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Terms and Conditions

 PLEASE READ THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THIS SITE.

USMDDirect.com (USMD Direct) provides Internet-based communications and information services to the consumer. By using this site, you signify your agreement to these Terms and Conditions of use. You must agree to these Terms and Conditions in order to use the USMD Direct website. Please read this document carefully. If you do not agree to all of the Terms and

Conditions of this agreement, do not use this site!


USMD Direct may revise and update these Terms and Conditions at anytime. Please periodically review the Terms and Conditions posted at the USMD Direct Website because your continued usage of the USMD Direct website (USMDDirect Site, or the Site,) will mean you accept those changes.

Section 1:

General Disclaimer; No Medical Advice. THE CONTENT ON THE USMD Direct SITE IS PRESENTED IN SUMMARY FORM, IS GENERAL IN NATURE, AND IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THE CONTENT IS NOT INTENDED IN ANY WAY TO BE A SUBSTITUTE FOR PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF YOUR PHYSICIAN OR OTHER QUALIFIED HEALTH PROVIDER WITH ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE REGARDING A MEDICAL CONDITION. NEITHER THE CONTENT NOR ANY OTHER SERVICE OFFERED BY OR THROUGH USMD Direct OR THE USMD Direct SITE IS INTENDED TO BE RELIED ON FOR MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS OR TREATMENT. NEVER DISREGARD MEDICAL ADVICE OR DELAY IN SEEKING IT BECAUSE OF SOMETHING YOU HAVE READ ON  Call 911 or go to nearest Emergency room for any life threatening condition. THE USMD Direct SITE! USMD Direct does not recommend or endorse any specific test, products, or procedures that may be mentioned on the Site. Any opinions expressed on the Site are the opinions of the authors. USMD Direct does not assume any liability for the contents of any material provided on the Site. Reliance on any information provided by USMD Direct, its Health Experts, or other visitor s to the Site is solely at your own risk. USMD Direct assumes no liability or responsibility for damage or injury to persons or property arising from any use of any product, information, idea, or instruction contained in the materials provided to you. USMD Direct reserves the right to change or discontinue at any time any aspect or feature of this Site. You understand further that the Internet contains unedited materials some of which are sexually explicit and may be offensive to you. You access this material at your own risk. USMD Direct, its licensors and its suppliers have no control over and accept no responsibility  whatsoever for such materials.

Section 2:

USMD Direct's Position on Your Privacy. Click the back button on your browser to return to the previous page.


a. General. USMD Direct recognizes the premium you place on privacy protection on the Internet. Our employees share the same concerns! Working together, we strive to protect your privacy, including the non-identifying information you share in the personal profile that you must complete in order to become a participating member (Member) within the Interactive Areas of this Site. USMD Direct subscribes to the Health on the Net Foundation Code of Conduct for medical and health web sites. To learn more click here: (http://www.hon.ch/Conduct.html). USMD Direct does not collect personally identifiable information about Members or other USMD Direct users (Users) except when such individuals specifically provide such information on a voluntary basis. A Member's or User's access to and use of the USMD Direct Site or services constitutes information voluntarily given by the Member or User.


