Privacy notice

The information we collect

The personal information we collect will depend on the nature of our relationship with you and the legal services we provide.

Personal information

• —name, date of birth, postal address, email address and telephone number;
• —identification and verification information, including passport or driving licence details and, where relevant, National Insurance number;
• —financial information, including bank account and payment information;
• —employment information;
• —family and relationship information, including information relating to children and other family members;
• —correspondence, documents and other information provided to us; and
• —information relevant to the legal services we provide or our relationship with you.

Special category personal information

Family law work may involve the processing of particularly sensitive personal information. Where necessary, this may include information relating to health; racial or ethnic origin; religious or philosophical beliefs; sexual orientation; and trade union membership.

Criminal offence information

Where relevant and permitted by law, we may also process personal information relating to criminal allegations, investigations, proceedings or convictions.

Other sensitive information

Depending on the circumstances, we may process other sensitive information, including information relating to domestic abuse or safeguarding concerns; children’s welfare and family circumstances; financial circumstances; and other sensitive personal or family information relevant to the legal services we provide.

We only collect and process personal information where it is necessary and appropriate for the purposes for which it is used and where we have a lawful basis for doing so.

How we collect your personal information

Most of the information we process is obtained directly from you when you contact us to make an enquiry; ask us to provide legal services; complete questionnaires, forms or identity verification processes; communicate with us by telephone, email, post, video conference or in person; or provide documents or information to us.

We may also receive personal information from other sources where appropriate and lawful. These may include:

• —courts and tribunals, HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) and Cafcass;
• —barristers and chambers, expert witnesses, mediators and other dispute resolution professionals, and other solicitors or legal representatives;
• —public authorities and government departments;
• —publicly available sources and public registers;
• —third-party identity verification and due diligence providers;
• —medical and other healthcare professionals;
• —financial institutions, accountants and financial advisers;
• —employers;
• —members of your family, authorised representatives and other individuals connected with the circumstances in which we are involved; and
• —other third parties where you have authorised us to obtain information or where the collection or disclosure of information is otherwise permitted or required by law.

We will only collect personal information that is relevant and reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it is processed.

How we use your personal information

We use your personal information where necessary and lawful to provide legal services, manage our relationship with you, comply with our legal, regulatory and professional obligations, and operate our practice. Depending on the circumstances, this includes:

• —Providing legal services — legal advice and representation; preparing legal documents and correspondence; communicating with you and others where appropriate; progressing negotiations, court proceedings, mediation or other legal processes; and instructing barristers, experts or other professional advisers where appropriate.
• —Managing our professional relationship — responding to enquiries; carrying out conflict checks and onboarding procedures; opening, administering and managing client files; and maintaining accurate records.
• —Meeting our legal, regulatory and professional obligations — identity verification, client due diligence and other compliance checks; complying with court orders and lawful requests; responding to regulators; and establishing, exercising or defending legal claims.
• —Financial management — preparing and issuing invoices; receiving and processing payments; managing and recovering outstanding fees where appropriate; and maintaining accounting, tax and financial records.
• —Improving and managing our services — reviewing and improving our services and business processes; monitoring compliance; managing risk; and maintaining the security and integrity of our systems. Where information is used for statistical or service-improvement purposes, we will use anonymised information where reasonably practicable.

Our lawful basis for processing

Under UK data protection legislation, we must have a lawful basis for processing personal information. We may rely on one or more of the following:

• —Performance of a contract — where processing is necessary to perform a contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract, including assessing an enquiry, opening and administering a client file and providing agreed legal services.
• —Compliance with a legal obligation — including obligations relating to court orders, taxation, accounting, regulatory requirements and identity verification or client due diligence where required by law.
• —Legitimate interests — where necessary for our legitimate interests or those of a third party, provided those interests are not overridden by your interests, rights and freedoms. This may include managing and improving our services, maintaining accurate records, protecting the security of our systems, obtaining professional advice, managing risk, recovering unpaid fees and establishing, exercising or defending legal claims.
• —Consent — in limited circumstances, where appropriate and lawful. Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time; withdrawal will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out beforehand.

Where we process special category personal information, we will rely on an appropriate lawful basis and an additional condition permitting that processing — which may include processing necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, reasons of substantial public interest where permitted by law, or your explicit consent where appropriate. Where we process information relating to criminal allegations, investigations, proceedings or convictions, we will do so only where permitted by UK data protection legislation.

In providing family law services, we may process personal information relating to children and other individuals who are not our clients. We will do so only where there is an appropriate lawful basis and where the processing is necessary and proportionate for the relevant purpose.

