Privacy policy
Legal Adjacency Privacy Policy
Last Updated: February 1, 2022
Introduction
Martin Finestone Professional Corporation o/a Legal Adjacency (“Legal Adjacency”) is committed to protecting the personal information we collect, use, and disclose while providing legal services and operating our law firm, under all applicable regulatory requirements, including privacy legislation, and consistent with our professional obligations.
As practicing lawyers, we have professional and ethical obligations to maintain information we have received within our client relationships in confidence. This privacy policy (“Privacy Policy”) supplements our professional obligations of client confidentiality and sets out how we collect, use, disclose, and protect the personal information of our clients, other individuals, and our website users (“you”).
By using the Website, you agree to this agreement, which includes not only these terms of use, but also all policies and other agreements referred to in the terms of use or those documents.
Personal Information
Privacy legislation in Canada defines “personal information” broadly as any information about an identifiable individual. Personal information does not include business contact information, including your name, title, or position, organization, telephone, or facsimile number, or public social media account names.
Accountability
Legal Adjacency is responsible under privacy legislation for the personal information in our possession or control, including personal information we receive directly, such as from individual clients or other individuals and personal information we receive indirectly from clients or others. We have established policies and procedures to protect personal information and have appointed a Privacy Officer to oversee privacy matters for our firm. Our you can reach Privacy Officer at privacyofficer@legaladjacency.com.
What Personal Information Do We Collect?
The personal information we may collect about you include your name and home contact information, billing, and account information, information relevant to a client’s or prospective client’s legal matters, and other information incidental to the provision of legal advice and our services. Examples of the personal information we may collect include personal information about directors, officers, and employees of a client or other party (such as a prospective client).
We may also collect information about your online interactions through our Legal Adjacency.com website and our other web-enabled extranet services or client portals (each a “Sites”), our email communications, and our online ads. We may collect this information for (i) tailoring content we may send or show you, (ii) to authenticate you, enable access to information, and otherwise administer the Sites, and (iii) for analytical purposes to better understand digital interactions with our firm.
Our Purposes for Collecting, Using, or Disclosing Personal Information
Legal Adjacency collects, uses, and discloses personal information mainly to provide our clients with professional legal services and representation, including for these purposes:
- to establish and manage client relationships, provide legal advice, perform legal services, fulfill legal duties, and avoid legal conflicts of interest;
- to establish and maintain commercial relationships with clients, suppliers, and other third parties, including to issue invoices, administer accounts, collect, and process payments, evaluate credit standing, and to fulfill contractual obligations;
- to better understand and respond to the preferences and needs of clients, suppliers, and other third parties, including to obtain feedback;
- to distribute our publications, invitations to events, any informational email communications, or other promotional material to individuals on our mail and email lists, including via third-party email service providers;
- to maintain, develop, and manage our document management, knowledge-management, precedent systems, and databases;
- to consider the admission of individuals as employees and members of Legal Adjacency;
- to develop and manage our business and operations;
- to create, improve, market, sell and promote our services and the products and services of third parties with whom we have business relationships;
- to detect and protect against error, negligence, breach of contract, fraud, theft, and other illegal activity, and to meet our insurance requirements;
- as permitted by, and to comply with, applicable legal or regulatory requirements or provisions; and
- for any other purpose for which we have obtained your consent.
Voluntarily Provided Personal Information
We use forms so you may voluntarily provide us with your personal information. If you provide us with your personal information, we may use your personal information to provide services and to understand how you use our website and online tools. By completing our forms, you provide us with your consent to use the information in this way.
We will use the information for the purposes for which you requested. Sometimes, we may inform a third-party we engage to assist us in the provision of services to you.
We communicate with you about our services, publications, and events in various ways, including by email. If you received an email from us, your email address is listed with us as someone who has shared this address to receive information, or you have an existing relationship with us. We respect your time and want to ensure we only send information you will find valuable. We will always permit you to unsubscribe or opt-out of receiving these emails.
Email Statistics
We collect statistics about how you use our email communication to better tailor the information we provide to your needs. These statistics include when you open our emails, forward them, click through links, and download files. If you use a link in an email from us that directs you to a page on our website, we can associate your email address with that specific visit to our website.
Email and Waiver of Confidentiality
Email is an inherently vulnerable form of communication. When information is transmitted by email, it is broken into packets of data that flow between servers over the internet.
While Legal Adjacency will make commercially reasonable efforts to maintain the security and confidentiality of information transmitted by email, you waive your expectation of confidentiality on any information transmitted between you, Legal Adjacency, and any person or entity delivering services for or on behalf of Legal Adjacency.
Website Statistics
When you visit a Site, and those of companies that provide services on behalf of Legal Adjacency and our service providers may collect your IP address. We may record what pages you visit and for how long, how you arrived at a Site, where approximately you are located (according to IP addresses), what kind of operating system you are on, if you are using a cell phone or tablet to access the site, and what types of media you view on a Site. We may collect anonymous statistics about how visitors use our website to better tailor the knowledge information we provide to meet our visitors’ needs. We may use this information to manage our website, develop valuable knowledge publications, seminars, and events and to ensure we are keeping our technology upgraded to sufficiently meet your needs.
Cookies
Cookies are small elements of data placed on your devices when you visit a website to track the use of the site and to improve your user experience. Legal Adjacency may collect personal information about you and your use of the site through cookies as outlined above. Some browsers can be set to reject all cookies; if you modify your browser in this way, not all features offered through the Sites may remain available.
External Links
Our Sites may present links to other websites. Know that operators of linked websites may also collect your personal information and information generated through cookies when you link to their websites. Legal Adjacency is not responsible for how those third parties collect, use, or disclose your personal information, so review their privacy policies before providing them with your personal information.
