Code of Conduct
1. Be Respectful. Above all, please recognise that we are all doing what we can to get through the workday so that we can get home to whatever it is that we really want to be doing. So please be respectful, civil, and courteous to your fellow SparkTown residents and their guests and clients.
2. Be Clean. We have a lot of cool people living in SparkTown. But you know what’s not cool? Garbage lying around and the critters that are attracted to it. So please make sure that you keep your space neat and tidy and put your garbage out on a regular basis for the janitorial staff to remove. Food waste should be disposed of in the kitchen garbage.
3. Meeting Room Etiquette. Please remember that the meeting rooms must be available for everyone as much as possible. Be respectful, and make and cancel reservations as promptly as possible. If your meeting is running long and someone else has booked a room, reception will try to make other arrangements, but you might need to adjourn to one of the lounges. Likewise, if your meeting runs short, please be sure to advise reception. Impromptu meetings are fine if the room is not booked, but please check with and advise reception. Half-day or full-day bookings may be subject to additional charges, and last-minute cancellations of (or the complete failure to cancel) these longer bookings may result in cancellation charges. We ask that full-day or more bookings be reserved at least 30 days in advance. Catering (including snacks like cookies, coffee, or drinks) can be arranged through reception and will be billed to you by SparkTown on your monthly invoice.
4. Referrals and Conflicts. One of the benefits of SparkTown is being able to get out of the home office and be around other lawyers. While referrals to other SparkTown residents are encouraged, be respectful of your fellow residents and be mindful of your obligations under the Rules of Professional Conduct respecting referrals, confidentiality, and referral fees.
5. Confidentiality. Please be certain to follow your Rules of Professional Conduct and keep your confidential discussions to the private spaces. Although we try to provide limited privacy in some of the open spaces, your conversations may be overheard anyway.
6. Sex in the Boardrooms, etc. Just don’t. Conduct such as this is considered a serious breach of the No Asshole Policy and may be grounds for terminating your residence. Seriously, just don’t.
7. Drugs and Other Things. Also, just don’t. Really. What you do on your own time is your business, but the use of illicit drugs in SparkTown is grounds for termination of your residence. Also, we don’t care if you’re a smoker, just don’t do it in the office or any of the building’s no-smoking zones. This isn’t Mad Men.
8. No Meth Labs. You think it would go without saying, but we will say it anyway. Do not bring to the office or store in the office any hazardous, toxic, flammable, or combustible stuff. Doing so is for sure grounds for termination in addition to being just plain dumb.
9. Fragrances. If you must wear fragrance, keep it light. We have a lot of open space, and fragrance will carry further than sound.
10. Private Offices and Lockers. If you have a private office or locker, we expect that you will not store in it any illicit substances, perishable food, or illegal materials. We will respect your privacy, but reserve the right to enter your office or locker if it is emitting foul smells, annoying sounds, or the contents are otherwise interfering with other residents’ enjoyment of SparkTown. We will attempt to contact you prior to entering and will provide you with a reasonable opportunity to resolve the issue yourself.
11. Refrigerator. The refrigerator will be cleaned out at the end of every week. Anything left in the refrigerator after 5:00 on Friday evening will be chucked. We are not responsible for any losses of Grandma’s pecan pie, your leftover turkey sandwich from Thanksgiving, or that half-finished can of beer.
12. Policies. The SparkTown Code of Conduct requires that you are familiar with and abide by the following policies at all times, and that you ensure that your guests abide by the policies as well.
- No Assholes. A foundational policy for SparkTown, which strictly prohibits asshole-like conduct by all residents and guests.
- Respect in the Workplace. Although residents are not employees or contractors of SparkTown, it is nonetheless a place where we all work together. You agree to abide by this policy, which is really just an extension of the No Asshole Policy.
13. Wifi Use. You are welcome to make reasonable use of the SparkTown wifi. Abnormally heavy non-work-related use may be restricted (no torrents or P2P file sharing, please) to ensure adequate bandwidth for everyone. Under no circumstances are you permitted to use the SparkTown wifi to facilitate the infringement of intellectual property rights, so no downloading pirated software, or downloading or streaming pirated media.
14. After Hours Access. As a resident of SparkTown, you are welcome to use the facilities whenever you want. It is possible that SparkTown’s landlord will impose charges for “after hours” heating or air conditioning. If those charges are imposed, they will be allocated to you on an equitable basis.
