Privacy Policy

PRIVACY POLICY– January 1, 2011
 
This Privacy Policy sets out our obligations to you with respect to the collection, use or disclosure of personal information of clients, prospective clients, the public accessing our website, and other third parties. We ask that you review this document carefully, because the protection of your information is important to us. In reviewing this Privacy Policy, you will come across certain Defined Terms that you may not understand, and which we have underlined and defined for ease of reference and clarity. Simply look under our “Defined Terms, and what they mean” section of this policy.
 
OUR PRIVACY PROMISE TO YOU
 
When you become a client of ours, or when you communicate with us with a view to becoming a client, we may have requested, and you may have given, personal information to us. You may have provided us with personal information so that we could serve your needs as a client, or there may have been other reasons for such communications. We value your trust, and we are committed to protecting your privacy with unswerving professionalism. Even in Business to Business transactions or litigious proceedings, we may on occasion require or collect personal information for a narrow purpose. We will attempt to convey that purpose when such situations arise. We value our clients’ business, and as such, seek to protect your personal information, and in particular, the collection, use, and disclosure of that personal information.
 
INFORMATION THAT WE MUST PROTECT FOR YOU
 
We are responsible for taking all reasonable steps to protect your personal information in our possession or custody, including personal information that has been transferred to, or received from, a third party in the course of representing you in your matter(s).
 
REASONS FOR COLLECTION, USE, AND DISCLOSURE OF YOUR INFORMATION
 
We generally collect, use and disclose personal information in order to understand and identify your needs as a client, evaluate and protect your interests, and to carry out your instructions for your matter(s).
Knowing you better as an individual helps us understand how we can best serve you and / or your company, and effectively communicate with you.
 
MORE SPECIFICALLY, WE COLLECT, USE OR DISCLOSE YOUR INFORMATION TO:
a) establish, evaluate and maintain a client relationship with you;
b) facilitate the handling of any matter in which you have retained us to act on your behalf.
 
Personal information may be collected, used or disclosed for any of these Identified Purposes set out above. We will not use or disclose it for any other purpose without obtaining subsequent consent from you.
 
HOW DO WE OBTAIN YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?
 
How we collect your personal information depends on the type of transaction(s) you wish to enter/engage in with us. We may gather information from the following sources:
a) from you, via written retainer; for example your name, address, telephone number, email address, occupation, financial and banking information, health information, or any other personal information or information you designate as confidential;
b) from agents, referees, or intermediaries as authorized by you or provided to us by you in support of your client file;
c) from your interactions with us directly;
d) from government sources, as authorized by you;
e) from any other source with your consent, or without your consent where otherwise permitted by law.
 
WHEN YOU SHARE PERSONAL INFORMATION WITH US
 
If you provide personal information to us through any of the previously mentioned sources, you do so with the express understanding that your personal information may be used or disclosed for the Identified Purposes amongst us, the previously mentioned sources, or third parties, and that we may verify such information, or obtain additional personal information about you, as necessary for the Identified Purposes and to carry out the breadth and scope of your retainer with us (if applicable), and may verify information, including personal information, to assist us for the Identified Purposes. All such personal information is also used, collected or disclosed subject to our obligations pursuant to the Rules of the Law Society of Upper Canada. For further information in relation to these rules, go to www.lsuc.ca or call 416.947.3300.
 
INFORMED AND IMPLIED CONSENT
 
Your knowledge and consent are required before we may collect, use or disclose your personal information, except in special circumstances, and except in situations otherwise permitted by the law. If any of the personal information that we collect is sensitive, such as health information, we will obtain subsequent
written or oral consent from you before disclosing the information.
In certain circumstances, where you should reasonably expect that we would collect, use or disclose your personal information, your consent may be implied.
 
OBTAINING YOUR CONSENT
 
We accept any of the following as your consent for our collection, use and disclosure of your personal information for the Identified Purposes:
 
a) your receipt of this Privacy Policy, or its being made available to you, unless you advise us, either orally or in writing, that you do not agree with the terms stated in this Policy, and that you wish to opt out of all or portions of it. In such a case, and subject to the legislation by which we are bound, we may not be able to act on your behalf, assuming such consents are needed to effectively represent you;
b) your express written or oral consent as obtained via client retainer or otherwise;
c) your consent as provided by other authorized representatives, such as a solicitor, legal guardian, accountant, or power of attorney;
d) your voluntary provision of personal information to us; or
e) your implied consent where such consent is reasonable.
Unless we hear otherwise from you, you are giving us your consent for the collection, use and disclosure of personal information as provided in this Policy for the Identified Purposes.
 