b. Use of Registration Information. Personally identifiable information of individual Members and Users will not be sold or otherwise transferred to unaffiliated third parties without the Member's or User's prior consent. USMD Direct stores the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your computer when you visit our site. This information is only used to create broad demographic summaries of where our Members and Users come from: for example, we know what percentage of Members or Users come from Europe or Africa, but our use of th e IP addresses does not include identifying who those users actually are. However, USMD Direct may use registration information and other voluntarily submitted information in the following ways: * To provide our editors with information that is useful in developing new features and services for USMD Direct Members and Users; * To provide advertisers with aggregate - never individual - information about our Member base and User usage patterns; and * To allow us to potentially vary advertising based on Member and User preference. USMD Direct reserves the right to perform statistical analyses and profiling of Member and User behavior and characteristics in order to measure interest in and use of the various areas of the site and to inform advertisers of such information. USMD Direct will provide only aggregate dat a from these analyses to third parties; no personally identifiable information will be disclosed. USMD Direct may sometimes permit third parties to offer subscription and/or registration-based services through USMD Direct. In this event, USMD Direct is not responsible for any actions or policies of such third parties and Members and Users should check the applicable privacy policy of such party before providing personally identifiable information. It is not possible for a Member or User to delete his or her profile fro m our database, nor is it feasible to delete all traces of a Member's or User' s activity in the system. Messages posted to the boards are examples of user activities that are not feasible to delete. However, we do offer you the opportunity to request deletion of your email address-the only individually identifiable piece of information about your account - from USMD Direct's database. US MD Direct sends regular email updates to Members. If you wish to have your email address deleted from our database, email us at info@USMDDirect.com and include the EXACT words "CANCEL MAIL" in the body of your email. Please allo w two to three business days for the actual cancellation to take effect. We will not share your email address with third parties without first receiving your permission.

c. Voluntary Disclosure of Personally Identifiable Information on Bulletin Boards, Chat Rooms, and other Interactive Areas (collectively referred to as Interactive Areas). Subscribers and Users should be awa re that when they voluntarily disclose personally identifiable information (for example, user name, e-mail address) on the bulletin boards or chat areas of USMD Direct, that information, along with any substantive information disclosed in the Subscriber's or User's communication, can be collected and correlated and used by third parties and may result in unsolicited messages from third parties. Such activities are beyond the control of USMD Direct. US MD Direct makes no warranties about the discoverability of members' identit y by methods beyond our control. d. Cookie Technology. USMD Direct may employ cookie technology to allow Subscribers and Users to move more quickly through our site. Cookies are small text files a website can use to recognize repeat users and facilitate the user's ongoing access to and use of the site. Generally, cookies work by assigning a unique number to the user that has no meaning outside the assigning site. They do not come onto a user's system nor do they pose a threat to a user's files. Subscribers and Users should be aware that USMD Direct cannot control the use of cookies by advertisers or third parties hosting data for USMD Direct. However, if a Subscriber or User does not want information collected through the use of cookies, there is a simple procedur e in most browsers that allows the user to deny or accept the cookie feature. Please note that cookies may be necessary to provide the Subscriber or User with certain features (for example, customized delivery of information) available on USMD Direct. e. Encryption Technology. USMD Direct uses Secure Socket Layer (SSL ) encryption technology to ensure the integrity and privacy of the information you pass to us via the Internet; however, to take advantage of this, you must use utilize a browser that maintains 128bit encryption support.

d. USMDDirect.com is a HIPPAA (The Health Insurance portability and Accountability Act of  1996) compliance site

 

Section 3:

 Use of Content; Copyright. Upon acceptance of these Terms and Conditions, USMD Direct authorizes you to view or download a single copy of the material on this website solely for your personal, noncommercial use. Special rules may apply to the use of certain software and other items provided on the USMD Direct Site. Any such special rules are listed as Legal Notices on the USMD Direct Site and a re incorporated into these Terms and Conditions by reference. The contents of the USMD Direct Site, such as text, graphics, images and other material including software licensed by USMD Direct to permit Users to access the USMD Direct Site (Content), are protected by copyright under both United States and foreign laws, and title to the Content shall not pass to you or any other User. Unauthorized use of the Content may violate copyright , trademark, and other laws. None of the Content may be reverse-engineered, disassembled, decompiled, reproduced, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, translated into any language or computer language, re-transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photo reproduction, recordation or otherwise), resold or redistributed without the prior written consent of USMD Direct, except that you may reproduce limited excerpts of the data for personal use only, provided that each such copy contains a copyright notice as follows: Copyright  1998 - 2011, USMDDirect.com, Los Angeles, California. All rights reserved. For information obtained from USMD Direct's licensors, you are solely responsible for compliance with any copyright, trademark and other proprietary rights and restrictions and are referred to the publication data appearing in bibliographic citations, as well as to the copyright notices appearing in the original publications. You may not sell or modify the Content or reproduce, display, publicly perform, distribute or otherwise use the Content in any way for any public or commercial purpose. The use of the Content on any other website or in a networked computer environment for any purpose is prohibited. Content is subject to change without notice at the editorial discretion of US MD Direct. If you violate any of these Terms and Conditions, your permission to use the Content automatically terminates and you must immediately destroy any copies you have made of any portion of the content.


