Privacy Notice

We value our business relationships and we are committed to protecting your personal information.

This privacy notice explains what data we collect from you, what data you submit to us and why we require this data. We also explain how we share this data with other services and the reasons for this.

We are committed to ensuring that your privacy is respected and that personal data or other confidential data is protected.

In accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation as incorporated into the law of the United Kingdom by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (UK GDPR), this Privacy Notice explains, in detail, the types of personal data we may collect about you when you interact with us through this website. It also explains how we’ll store and handle that data and keep it safe.   Unless otherwise indicated, references in this Data and Privacy Notice to the GDPR refer to the UK GDPR.

All the data we currently hold is stored in the Microsoft platform ‘SharePoint’ which is a cloud-based storage system, and ‘Clio’, a cloud-based case management system. Both platforms store their data in centres within the EEA.

Who we are

We are a firm of UK Solicitors who focus on employee ownership, employee share schemes and share option schemes.

Postlethwaite Solicitors Limited

Authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, number 571088

Registered in England and Wales with number 8066004

The privacy notice applies to any information we collect about you when you request information through our website, sign up for our newsletter or use our legal services.

How to contact us

Post:  Postlethwaite Solicitors Limited, Ground Floor, 9 Staple Inn, London WC1V 7QH

Telephone:  020 3818 9420

Email:  info@postlethwaiteco.com

Information you provide

Information that you provide to us when using our services is collected and stored. What we collect and store depends on the context. We will only collect and use information which is personal to you where it is necessary, fair and lawful to do so.

• Basic contact information –  your name, contact details (including telephone number, email and postal address), National Insurance number and company information. Occasionally we may ask for bank account details as well, if required.
• Time management and billing information – Company details, email addresses and names of contacts.
• Mailing list – if you have signed up for our mailing list we collect your first and last name, and your email address. We will collect your postal address if you wish to receive information through the post.

Information we collect automatically

When you use our services, we may also collect some information automatically. Below is the information we may automatically collect from you.

• Log information – when accessing our services we collect basic log information about the device you are using, the operating system it is running, its IP address, the language of the device, the browser being used and the date and time of access.
• Cookies – Postlethwaite uses cookies on its website to track anonymised usage of our services. This enables us to see which pages are clicked on by users, as well as other information. You can of course switch off cookies in your browser.

How we use information

The information we collect, as outlined above, is used in a number of different ways, some already mentioned above and as follows:

• To provide our services, for example, to set up your account with us in our time management software to accurately keep track of the time spent working on your project, and in our accounting package so that we can issue invoices.  Also, to complete legal documents as required by the nature of the project on which we are working on your behalf.
• To communicate with you about a project and to send you our newsletters with information we feel may be of use or interest to you.
• To improve our services and make them better for everyone.

The legal bases for using your information will be consent for marketing purposes (e.g. receiving our newsletter) and legitimate interests for the provision of legal advice, issuing invoices and sending information to existing clients.

How long we will retain personal information

We will keep your personal information while you are a client for the purposes of providing advice to meet our legal and regulatory obligations or on our marketing database while you consent to receive information from us. The length of time we keep your information for these purposes will vary depending on the obligations we need to meet. If you cease to be a client and wish us to delete your personal information please let us know.

Sharing information

We never sell your information to any third party, but we do share your information in the circumstances outlined below, with safeguards in place to help protect your privacy.

These third parties include;

• Companies we have chosen to support us in the delivery of our services or marketing information to you e.g. technology companies providing newsletter delivery, secure file transfer, office administration software
• Cloud storage solutions to store assets and files that we need to carry out our service
• Accounting software in order to run our accounting and invoicing efficiently. We are required to do this for transactions and reporting requirements such as tax and company accounts
• Cloud based email providers means we can efficiently access our communications. We store all emails sent and received in these third-party systems.
• Time tracking software is used to keep track of all work undertaken on a particular matter to aid project management
• Credit Reference Agencies are used on occasion to verify the identity of a client as required under The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017  Transunion privacy notice
• Business Transfers – in connection with any merger, sale of company assets, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business by another company, or in the unlikely event that Postlethwaite Solicitors Limited goes out of business or enters bankruptcy, user information would likely be one of the assets that is transferred or acquired by a third party. If any of these events were to happen, this Privacy Notice would continue to apply to your information and the party receiving your information
• As Required by Law – we may disclose information about you in response to a court order, or other governmental demand with legal force
• To Protect Rights and Property – we may disclose information about you when we believe in good faith that disclosure is reasonably necessary to protect the property or rights of Postlethwaite Solicitors Limited, third parties, or the public at large. For example, if we have a good faith belief that there is an imminent danger of death or serious physical injury, we may disclose information related to the emergency without delay.

Information shared publicly

We like to show off our work to help market our services to others. However, we will not share your company or project name with others when discussing our work unless explicitly agreed with you in writing beforehand.

Security

Whilst nothing is ever 100% secure, we work very hard to protect information about you against unauthorised access, use, alteration or destruction and we take reasonable measures to do so.

All the personal data we keep is stored on servers or computers and is encrypted where appropriate when sending data from one device to another. Where services allow us to, we always use Two Factor Authentication to improve security of login information and reduce the risk of login information being used to gain unauthorised access.

Your individual rights

• Right to be informed – You have the right to receive clear and easy to understand information on what personal information we have, why and who we share it with.  We do this in our Privacy Notice and any further privacy notices issued if necessary to individual circumstances
• Right to access – You have the right of access to your personal information. If you wish to receive a copy of the personal information we hold on you, you may make a data subject access request (DSAR)
• Right to request that your personal information be rectified – If your personal information is inaccurate or incomplete, you can request that it is corrected
• Right to request erasure – You can ask for your information to be deleted or removed if there is not a compelling reason for Postlethwaite Solicitors to continue to have it
• Right to restrict processing – You can ask that we block or suppress the processing of your personal information for certain reasons. This means that we are still permitted to keep your information – but only to ensure we do not use it in the future for those reasons you have restricted
• Right to data portability – You can ask for a copy of your personal information for your own purposes. In certain circumstances, you may move, copy or transfer the personal information we hold to another company in a safe and secure way
• Right to object – You can object to Postlethwaite Solicitors processing your personal information where it is based on our legitimate interests, for direct marketing or if we are using it for historical research and statistics. Please note that we may no longer be able to offer legal services without access to your personal information
• Right relating to automatic decision-making – Postlethwaite Solicitors do not use automatic decision-making at any time
• Opt-out of electronic communications – you may choose to opt out of receiving electronic communications from us by following the unsubscribe instructions in those messages. If you do opt out, we may still contact you if required by the work undertaken for legitimate interests.