We are fully committed to compliance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulations which came into force on 25 May 2018. Once you became our client, we take your consent to the storage and use of your data by manual or electronic mean. The information which you provide to us is confidential.

​

• Lawsmith Solicitors “the firm” is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office for all necessary activities under the Regulation.

• there is a process of continual review to determine whether any changes in the firm’s registration are required as a result of changes in the nature of the business;

• the details of the firm as registered are kept up to date;

• the notification to the Information Commissioner’s Office is renewed annually;

• the firm maintains and updates the public Data Protection Register which will be reviewed regularly and at least on an annual basis;

• report any data breaches, including cyber-attacks and accidental leaks within 72 hours;

• where individuals request a copy of all data held such data will be supplied within 1 month, unless further clarification is required to comply with the request or the request is a complex request as such, will be supplied within 3 months of the request; and

• the firm maintains this policy.

 

The firm are aware of and adhere to the six data protection principles which underline the Regulations, namely that all data which is covered by the Regulations (which includes not only computer data, but also personal data held within a filing system) is:

​

• processed lawfully, fairly and transparently;

• collected only for specific legitimate purposes;

• adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary;

• must be accurate and kept up to date;

• stored only as long as is necessary; and

• ensure appropriate security, integrity, and confidentiality.

 

All members of staff are provided with training on Data Protection compliance on induction and as necessary from time to time. Additional training on any changes to this policy and refresher training will be provided annually.

​

Any member of our staff with an enquiry about the handling and processing of personal data should approach the firm’s compliance officer (COLP) who is responsible for data protection at the firm.

​

Any member of our staff that receives a subject access request from a client or individual must forward the request to the COLP promptly so that he can comply with the request within 1 month of the date of receipt. ‘Promptly’ is defined as the same day or the next working day.

​

Each staff member is responsible for ensuring that no breaches of this policy result from their actions. Failure to comply with this policy by any member of staff may invoke our Disciplinary Procedure and may result in disciplinary proceedings.

​

Each staff member is responsible for reporting any breach, or suspected breach of this policy to our COLP, who will conduct an incident management plan in accordance with our Data Protection, Information Management and Security Policy.

​

The firm undertakes an annual review of this policy to verify it is in effective operation.

​

We place great emphasis on maintaining the highest standards of confidentiality. Our directors and staff are under an obligation not to disclose any confidential information to third parties without your authority. This applies to most client information, as well as the reports, letters, documents, information, and advice we provide to you. In addition, our agreements as to fees are given in confidence and are provided on the condition that you undertake not to disclose these or any other confidential information made available to you by us during the course of our work (other than within your own organisation, if applicable) without our prior knowledge. This said, we are required to comply with SRA Standard and Regulations and the firm may be required to make disclosure of certain information to comply with professional rules or the general law.

​

In some cases where reports, letters, documents, information, or advice given by us to you will be provided by us or you to or used by a third party, we reserve the right to stipulate terms regarding such use or we may require the third party to enter into a direct relationship with us. Where reports, letters, documents, information, or advice given by us is disclosed to a third party we recognise no obligation to that third party.

​

Before we undertake any work on your behalf, we will ask for information about you, including your name, address and date of birth and National Insurance number, together with some identification, for example, your passport and proof of residence and we will keep a copy of this ("your Data"). We may use your Data to undertake a search with a credit reference agency. We will keep a copy of any searches made and the results which will be used for internal decision-making purposes. The credit reference agency may also keep a copy of the search and they may share that information with other businesses who undertake similar searches in respect of you.

​

We may use your Data and other information we obtain as a result of the work we do for you to provide you with legal services and to administer your account with us including tracing and collecting any debts. We may also use it for fraud prevention (for example by verifying your identity to comply with our money laundering obligations), to ensure client satisfaction and to improve services and for the safety and security of our offices and staff.

​

We may, from time to time, contact you by letter, phone, email or otherwise about our services and events (such as newsletters, seminars, and hospitality) which we believe will be of interest to you. Please tick the box at the end of this Agreement if you consent to us contacting you in this way. You can change your mind at any time.

​

Any private and personal information about you will be processed in accordance with the principles of the General Data Protection Regulations and the

 

Data Protection Act 2018. Under the Regulations, an individual has the right to obtain copies of personal data about them held by us without charge and to have it corrected if it is inaccurate. If you have any queries in relation to the above, please do not hesitate to contact us. If we have any doubt as to whether you might object to the disclosure of any information, we will seek to obtain your consent before doing so unless disclosure is required as a matter of law.

If we instruct counsel on your behalf, we may keep a copy of an opinion given by counsel in electronic form for internal know-how purposes, but we will ensure that client confidentiality is preserved.

​

Subject to our on-going duty of confidentiality and in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulations and the Data Protection Act, we may, with your consent seek publicity concerning our involvement in any transaction or case. You will have the opportunity to review any proposed material prior to its release.

​

In property transactions we will advise the lender client of any relevant information arising during the retainer.

​

If you require further information about how we process your data and your rights, a copy of our Privacy/Data Collection Notice is available on our website and a hard copy is available on request.

​

External firms or organisation may conduct audit or quality checks on our practice. These external firms or organisation are required to maintain confidentiality in relation to your files. The firm hopes to achieve the Lexcel quality standard of the Law Society. As a result of this we may be subject to periodic checks by outside assessors. This could mean that your file is selected for checking, in which case we would need your consent for inspection to occur. All inspections are, of course, conducted in confidence. If you prefer to withhold consent, work on your file will not be affected in any way. Since very few of our clients do object to this, we propose to assume that we do have your consent unless you notify us to the contrary. We will also assume, unless you indicate otherwise, that consent on this occasion will extend to all future matters which we conduct on your behalf. If you would prefer to withhold consent, please put a line through this section in the copy letter before return to us.

 

CONTACT US FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

If you would like to know further information on the collection, use, disclosure, transfer, processing or storage of your personal information or the exercise of any of the rights listed above, please contact us by email: info@lawsmithsolicitors.co.uk or call us on 01279312185.