Terms of service
Seven sections, in plain language. The first one is the one that matters most: Tertius is a statistical instrument, not a lawyer.
1. Statistical estimates, not legal advice
Tertius produces statistical estimates of litigation timing and disposition, computed from historical public court records. Its outputs describe how populations of similar cases have behaved — they are not advice about your case, a prediction of its merits, or an opinion on what any party should do.
Tertius is not a law firm and does not practice law. Nothing in the service — forecasts, reports, simulations, benchmarks, or explanatory text — constitutes legal advice, and no output should be relied on as a substitute for the judgment of qualified counsel.
2. No attorney-client relationship
Using Tertius, requesting a report, or communicating with us does not create an attorney-client relationship, a fiduciary relationship, or any duty beyond these terms. Information you submit is handled per the privacy policy, but it is not privileged by virtue of being submitted to Tertius.
3. No warranty of outcomes
Forecasts are probability distributions, not commitments. A calibrated 80% interval means roughly one case in five resolves outside it — that is the design, not a defect. We publish the model's measured error, including where it falls short of target, on the model page; that published record is the extent of our accuracy representation.
The service is provided "as is." We do not warrant that any case will resolve within any forecast interval, in any manner, or at all, and we are not liable for decisions made in reliance on an estimate. Aggregate liability is capped at the fees paid in the twelve months preceding the claim.
4. Scope of coverage
Tertius covers civil cases in U.S. federal district courts. State-court matters are not supported: imports flag them and no forecast is produced. Forecasts address timing and disposition only — never merits, damages, or the value of any claim.
5. Your data
Your case list, recorded outcomes, and exports are yours. We use them to operate the service for you as described in the privacy policy — not to train the shared model, and never shared across customers. You may delete your portfolios at any time; deletion is immediate.
6. Acceptable use
Keep your API keys confidential, use the service only for lawful purposes, and do not resell raw model outputs as a competing service. We may suspend access for abuse that threatens the service or other customers, with notice where practicable.
7. Changes
If these terms change materially, active customers are notified before the change takes effect. Continued use after notice is acceptance.
See also security & data handling and the privacy policy.