Please review the AArete Privacy Policy, which also governs your visit to the Site, so that you may understand our privacy practices.

Scope and Accuracy of Information

In making this Site available, no client, advisory, fiduciary or professional relationship is implicated or established and neither AArete nor any other person is, in connection with this Site, engaged in rendering auditing, accounting, tax, legal, advisory, consulting or other professional services or advice. Neither this Site nor any content on or accessed through this Site shall be considered a substitute for the independent investigations and the sound technical and business judgment of the user of this Site and the user should consult with a professional advisor familiar with your particular factual situation for advice or service concerning specific matters. 
 
AArete attempts to be as accurate as possible when describing our organization and services on the Site; however, to the extent permitted by applicable law, we do not warrant that the services or content available on the Site are accurate, complete, reliable, current, or error-free.

Intellectual Property

Unless otherwise noted, AArete owns all content available on this Site, including but not limited to the text, photographs, images, graphics, audio clips, and any compilation or arrangement thereof (the “Content”). All Content is protected by United States and international laws regarding copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets and other proprietary rights. 

The trademarks, logos, and service marks displayed on the Site (collectively, the “Trademarks”) are owned by AArete, in the United States or other countries, and are protected by United States and international trademark laws. 
 
All other Trademarks not owned by us that appear on the Site are the property of their respective owners, who may or may not be affiliated with, connected to, or sponsored by AArete.

Limited License

AArete grants you a limited, revocable, and non-exclusive license to access and make personal use of the Site. Please note that you may not frame or utilize framing techniques to enclose the Site or any portion thereof without our prior written consent. 
 
The limited license set forth herein does not include the right to: (i) copy, modify or download, other than as expressly permitted, the Site or its Content (except caching or as necessary to view the Content); (ii) make any use of the Site or its Content other than for your personal informational purposes, and if applicable, for informational purposes for your employer or firm; (iii) create any derivative work based upon either the Site or its Content; or (iv) use any meta tags or any other “hidden text” utilizing the name or Trademarks of AArete without our express written consent. 
 
A website that links to our Site (i) may link to, but not replicate, our Content; (ii) may not imply that we are endorsing such website or its services or products; (iii) may not misrepresent its relationship with us; and (iv) may not link to any page of the Site other than the home page. AArete may, in our sole discretion, request that you remove any link to the Site, and upon receipt of such request, you shall immediately remove such link. 
 
Any unauthorized use by you of the Site terminates the limited license set forth in this section without prejudice to any other remedy provided by applicable law. You understand and agree that any information input into the Site or shared through the Site is done so voluntarily and may be used by AArete in accordance with the functionality of the Site and for any other lawful purpose. You waive and release any and all claims or liability against AArete relating to or regarding any information or data shared through the site, input into the site, or delivered through the Site.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act

The following policy has been adopted pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (found at  http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/legislation/dmca.pdf ): 
 
The contact information of the Designated Agent can be found above. If you believe that content or material provided through the Site infringes a copyright, please send a notice containing the following information to the Designated Agent: 
 
(i) a physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed; 
 
(ii) identification of the material claimed to have been infringed or, if multiple works, a representative list of such works; 
 
(iii) identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or the subject of infringing activity that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material; 
 
(iv) information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact you, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an email address at which you may be contacted; 
 
(v) a statement that you have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and 
 
(vi) a statement that the information in the notification is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Links to Other Websites 

Links on this Site may lead to websites maintained by individuals or organizations other than AArete. These links are for your convenience only and are not an endorsement by us, our affiliates, or our partners of the referenced content, product, service, or website. We are not responsible for such websites or their content, and we make no representation or warranty regarding the accuracy, timeliness, suitability, or any other aspect of the content located on such websites, and we do not monitor nor endorse such websites or content. 
 
Representations and Warranties; Limitations of Liability 
AArete, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE RESPECTIVE DIRECTORS, PRINCIPALS, CORPORATE OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, AND REPRESENTATIVES MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ABOUT THE ACCURACY, TIMELINESS, SUITABILITY OR ANY OTHER ASPECT OF THIS SITE OR ANY CONTENT ON OR ACCESSED THROUGH THIS SITE FOR ANY PURPOSE, ALL OF WHICH IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. AArete LLC HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES AND OBLIGATIONS WITH REGARD TO THE SITE OR ANY CONTENT ON OR ACCESSED THROUGH THIS SITE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES AND OBLIGATIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, UNLESS AND TO THE EXTENT SUCH REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES ARE NOT LEGALLY EXCLUDABLE. IN NO EVENT SHALL AArete LLC, ITS DIRECTORS, PRINCIPALS, CORPORATE OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, AND REPRESENTATIVES BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, CONSEQUENTIAL OR OTHER DAMAGES WHATSOEVER,(INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LIABILITY FOR INTERRUPTION OF BUSINESS, LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS), WITHOUT REGARD TO THE FORM OF ANY ACTION, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTIONS, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THIS SITE, ANY CONTENT ON OR ACCESSED THROUGH THIS SITE, OR ANY COPYING, DISPLAY OR OTHER USE THEREOF.

Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold the AArete Parties harmless, including costs, liabilities, and legal fees, from any claim or demand made by any third party arising out of relating to (i) your access to or use of our site, (ii) your violation of the terms, or (iii) the infringement by you or any third party acting on your behalf of any intellectual property or other right of any person or entity. AArete reserves the right, at your expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter for which you are required to indemnify us and you agree to cooperte with our defense on these claims. You agree not to settle any such matter without the prior written consent of AArete. AArete will use reasonable efforts to notify you of any such claim, action, or proceeding upon becoming aware of it.

Force Majeure

We will not be liable or responsible for any failure to perform, or delay in performance of, any of our obligations under these Terms that is caused by a Force Majeure Event. If a Force Majeure Event takes place that affects the performance of our obligations under these Terms, we will contact you as soon as reasonably possible to notify you. Our obligations under these Terms will be suspended and the time for performance of our obligations will be extended for the duration of a Force Majeure Event. A “Force Majeure Event” is any act or event beyond our reasonable control, including strikes, lock-outs, or other industrial action by third parties, civil commotion, riot, invasion, terrorist attack or threat of terrorist attack, war (whether declared or not) or threat or preparation for war, fire, explosion, storm, flood, earthquake, subsidence, epidemic, or other natural disaster, or failure of public or private telecommunications networks or impossibility of the use of railways, shipping, aircraft, motor transport, or other means of public or private transport.

Disputes

With respect to any dispute regarding the Site, your rights and obligations and all actions contemplated by these Terms of Use shall be governed by the laws of the state of Illinois, as if the Terms of Use were a contract wholly entered into and wholly performed within Illinois. Any dispute relating in any way to your visit to the Site shall be submitted to confidential arbitration before a single arbitrator in Chicago, Illinois, except that, to the extent you have in any manner violated or threatened to violate our intellectual property rights, we may seek injunctive or other appropriate relief in Illinois, and you consent to exclusive jurisdiction and venue in such courts. Arbitration under this agreement shall be administered by JAMS and governed by JAMS’ then prevailing rules. The arbitrator’s award shall be binding and may be entered as a judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, no arbitration under this Agreement shall be joined to an arbitration involving any other party subject to this Agreement, whether through class arbitration proceedings or otherwise. IN ANY DISPUTE, NEITHER YOU NOR ANY OTHER PERSON SHALL BE ENTITLED TO JOIN OR CONSOLIDATE CLAIMS BY OR AGAINST OTHER AFFILIATES OR PERSONS, OR ARBITRATE ANY CLAIM AS A REPRESENTATIVE OR CLASS ACTION OR IN A PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL CAPACITY. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU ARE GIVING UP YOUR RIGHTS TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION WITH RESPECT TO ANY SUCH CLAIM.

Copyright Complaints

AArete respects the intellectual property of others. If you believe that your work has been copied on the Site in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please use info@AArete.com to notify us of the claimed infringement.

General

This Site and its Content are made available only to provide information about AArete. AArete maintains this Site in Chicago, Illinois, USA, and makes no representation that this Site or any content on or accessed through the Site is appropriate or available for use in other jurisdictions. You are responsible for compliance with all applicable laws and regulations (Certain state law limitations may affect the manner in which we are retained. For example, see California’s Public Insurance Adjuster’s Act (Cal. Ins. Code § 15006 to 15032).

You acknowledge and agree that these Terms of Use, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the complete and exclusive agreement between us concerning your use of the Site, and supersede and govern all prior proposals, agreements, or other communications.

AArete reserves the right, in our sole discretion, to change these Terms of Use at any time by posting the changes on the Site. Any changes are effective immediately upon posting to the Site. Your continued use of the Site constitutes your agreement to all such terms and conditions.

In the event that any provision of these Terms of Use shall be unenforceable or invalid under any applicable law or be so held by any applicable court decision, such unenforceability or invalidity shall not render these Terms of Use unenforceable or invalid as a whole. AArete will amend or replace such provision with one that is valid and enforceable and which achieves, to the extent possible, our original objectives and intent as reflected in the original provision.

If you have any questions regarding these Terms of Use, please contact us by e-mail at info@AArete.com.