Who we share your personal information with

We will only share your personal information where it is necessary and lawful to do so. Depending on the circumstances, we may share personal information with:

• —Legal professionals — barristers and chambers, expert witnesses, mediators and other dispute resolution professionals, costs specialists, other solicitors or legal representatives, and other professional advisers involved in the provision of legal services.
• —Courts and public authorities — courts and tribunals, HMCTS, Cafcass, government departments, law enforcement agencies, regulatory and supervisory bodies, and other bodies where disclosure is necessary or is permitted or required by law.
• —Service providers — carefully selected providers of case and practice management systems, electronic identity verification, cloud hosting, business productivity and communication systems, IT support, secure communications and document exchange, document management and cyber security services.
• —Professional advisers — our professional indemnity insurers and insurance advisers, accountants and tax advisers, external compliance advisers and auditors.
• —Financial institutions — banks, payment service providers and other financial institutions for processing payments, receiving funds, preventing fraud and complying with legal or regulatory obligations.

Where a third party processes personal information on our behalf, we require appropriate arrangements to protect that information. We do not sell your personal information to third parties or permit it to be used for unrelated marketing purposes.

Artificial intelligence and technology-assisted services

We may use technology-assisted tools, including artificial intelligence (“AI”), to support the efficient operation of our practice and the provision of legal services — for example for administrative support, legal research, document review and drafting assistance.

AI and other technology-assisted tools do not replace the professional judgement or responsibility of the solicitor providing legal services. Where such tools are used in connection with legal work, their output will be subject to appropriate human review and oversight before it is relied upon. Where their use involves personal information, we will take appropriate steps to protect confidentiality, legal professional privilege and personal information, and to comply with applicable data protection legislation and our professional obligations.

We will not use solely automated decision-making to make decisions about you that produce legal or similarly significant effects unless permitted by law and subject to any safeguards required under applicable data protection legislation.

How we protect your personal information

We have implemented appropriate technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal information against unauthorised or unlawful access, use, alteration, disclosure, loss or destruction. These include, where appropriate: password-protected devices, systems and accounts; multi-factor authentication; secure electronic storage and business systems; access controls; secure methods of electronic communication and document transfer; secure storage and disposal arrangements; measures designed to protect against cyber security threats; and periodic review of our information security arrangements.

Where third-party service providers process personal information on our behalf, we take appropriate steps to assess and manage the associated risks and to put suitable safeguards in place. We also maintain procedures for identifying, assessing and responding to personal data breaches and other information security incidents.

How long we keep your personal information

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including the provision of legal services, compliance with our legal, regulatory and professional obligations, and the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

As a general rule, we will retain client files for six years from the date the file is closed. A longer or shorter retention period may apply where appropriate, taking into account the nature of the legal services provided; applicable legal, regulatory and professional requirements; relevant limitation periods; the age and circumstances of any children or other individuals concerned; and the need to establish, exercise or defend legal claims. Once personal information is no longer required, it will be securely deleted, destroyed or anonymised.

Your rights

Under UK data protection legislation, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal information. These rights are not absolute and may not apply in every circumstance. They may also be limited by law, legal professional privilege or our legal, regulatory and professional obligations as solicitors. Subject to applicable legal requirements, your rights may include:

• —the right to be informed about how we collect and use your personal information — this privacy notice is intended to provide that information;
• —the right of access to the personal information we hold about you;
• —the right to rectification of inaccurate or incomplete information;
• —the right to erasure, in certain circumstances;
• —the right to restrict processing, in certain circumstances;
• —the right to object to processing, including where processing is based on legitimate interests;
• —the right to data portability, where applicable; and
• —rights in relation to automated decision-making.

If you wish to exercise any of your data protection rights, please contact us using the details set out in this privacy notice. We may need to take reasonable steps to verify your identity before responding. In some circumstances, we may lawfully refuse a request or charge a reasonable fee, and where applicable we will explain the reasons for doing so.

Contact us and complaints

If you have any questions about this privacy notice, how we process your personal information or if you wish to exercise any of your data protection rights, please contact us in the first instance using the details in the “Who we are” section above.

If you are dissatisfied with the way we have handled your personal information, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”), the UK’s independent authority responsible for upholding information rights:

You may contact the ICO at any time, although we would welcome the opportunity to address your concerns first. Making a complaint to the ICO will not affect any other legal rights or remedies available to you.

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Changes to this notice

We may update this notice from time to time. The “Last updated” date at the top tells you when. Material changes will be communicated to current clients directly.