YOUR CONSENT MAY BE WITHDRAWN, OR MAY NOT BE GIVEN AT ALL
 
You may withdraw your consent at any time upon reasonable notice, subject to legal or contractual
restrictions, including restrictions enumerated in your retainer with us. Please note that withdrawing your consent may affect our ability to continue to provide you with the services that you currently have or which you are seeking from us.To withdraw your consent, you should contact us in writing.
 
PRESERVATION OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION BY US
 
Personal information is retained only as long as we need it to effectively provide services to our clients, and for a reasonable length of time thereafter in case we need to meet any potential obligations for legal, professional, accounting or governmental requirements. We will attempt to use reasonable care when storing or destroying your personal information in order to prevent unauthorized access. Please note that we may destroy your personal information without notice to you. Should you require information / documents for your own purposes in relation to any files you may have with us, you should retain the originals or make copies of said information / documents prior to providing it to us.
 
SECURITY OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
 
Whether in electronic or paper based format, we maintain security systems to safeguard your personal information from unauthorized access, disclosure or misuse. As well, when we no longer need your personal information, we take as much care to destroy it as we do when storing it.
If we transfer your personal information to a third party (for example; data processing, evaluation purposes, court representation, etc.), we require any person or organization providing products or services on our behalf to protect client confidentiality in a manner consistent with our own internal measures, or as required by law and our governing body, the Law Society of Upper Canada.
 
YOUR ACCESS TO YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
 
You have a right to access your personal information that we have in our possession or control. You also have a right to know which third parties have received your information from us.
 
HOW DO YOU ACCESS YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION ?
 
Please make your request in writing to us, stating as specifically as possible which personal information you are requesting.
We will try to respond to such requests as soon as possible, and we will advise you if we cannot respond right away. We may charge you a reasonable fee (if applicable) for providing access to your personal information, but only after first advising you of the approximate cost.
 
WE MAY REFUSE YOUR REQUEST FOR ACCESS TO PERSONAL INFORMATION IF:
a) the information is protected by Legal Service Provider-client privilege and the privilege is not yours;
b) granting access would reveal confidential commercial information;
c) doing so would reasonably be expected to threaten the life or security of another individual;
d) the information was collected for purposes related to the detection and prevention of fraud;
e) the information was generated in the course of a formal dispute resolution process;
a) the information would likely reveal personal information about another individual;
b) there is another type of privilege such as “litigation privilege” asserted over the personal information, and it would therefore be reasonable to withhold such information in such instance; or
c) for any other reason we are legally required to refuse your request.
 
ACCURACY OF YOUR INFORMATION
 
We strive to ensure that the personal information we have on file about you is as accurate and up to date as necessary for the Identified Purposes for which it is to be used. We will amend personal information that is materially inaccurate or incomplete and, where appropriate, will endeavor to advise other parties having access to the information in question of the amendment.
 
DEFINED TERMS, AND WHAT THEY MEAN
 
Collection: Personal information coming into our possession.
Consent: Your informed consent, as defined in this policy.
Disclosure: Means to disclose or disseminate or share your personal information.
Identified Purposes: The purposes enumerated by us in this policy, and for which you give us your consent to collect, use, and disclose your personal information.
Personal Information: Information about an identifiable individual (does not include the name, title, home address, business address or telephone number of an employee of an organization).
Power of Attorney: The authority given to one person or corporation to act on behalf of another person or corporation in legal and financial matters.
Third party: A person other than a client who is involved in a transaction or proceeding regarding a matter(s) in which we have been retained.
Use: How we use, and what we do with your personal information once it is within our possession.
 
ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT
 
This Privacy Policy spells out the responsibility of us (“we”, “our”, “us”), and your rights as our client,
prospective or former client, applicant, supplier, member of the public accessing our website, or other third party (“you” or “your”), regarding the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information.
This Privacy Policy is subject to amendments from time to time. Amendments may be posted on our website.