Fighting Chance is in early access. It is not a finished commercial product. The core functionality works, but several pieces of the supporting scaffolding — legal compliance documentation, attorney engagement, professional indemnity cover, and third-party verification of our outputs — are still being built.
We could hide that behind clever marketing language. We think you deserve to know, before you create an account or enter any information, what the gaps actually are.
If you are in an active matter with imminent deadlines and no attorney, this product is not a substitute for calling an attorney today. The items below explain why.
What is not yet in place
Each of these will be resolved before Fighting Chance exits early access. Until then, you are looking at a product operating without them.
Legally material
The 8-stage guided process was designed by a non-lawyer using publicly available statutes, case law, and legal guidance. It has not yet been reviewed by an admitted South African family law attorney.
What this means for you. Legal information provided by Fighting Chance may contain errors a practitioner would catch. Do not rely on any output as legal advice. If you need advice, speak to an attorney.
Legally material
South African law (Matrimonial Property Act s4(1)(a) read with s6(3)) requires commencement values of an estate to be adjusted by the consumer price index when calculating accrual at dissolution. Our calculator currently applies the arithmetic nominally — it does not perform the CPI adjustment.
What this means for you. Any accrual figure the product produces should be treated as an order-of-magnitude estimate for orientation only. Do not use it as a negotiation anchor or include it in any signed document without independent verification.
Legally material
The Synthesis agent in Stage 5 cites South African statutes, case law, and AFSA guideline tables alongside its recommendations. In the current product, some of those citations are hardcoded demonstration strings — not dynamically retrieved and verified.
What this means for you. Do not quote or rely on cited authorities in the current product output as definitive. Check the authority against its source before using it in any correspondence or filing.
Compliance
Under the Protection of Personal Information Act, any responsible party processing personal information must register an Information Officer with the Information Regulator and publish a PAIA manual. These are being prepared and will be in place before public launch.
Compliance
The product is currently operated by an individual founder. CIPC registration as a private company is in progress. Until that completes, Fighting Chance cannot legitimately take payment, and the Terms of Service bind the founder personally rather than a corporate entity.
Operational
A product that sits adjacent to legal services should carry professional indemnity cover, even where it is not technically providing legal advice. We are currently without it.
What this means for you. If you rely on Fighting Chance output and suffer a loss, there is currently no insurance pool to claim against. The remedies available to you under the Terms of Service are limited.
Support
There is no live chat, no support ticket system, no phone line. Support during early access is a single email address that reaches the founder directly. Response times will vary. If you need urgent assistance during a matter, this is not the right place to get it.
If you are in crisis
If any of the following describe your situation, stop reading and use the resources below. They are free, 24 hours a day, and staffed by real people.
Safety
Call 0800 428 428 — GBV Command Centre, free, 24/7, any gender.
Safety
Call 0800 110 110 — Legal Aid South Africa. They handle urgent matters.
Wellbeing
Call 0800 567 567 — SADAG (South African Depression and Anxiety Group), 24 hours.
The disclosures above are not designed to scare you off — they are designed to make sure you know what you are working with. If you have read them and still want to try Fighting Chance, you are exactly the kind of user we want in early access.