Enrol your firm. Get white-label work. Keep 75% of the professional fee.

Agent panel agreement

Between the applicant firm and Ascendum Corporate Advisory LLC, 10124 N McKinley Ave, Kansas City, MO 64157, United States, signed for and on behalf by Mehul Shah, President.

1. 1. Enrolment and platform access

   Enrolment on the Ascen Mark local agent panel requires a membership fee of USD 50 per month, or USD 500 per annum if paid as a lump sum. The account is activated only once the membership fee is received. The fee is non-refundable, buys platform access only, and does not purchase work, ranking or priority. Access to instructions is granted through the agent portal operated by Ascendum Corporate Advisory LLC, 10124 N McKinley Ave, Kansas City, MO 64157, United States.

2. 2. Fee share

   On every matter allocated to the agent, Ascen Mark retains 25% of the professional fee as its platform, intake, quality-control and collection fee. The remaining 75% is the agent's professional fee. Official fees, taxes and third-party disbursements are passed through at cost and are not shared. Where Ascen Mark performs a matter directly, no share is payable to any agent.

3. 3. White label

   All deliverables, correspondence, portals and reports are issued under the Ascen Mark white label. The agent may display its own firm identity only where local law or the receiving office requires the local representative to be named. The agent may configure a white-label display name for internal portal use.

4. 4. Non-exclusive automatic allocation

   Work is allocated automatically by jurisdiction, service capability, free capacity and scorecard. Allocation is non-exclusive and creates no expectation of volume. The agent may decline an instruction, with a reason, before acceptance.

5. 5. Client ownership and non-circumvention

   The end client belongs to Ascendum Corporate Advisory LLC. For 24 months after the last allocated matter the agent will not directly or indirectly solicit, accept or service instructions from an end client introduced through the platform.

6. 6. Professional conduct — order of precedence

   Country law and the rules of the relevant IP office rank first; the agent's professional body's code of ethics ranks second. Where they differ, the stricter obligation prevails. Conflicts of interest must be declared before acceptance.

7. 7. Confidentiality and data

   The agent will treat all matter data as confidential, will process it only to perform the allocated matter, and will comply with applicable data-protection law in its jurisdiction.

8. 8. Payment

   All client fees are payable to Ascendum Corporate Advisory LLC only; the agent must never invoice or collect from a client. Ascendum Corporate Advisory LLC settles with the agent from amounts it has collected: official fees, taxes and disbursements at cost against the authority's receipt or challan, and the professional-fee share against the service actually rendered and evidenced in the portal. Claims without a valid receipt or completion evidence are not payable.

9. 9. Liability

   Ascendum Corporate Advisory LLC operates a technology platform. It gives no guarantee of business, does not practise law, and accepts no liability for the professional acts, omissions, advice or filings of any agent. The agent maintains its own professional indemnity insurance.

10. 10. Suspension and termination

    Either party may terminate on 30 days' written notice. The platform may suspend an agent immediately for loss of licence, a conduct breach, a circumvention attempt, or persistent quality or turnaround failures. Matters already accepted must be completed or transferred safely.

11. A. Confidentiality (NDA)

    All matter files, client identities, marks, specifications, pricing, valuations, correspondence and platform data disclosed by Ascendum Corporate Advisory LLC are confidential information. The agent firm will use them only to perform the allocated matter, will restrict access to personnel who need it, will not copy or retain them beyond the retention period required by law, and will return or destroy them on termination. This obligation survives termination for 5 years, and indefinitely for trade secrets.

12. B. Client ownership and no direct dealing

    Every client introduced through the platform belongs to Ascendum Corporate Advisory LLC. Once a client is onboarded, the agent firm must not contact, solicit, quote, invoice, accept instructions from, or otherwise deal directly with that client, its group companies or its representatives outside the platform — whether for the allocated matter or for any other work — during the term and for 24 months after the last allocated matter. Any direct dealing is a material breach of contract.

13. C. All fees are collected by the platform

    Client fees are payable to Ascendum Corporate Advisory LLC only. The agent firm must not collect, request or accept any payment from a client, and must not issue an invoice to a client. Ascendum Corporate Advisory LLC settles with the panel member from the amounts it has collected.

14. D. Settlement against receipts and services rendered

    Settlement is made against evidence. Official fees, taxes and disbursements paid to an IP office or authority are reimbursed at cost on production of the authority's receipt or payment challan. The professional-fee share is released for the service actually rendered, on the milestone being completed and evidenced in the portal, and after the client payment has cleared. Claims without a valid receipt or completion evidence are not payable.

15. E. Breach of contract

    Direct dealing with a client, breach of confidentiality, collecting fees from a client, submitting a false or inflated receipt, or misuse of platform data is a material breach. On breach, Ascendum Corporate Advisory LLC may suspend the account immediately, withhold and set off unsettled amounts, terminate empanelment without refund of any membership fee, recover an amount equal to the fees diverted plus its losses and costs, and report the conduct to the relevant regulator or professional body. Membership fees are non-refundable in all cases.

16. F. Membership fee and activation

    The account is activated only after the membership fee is received: USD 50 per month, or USD 500 per annum (lump sum). Membership is a platform-access fee. It is non-refundable, purchases no work, ranking or priority, and lapses automatically if a payment is missed, suspending access until it is brought current.

Ascendum Corporate Advisory LLC is a technology platform, not a law firm. Enrolment does not create a partnership, joint venture, employment or exclusive relationship, and no volume of work is promised or guaranteed.