<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none;" alt="" src="https://px.ads.linkedin.com/collect/?pid=1556145&amp;fmt=gif">

Privacy Statement

Your Privacy

As a provider of legal services, maintaining confidentiality and privacy is one of our foremost concerns. The purpose of this policy is to describe the ways in which we collect, hold and disclose personal information. This policy applies to your use of our website, as well as to all of our dealings with clients and other individuals.

We may vary this policy from time to time.

Source of obligations

Privacy and confidentiality in the legal profession are paramount. We meet and surpass our professional and legal obligations in this respect as a matter of course.

In addition, we are continuously taking steps to ensure that we exceed the requirements of the National Privacy Principles (NPPs), and we make this statement in respect of those requirements

How do we collect personal information?

We may receive personal information about you in a number of situations. For example, we could collect that information over the telephone, through this website (via forms on our website), in correspondence (such as by fax, letter or email), in person, by using cookies, or occasionally through our dealings with third parties.

If we collect personal information from a third party, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that you:

• have been informed that we have collected that information;

• understand the purposes for which we have collected that information; and

• are aware how we might use that information or disclose it to third parties.

Use of cookies

Cookies are small text files that a website transfers to your web browser. Cookies provide statistical information regarding the use of our website. This website uses cookies to:

• help us recognise your browser as a previous visitor;

• to help us analyse the effectiveness of the resources offered on our website; and

• to help us customise the content provided to you through our website.

What personal information do we collect?

The types of personal information we collect can be extremely varied. Usually that information would include:

• name and contact details;

• information we require to provide legal services to our clients;

• information you give us in connection with an application for employment; and

• details of your visits to our website and the resources that you access.

If you are a client or potential client and you do not supply us with all the information we request, our ability to provide quality legal services may be jeopardised. Equally, we expect that any information you give us in connection with an employment application will be complete and not misleading in any way. We do not collect personal information that we do not need.

Why do we collect personal information and how do we use it?

Generally, the reasons why we collect personal information will be self-evident. For example, we collect personal information for one or more of the following purposes:

• to provide legal services to you, our clients, or another organisation in which you are involved;

• to provide customised content and resources to you and our clients;

• in considering whether to make an offer of employment to you; and

• to facilitate our internal business operations and to allow us to conduct our business generally.

Sometimes we may use personal information to communicate legal or firm developments to you, or to undertake other marketing activities. If we require personal information about you for a specific purpose that is not obvious, we will let you know that purpose at the time the information is collected.

Using this website

We will not be collecting any personal information about you as a result of you simply visiting our website. However, we may collect personal information if, in using this website, you contact us by e-mail or submit an enquiry.

Our website may contain links to other websites. We have no control or knowledge of the information management policies of those websites.

We cannot inform you if, by visiting linked websites, your personal information will be collected by someone else, and if so, what use or disclosure may be made of that information.

When might we disclose personal information?

We may disclose personal information about you to achieve the same purpose for which it was collected. We might also disclose personal information about you:

• where doing so is necessary in the course of providing legal services (subject to our overriding duty of confidentiality to our clients);

• within our organisation;

• on a confidential basis to external service providers;

• if we are otherwise permitted or required to do so by law;

• in other circumstances where you have first consented to the disclosure.

Storing and retaining personal information

We store personal information in our internal databases, which may be in electronic or hardcopy form (or both). Our databases are only accessible by our staff. (Some of our suppliers may also have incidental access to personal information, to allow them to supply their services to us. Software maintenance personnel are a relevant example). We destroy personal information we collect as soon as we consider it is no longer needed.

Access

We welcome you to update any personal information you think we may hold about you. To do this, or to simply find out what personal information we currently hold, please contact us. If you wish to access the personal information we hold about you, we may charge a fee to cover our costs of supplying that information. We will inform you of this cost at the time you make a request.

Queries and complaints

If you have any other query or complaint in relation to the way in which we collect, use or disclose personal information, please contact us. We will use our best efforts to respond to your query or request as quickly as reasonably possible.