Section 4:

 

Company's Liability; Disclaimer of Consequential Damages. The Content comes from sources believed to be accurate, but may contain inaccuracies or typographical errors. USMD Direct makes no representations about the results to be obtained from using the USMD Direct Site or the Content. The use of the USMD Direct Site and the Content is at your own risk. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT IN CONNECTION WITH THE USMD Direct Site, INFORMATION WILL BE TRANSMITTED OVER LOCAL EXCHANGE, INTEREXCHANGE AND INTERNET BACKBONE CARRIER LINES AND THROUGH ROUTERS, SWITCHES AND OTHER DEVICES OWNED, MAINTAINED AND SERVICED BY THIRD PARTY LOCAL EXCHANGE AND LONG DISTANCE CARRIERS, UTILITIES, INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS AND OTHERS, ALL OF WHICH ARE BEYOND THE CONTROL AND JURISDICTION OF USMD Direct AND ITS SUPPLIERS. ACCORDINGLY, USMD Direct ASSUMES NO LIABILITY FOR OR RELATING TO THE DELAY, FAILURE, INTERRUPTION OR CORRUPTION OF ANY DATA OR OTHER INFORMATION TRANSMITTED IN CONNECTION WITH USE OF THE USMD Direct Site. THE USMD Direct SITE AND THE CONTENT ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" BASIS WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND. USMD Direct, ITS LICENSORS, AND ITS SUPPLIERS, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, NON-INFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTIES' RIGHTS, AND FITNESS FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSE. US MD Direct, ITS LICENSORS, AND ITS SUPPLIERS MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES ABOUT THE ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, COMPLETENESS, CURRENTNESS OR TIMELINESS OF THE CONTENT, SOFTWARE, TEXT, GRAPHICS, LINKS, OR COMMUNICATIONS PROVIDED ON OR THROUGH THE USE OF THE US MD Direct SITE OR USMD Direct. USMD Direct, ITS LICENSORS, AND ITS SUPPLIERS DO NOT MAKE ANY WARRANTY THAT THE CONTENT CONTAINED ON THE USMD Direct SITE SATISFIES GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS REQUIRING DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION ON PRESCRIPTION DRUG PRODUCTS. IN NO EVENT SHALL USMD Direct, ITS LICENSORS, ITS SUPPLIERS OR ANY THIRD PARTIES MENTIONED AT THE US MD Direct SITE BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVE R (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, INCIDENTAL AND CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, LOST PROFITS, OR DAMAGES RESULTING FROM LOST DATA OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) RESULTING FROM THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE USMD Direct SITE OR THE CONTEN T WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, AND WHETHER OR NOT US MD Direct IS ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. USMD Direct SHALL BE LIABLE TO YOU ONLY FOR GROSS NEGLIGENCE OR WILLFUL MISCONDUCT AND ONLY TO THE EXTENT OF ACTUAL DAMAGES INCURRED BY YOU, NOT TO EXCEED US $1000.00 (ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS). REMEDIES UNDER THIS AGREEMENT ARE EXCLUSIVE AND ARE LIMITED TO THOSE EXPRESSLY PROVIDED FOR IN THIS AGREEMENT.


Section 5:

 

User Submissions. Except as described herein, any communication which you post on the USMD Direct Site is considered to be non-confidential. You agree that you will not upload or transmit any communications that infringe any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party. By submitting communications to any part of this Site, you automatically grant -- or warrant that the owner of such Content has expressly granted -- USMD Direct a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, world-wide nonexclusive license to use, reproduce, create derivative works from, modify, publish, edit, translate, distribute, perform, and display the communication alone or as part of other works in any form, media, or technology whether now known o r hereafter developed, and to sublicense such rights through multiple tiers of sublicenses.

