The table below explains how we use your information and why:
| What we use your personal data for | Our reasons for using your data |
| To provide legal services to you | To perform our contractual obligations to you or take pre-contract steps requested by you |
| Conducting checks to identify you, and to verify your identity
Screening for financial and other sanctions or embargos Other processing necessary to comply with professional, legal and regulatory obligations that apply to our business, such as, rules issued by our professional regulators (Solicitors Regulation Authority (“SRA”)) |
To comply with mandatory legal and regulatory obligations |
| Gathering and providing information required by or relating to audits, enquiries or investigations by regulatory bodies, for example, the Information Commissioners Office (“ICO”), the SRA or the National Crime Agency | To comply with mandatory legal and regulatory obligations |
| Ensuring compliance with this firm’s own policies, procedures, systems and controls and ensuring that such measures are in effective operation, such as, policies and controls relating to information security | For our legitimate interests and ensuring that we follow internal procedures so that high levels of service to our clients are maintained |
| Operational reasons, such as: improving efficiency; training; quality control, for example, to respond to any shortcomings identified in an audit, or to changes in recommended best practice and for risk management purposes
To administer and protect our business and this website including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, system maintenance, support, reporting and hosting of data |
For our legitimate interests in striving to deliver the best possible service to you and for: running our business; provision of administration and IT services; network security and to prevent fraud
Ensuring our risk management and quality control procedures and policies and controls are in effective operation |
| Statistical analysis to help us manage our practice, for example, in relation to our financial performance, client base, work type or other efficiency measure | For our legitimate interests, and particularly so that we can deliver a high quality service at a competitive price
Ensuring our risk management and quality control procedures and policies and controls are in effective operation |
| Manage payments, fees and charges | Performance of a contract with you and in order to comply with regulatory record keeping requirements in relation to client account |
| Funding in relation to the legal services being provided to you either from a litigation funder, After the Event insurer, Legal Expense insurer or (public funding) from the Legal Aid Agency | Performance of a contract with you
Legitimate interest |
| Collect and recover money owed to us | Necessary for our legitimate interests in recovering debts to us, for example, unpaid fees, disbursements and VAT |
| Investigations into, and prevention of unauthorised access and modifications to systems or any other form of criminal activity | For our legitimate interests in preventing and detecting criminal activity that could be damaging for this firm and its clients and in order to comply with legal and regulatory obligations |
| Submitting reports to insurers in respect of potential claims against and by this firm, and in order to fulfil statutory disclosure obligations. Investigation and processing of complaints, and cooperating with the Legal Ombudsman and SRA as required | For our legitimate interests in responding to claims/allegations made against this firm
To comply with legal and regulatory obligations in respect of insurance arrangements |
| Updating and enhancing client records | Performance of a contract with you or to take pre-contract steps requested by you
To comply with legal and regulatory obligations For our legitimate interests, such as, keeping in touch with clients about existing and new services |
| Statutory returns | To comply with mandatory and regulatory obligations
Ensuring our risk management and quality control procedures and policies and controls are in effective operation |
| Staff administration and performance review | To comply with legal and regulatory requirements
For our legitimate interests, for example, to ensure that our internal procedures are in effective operation so that we can deliver a high quality service to you |
| Marketing activities to existing and former clients
Please note that your information will not be used for marketing by electronic means, such as email, unless you have specifically consented to this |
For our legitimate interests in promoting our business to existing and former clients |
| Credit reference checks via external credit reference agencies (as required) | For our legitimate interests, usually, for credit control and to ensure clients are likely to be able to pay for our services |
| External audits and quality checks for accreditation purposes such as: Lexcel Practice Management Standard; CQS; Association of Personal Injury Lawyers membership and audit and various (practice area specific) specialist panel memberships
Audit of our accounts |
For our legitimate interests in maintaining our accreditations so we can demonstrate the level of expertise that we can maintain and offer, and the high standards to which we operate
To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations |
| Ensuring safe working practices, staff administration and assessments | For our legitimate interests, for example, to make sure that our internal procedures are adhered to and in effective operation so that we can deliver an excellent service to you |
Manage our relationship with you which will include:
|
Performance of a contract with you
Necessary to comply with the legal obligation Necessary for legitimate interests (to keep our records updated and to understand how clients use our services) |
| Deliver relevant website content to you | Necessary for our legitimate interests to understand how clients use our services, to develop them, to grow our business and to inform our marketing strategy |
