PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING SECTION CAREFULLY BECAUSE IT MAY SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACT YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS, INCLUDING YOUR RIGHT TO BRING A LAWSUIT AGAINST Rails IN ANY COURT OR GOVERNING AUTHORITY. EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY PROVIDED BELOW, THIS SECTION REQUIRES YOU TO SUBMIT ANY DISPUTE, CLAIM, OR DISAGREEMENT (EACH A “DISPUTE”) ARISING OUT OF THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICES, INCLUDING ANY DISPUTE THAT AROSE BEFORE THE EFFECTIVE DATES OF THESE TERMS, TO BINDING INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION. THIS SECTION EXTENDS TO DISPUTES THAT AROSE OR INVOLVE FACTS OCCURING BEFORE THE EXISTENCE OF THIS OR ANY PRIOR VERSIONS OF THE TERMS AS WELL AS DISPUTES THAT MAY ARISE AFTER THE TERMINATION OF THE TERMS.
You and Rails agree that any Dispute arising out of or related to these Terms or the Rails Services is personal to you and Rails and that any Dispute will be resolved solely through individual arbitration, and will not be brought as a class arbitration, class action, or any other type of representative proceeding.
Nothing in this Section precludes you or Rails from bringing an individual action for damages in a small claims court if such claims qualify and remain in small claims court, or from seeking injunctive or other equitable relief in court for infringement or other alleged misuse of intellectual property rights (such as trademarks, trade dress, domain names, trade secrets, copyrights, and patents).
Except as specified above, you and Rails waive your rights to a judge or jury trial or to have any Dispute arising out of or related to these Terms or the Rails Services resolved in court. Instead, for any Dispute that you have against Rails or relating in any way to the Rails Services, you agree to first contact Rails and attempt to resolve the claim informally by sending a written notice of your claim (“Notice”) to Rails by email at
legal@Rails.xyz.
The Notice must (a) include your name, residence address, email address, and telephone number; (b) describe the nature and basis of the claim; and (c) set forth the specific relief sought. Our notice to you will be similar in form to that described above. If you and Rails cannot reach an agreement to resolve the claim within thirty (30) days after such Notice is received, then either party may submit the Dispute to binding arbitration administered by JAMS or, under the limited circumstances set forth above, in court. All Disputes submitted to JAMS will be resolved through confidential, binding arbitration before one arbitrator. Arbitration proceedings shall take place in the county or parish in which you reside, or another mutually agreeable location, in the English language, under the JAMS Streamlined Arbitration Rules and Procedures (“JAMS Rules”). The most recent version of the JAMS Rules are available on the JAMS website and are hereby incorporated by reference. You either acknowledge and agree that you have read and understand the JAMS Rules or waive your opportunity to read the JAMS Rules and waive any claim that the JAMS Rules are unfair or should not apply for any reason.
You and Rails agree that these Terms affect interstate commerce and that the enforceability of this Section 15 will be substantively and procedurally governed by the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. § 1, et seq. (the “FAA”), to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law. As limited by the FAA, these Terms and the JAMS Rules, the arbitrator will have exclusive authority to make all procedural and substantive decisions regarding any dispute and to grant any remedy that would otherwise be available in court, including the power to determine the question of arbitrability. The arbitrator may conduct only an individual arbitration and may not consolidate more than one individual’s claims, preside over any type of class or representative proceeding or preside over any proceeding involving more than one individual.
The arbitrator, Rails, and you will maintain the confidentiality of any arbitration proceedings, judgments and awards, including all information gathered, prepared, and presented for purposes of the arbitration or related to the dispute(s) therein. The arbitrator will have the authority to make appropriate rulings to safeguard confidentiality unless the law provides to the contrary. The duty of confidentiality does not apply to the extent that disclosure is necessary to prepare for or conduct the arbitration hearing on the merits, in connection with a court application for a preliminary remedy or in connection with a judicial challenge to an arbitration award or its enforcement, or to the extent that disclosure is otherwise required by law or judicial decision.
You and Rails agree that for any arbitration you initiate, you will pay the filing fee and all other JAMS fees and costs. For any arbitration initiated by Rails, Rails will pay all JAMS fees and costs.
Any claim arising out of or related to these Terms or the Rails Services must be filed within one (1) year after such claim arose; otherwise, the claim is permanently barred, which means that you and Rails will not have the right to assert the claim.
If any portion of this Section 15 is found to be unenforceable or unlawful for any reason, (a) the unenforceable or unlawful provision will be severed from these Terms; (b) severance of the unenforceable or unlawful provision will have no impact whatsoever on the remainder of this Section 15 or the parties’ ability to compel arbitration of any remaining claims on an individual basis under this Section 15; and (c) to the extent that any claims must therefore proceed on a class, collective, consolidated, or representative basis, such claims must be litigated in a civil court of competent jurisdiction and not in arbitration, and the parties agree that litigation of those claims will be stayed pending the outcome of any individual claims in arbitration. Further, if any part of this Section 15 is found to prohibit an individual claim seeking public injunctive relief, then that provision will have no effect to the extent such relief is allowed to be sought out of arbitration, and the remainder of this Section 15 will be enforceable.