Section 6:

 

Use of Interactive Areas. USMD Direct may provide Interactive Areas on the USMD Direct Site. If you use an Interactive Area, you are solely responsible for your own communications and the consequences of posting those communications. USMD Direct does not assume any responsibility for the consequences of any Interactive Area communications on or arising from use of the USMD Direct Site. In cases where you feel threatened or believe someone else is in danger, you should contact your local law enforcement agency immediately. In consideration of being allowed to use the Interactive Areas, you agree that the following actions shall constitute a material breach of these Terms and Conditions: 1. Use of an Interactive Area for any purpose in violation of local, state, national, or international laws; 2. Post material that infringes on the intellectual property rights of others or on the privacy or publicity rights of others; 3. Post material that is unlawful, obscene, defamatory, threatening, harassing, abusive, hateful, or embarrassing to another Member or any other person or entity as determined by USMD Direct at its sole discretion pursuant to this Section 6; 4. Post advertisements or solicitations of business; 5. After receiving a warning, continue to disrupt the normal flow of dialogue, or post comments that are not related to the topic being discussed (unless it is clear the discussion is free form); 6. Post chain letters or pyramid schemes; 7. Impersonate another person; 8. Allow any other person or entity to use your identification to post or view comments 9. Post the same note more than once (The online word for posting many time s on one topic is "spamming." Spamming is strictly prohibited); or 10. Engage in any other conduct that restricts or inhibits any other person from using or enjoying the Interactive Areas, or which, in the judgment of USMD Direct, exposes USMD Direct or any of its customers or suppliers to any liability or detriment of any type. USMD Direct reserves the right to record the dialogue in public chat rooms. USMD Direct does not screen communications in advance and is not responsible for screening or monitoring material posted by Members or any other person or entity. If notified by a Member of communication(s) which ar e alleged not to conform to the terms of this Section, USMD Direct may investigate the allegation and determine in its sole discretion to remove or request the removal of the communication(s). USMD Direct reserves the right t o remove communications which are abusive, illegal, disruptive, or that otherwise fail to conform with these Terms and Conditions In addition to the removal rights described above, USMD Direct reserves the right to terminate a Member's access to any or all Interactive Area upon Member's breach of these Terms and Conditions. USMD Direct reserves the right (but is not obligated) t o edit or delete any communication(s) posted on the USMD Direct Site, regardless s of whether such communication(s) violate these standards for content. Furthermore, USMD Direct reserves the right (but is not obligated) to monitor, edit, or disclose any type of posting on the Interactive Areas for adherence to the Terms and Conditions, if required in the course of normal operation and maintenance of USMD Direct, or if required to do so by law or i n the good-faith belief that such action is necessary to: (i) comply with the law or comply with legal process served; (ii) protect and defend the rights of USMD Direct or others; or (iii) act in an emergency to protect the persona l safety of our guests or the public. USMD Direct HAS NO LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY TO SUBSCRIBERS OR ANY OTHER PERSON OR ENTITY FOR PERFORMANCE OR NONPERFORMANCE OF THE AFOREMENTIONED SCREENING ACTIVITIES. USMD Direct does not represent or guarantee the truthfulness, accuracy, o r reliability of any of the material posted by Interactive Area users or endorse any opinions expressed by such users. ANY RELIANCE ON CONTENT POSTED IN AN INTERACTIVE AREA IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. Through your use of a the USMD Direct Site's Interactive Areas, you are agreeing to all of the aforementioned Terms and Conditions for the use of such Interactive Areas contained herein.


Section 7:

 

 Links to Other Sites. The USMD Direct Site contains links to third party websites. These links are provided solely as a convenience to you and not as an endorsement by USMD Direct of the content on such third-party websites. USMD Direct is not responsible for the content of linked third-party sites and does not make an y representations regarding the content or accuracy of materials on such third-party websites. If you decide to access linked third-party websites, you do so at your own risk. Your use of third- party websites is subject to the Terms and Conditions of  use for such sites.

 

Section 8:

 

Advertisements. The USMD Direct Site contains advertisements by third parties, and these advertisements may contain links to other websites. Unless otherwise specifically stated, USMD Direct does not endorse any product or make any representation regarding the content or accuracy of any materials contained in, or linked to, any advertisement on the USMD Direct Site.

Section 9:

 

Indemnity. You agree to defend, indemnify and hold USMD Direct, its officers, directors, employees, agents, licensors and suppliers, harmless from and against any claims, actions or demands, liabilities and settlements including without limitation, reasonable legal and accounting fees, resulting from, or alleged to result from, your use of the Content (including Software), or the Interactive Areas in a manner that violates or is alleged to violate these Terms and Conditions. USMD Direct shall provide notice to you promptly of any such claim, suit, or proceeding and shall reasonably cooperate with you, at your expense, in your defense of any such claim, suit or proceeding.

Section 10:

  Export Control. The United States controls the export of products and information. You agree to comply with such restrictions and not to export or re-export the Contents (including Software) to countries or persons prohibited under the export control laws. By downloading the Contents (including Software), you are agreeing that you are not in a country where such export is prohibited o r are a person or entity to which such export is prohibited. You are responsible for compliance with the laws of your local jurisdiction regarding  the import, export, or re-export of the contents including Software).



Section 11:

General. USMD Direct is based in Los Angeles, California , in the United States of America. USMD Direct makes no claims the Content is appropriate or may be downloaded outside of the United States. Access to the Content (including Software) may not be legal by certain persons or in certain countries. If you  access the USMD Direct Site from outside the United States, you do so at your own risk and are responsible for compliance with the laws of your jurisdiction.

Section 12:

Jurisdiction. You expressly agree that exclusive jurisdiction for any dispute with USMD Direct, or in any way relating to your membership or use of USMD Direct, resides in the courts of the State of California and you further agree and expressly consent to the exercise of personal jurisdiction in the courts of the State of California in connection with any such dispute including any claim involving USMD Direct or its affiliates, subsidiaries, employees, contractors, officers, directors, telecommunication providers and content providers. These Terms and Conditions are governed by the internal substantive laws of the State of California, without respect to its conflict of laws principles. If any provision of these Terms and Conditions is found to be invalid by any court having competent jurisdiction, the invalidity of such provision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of these Terms and Conditions, which shall remain in full force and effect. No waiver of any of these Terms and Conditions shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or condition or any other term or condition.



Section 13:

 

Complete Agreement. EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY PROVIDED IN A PARTICULAR "LEGAL NOTICE" ON THE USMD Direct SITE, THESE Terms and Conditions CONSTITUTE THE ENTIRE AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU AND USMD Direct WITH RESPECT TO THE USE OF THE USMD Direct SITE AN D ANY SOFTWARE AND CONTENT CONTAINED THEREIN. Thank you for your cooperation with these Terms and Conditions. We hope you find the USMD Direct Site helpful and convenient to use! Questions or comments regarding this Site should be directed by electronic mail to info@USMDDirect.com.

 


 PHYSICIAN-PATIENT ARBITRATION AGREEMENT

  

Article 1:

 

Agreement to Arbitrate:

It is understood that any dispute as to medical malpractice, that is as to whether any medical services rendered under this contract were unnecessary or unauthorized or were improperly, negligently, or  incompetently rendered, will be determined by submission to arbitration as provided by California law, and not by a lawsuit or resort to court process except as California law provides for judicial review of arbitration proceedings. Both parties to this contract, by entering into it, are giving up their constitutional rights to have any such dispute decided in a court of law before a jury, and instead are accepting the use of arbitration. 

 

Article 2:

All Claims Must be Arbitrated:  

It is the intention of the parties that this agreement bind all parties whose claims may arise out of or relate to treatment or service provided by the physician including any spouse or heirs of the patient and any children, whether born or unborn, at the time of the occurrence giving rise to any claim.  In the case of any pregnant mother, the term “patient” herein shall mean both the mother and the mother’s expected child or children.   

 

All claims for monetary damages exceeding the jurisdictional limit of the small claims court against the physician, and the physician’s partners, associates, association, corporation or partnership, and the employees, agents and estates of any of them, must be arbitrated including, without limitation, claims for loss of consortium, wrongful death, emotional distress or punitive damages.  Filing of any action in any court by the physician to collect any fee from the patient shall not waive the right to compel arbitration of any malpractice claim.  However, following the assertion of any claim against the physician, any fee dispute, whether or not the subject of any existing court action, shall also be resolved by arbitration. 

 

Article 3: 

 

Procedures and Applicable Law:

A demand for arbitration must be communicated in writing to all parties. 

Each party shall select an arbitrator (party arbitrator) within thirty days and a third arbitrator (neutral arbitrator) shall be selected by the arbitrators appointed by the parties within thirty days of a demand for a neutral arbitrator by either party. 

Each party to the arbitration shall pay such party’s pro rata share of the expenses and fees of the neutral arbitrator, together with other expenses of the arbitration incurred or approved by the neutral arbitrator, not including counsel fees or witness fees, or other expenses incurred by a party for such party’s own benefit.  The parties agree that the arbitrators have the immunity of a judicial officer from civil liability when acting in the capacity of arbitrator under this contract. 

This immunity shall supplement, not supplant, any other applicable statutory or common law.   

Either party shall have the absolute right to arbitrate separately the issues of liability and damages upon written request to the neutral arbitrator.   

The parties consent to the intervention and joinder in this arbitration of any person or entity which would otherwise be a proper additional party in a court action, and upon such intervention and joinder any existing court action against such additional person or entity shall be stayed pending arbitration.   

 

The parties agree that provisions of California law applicable to health care providers shall apply to disputes within this arbitration agreement, including, but not limited to, Code of Civil Procedure Sections 340.5 and 667.7 and Civil Code Sections 3333.1 and 3333.2. Any party may bring before the arbitrators a motion for summary judgment or summary adjudication in accordance with the Code of Civil Procedure.  Discovery shall be conducted pursuant to all Code of Civil Procedure section 1283.05; however, depositions may be taken without prior approval of the neutral arbitrator.   

 

Article 4:

General Provisions: 

All claims based upon the same incident, transaction or related circumstances shall be arbitrated in one proceeding. A claim shall be waived and forever barred if (1) on the date notice thereof is received, the claim, if asserted in a civil action, would be barred by the applicable California statute of limitations, or (2) the claimant fails to pursue the arbitration claim in accordance with the procedures prescribed herein with reasonable diligence. With respect to any matter note herein expressly provided for, the arbitrators shall be governed by the California Code of Civil Procedure provisions relating to arbitration.

 

Article 5:

 

 Revocation.

This agreement may be revoked by written notice delivered to the physician within 30 days of  signature.  It is the intent of this agreement to apply to all medical services rendered any time for any condition.   

 

Article 6:

 

Retroactive Effect:

If patient intends this agreement to cover services rendered before the date it is signed (including, but not limited to, emergency treatment) patient should initial below:  

 

Effective as of the date of first medical services:   

 

 

 ______________________________________________  

 Patient’s or Patient Representative’s Initials  

  

If any provision of this arbitration agreement is held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and shall not be affected by the invalidity of any other provision.   

 

I understand that I have the right to receive a copy of this arbitration agreement. By my signature below, I acknowledge that I have received a copy.  

 

NOTICE: BY SIGNING THIS CONTRACT YOU ARE AGREEING TO HAVE ANY ISSUE OF MEDICAL MALPRACTICE DECIDED BY NEUTRAL ARBITRATION AND YOU ARE GIVING UP YOUR RIGHT TO A JURY OR COURT TRIAL. SEE ARTICLE 1 OF THIS CONTRACT.