Service Providers
If we enter arrangements with service providers, agents, and contractors to store, handle or process personal information on our behalf, such as for data processing, document storage software support and office services, our policy will be to require such parties by contractual or other means to provide comparable privacy protection while the information is processed or handled by them.
Internet Ads
We may also use third parties to serve advertisements on third-party websites. These companies may use cookies, tracer tags, or web beacons to report information about your interaction with our email communications, Sites, and online ads, to tailor content we may send or show you, and for analytical purposes to better understand digital interactions with our brand. To learn more or to opt-out of tailored advertising, please visit http://youradchoices.ca/choices.
Consent and Opting Out
If you provide us with your personal information to receive emails, opening a file or receiving legal services, you have opted-in to our communications and accepted this Privacy Policy.
We will obtain a client’s consent to the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information about the client, and the consent of other individuals where required by privacy legislation. We assume that an individual has consented to our reasonable collection and use of personal information consistent with the purposes for which the information was given when the individual contacts us or voluntarily provides personal information to us. We also assume that clients who retain us, or individuals involved in proceedings or matters opposite or adverse to our clients, consent to the reasonable collection, use, and disclosure of their personal information by our professionals and agents for purposes of our representation or provision of legal advice to our clients and the conduct of the transactions or proceedings involving our clients.
We do not collect, use, or disclose personal information without consent unless authorized or required by law to do so, such as in those cases:
- if a client provides personal information about third parties to us for purposes of our legal representation or advice to the client;
- when a court order or subpoena is issued, or under rules of production, a regulatory or other body with jurisdiction to compel production so requires;
- when the information is publicly available under privacy legislation, such as in professional or other directories, in public registries, publicly filed court records or information appearing in published form;
- if we are investigating the breach of an agreement, a legal duty, or contravention of a law and obtaining consent will compromise the investigation or the accuracy of the information;
- if we must disclose personal information to a lawful authority;
- as otherwise authorized by law.
As practicing lawyers, we are subject to professional and ethical obligations, and we do not disclose personal information subject to solicitor-client privilege unless the privilege is lawfully waived, or we are required by law to do so.
We obtain the electronic or oral consent of individuals who subscribe to our publications program or who show an interest to members of the firm in receiving such materials. We provide an opt-out opportunity to individuals from our publications.
If we send you an announcement, invitation, message or service-related email and you do not “opt-out” of receiving emails or the specific type of communication, including commercial electronic message, you are considered to have accepted and consented to this Privacy Policy. You may opt-out of receiving commercial electronic messages by using the unsubscribe mechanism in the email.
If you are a client or prospective client of Legal Adjacency, you may opt-out of and decline your acceptance of this Privacy Policy by delivering written notice of your intent to opt-out and decline the Privacy Policy to Legal Adjacency. If you opt-out and decline your acceptance of this Privacy Policy, Legal Adjacency may, at its sole discretion, end any client and solicitor relationship that may exist between You and Legal Adjacency or change the fee or quote to reflect the other costs incurred by Legal Adjacency in delivering services using alternate terms, policies, or service providers.
Location and Transmission of Data
You consent to your personal information and any related data collected by Legal Adjacency and any person or entity delivering services on behalf of Legal Adjacency being stored, duplicated, or located on servers located outside of Canada.
You also consent to your personal information and any related data being transmitted outside of Canada, even when transmitted between destinations within Canada. Personal information and data located or transmitted outside of Canada will be subject to the laws of other jurisdictions.
Limited Collection, Use, and Disclosure
We collect personal information by fair and lawful means and, wherever appropriate, directly from the individual. Wherever possible, we limit personal information we collect, use, or disclose to that necessary and appropriate to provide our legal services, advice, and representation and to operate our firm business. We limit the personal information we collect and use for client relationship and development purposes and for our publication and seminar programs to contact information and information about preferences provided by the individual.
We keep records of the work performed and services provided by us under applicable regulatory requirements and professional standards. These records may include personal information. Our records are stored with safeguards against inappropriate or unauthorized access (see Safeguards).
Accuracy of Information
To provide clients or subscribers with a professional level of service and to maintain contact preferences, we sometimes may ask you to update your personal information, contact information, or preferences, and we provide an ongoing opt-out opportunity by link or hard copy with all publications, invitations, and notices. Clients are encouraged to contact Legal Adjacency to update the personal information we maintain in our client files..
Safeguards
We protect personal information in our files and document management systems from loss, misuse, unauthorized access, and alteration by using physically secure facilities, password protection, standard security practices, and tools, and well-defined internal policies and practices. You can view our data security overview here.
Openness About Privacy Practices
The most up-to-date version of our Privacy Policy is available in its entirety at legaladjacency.com/privacy or by contacting our Privacy Officer by email.
Access to Your Personal Information
Individual clients may review any personal information about themselves we have on file by contacting our Privacy Officer. Individuals who are not clients may request access to the personal information we hold about them by written request to:
Attn: Privacy Officer
Martin Finestone Professional Corporation o/a Legal Adjacency
312 Hiawatha Dr., Waterloo, ON, N2L 5H5
or
privacyofficer@legaladjacency.com
We will provide access to such personal information, subject to exceptions stipulated or required by privacy legislation. Examples of such exceptions include information protected by solicitor-client privilege; information generated in a formal dispute resolution process; information about another individual where disclosure would reveal confidential commercial information; or information disclosed to the police or other lawful authorities where we must withhold disclosure. If you are concerned about the access we have provided or wish to advise us of inaccuracies in the information, you may contact our Privacy Officer.
Challenging Compliance with this Privacy Policy
Legal Adjacency will respond to complaints from individuals or questions about our compliance with this policy and with privacy laws. We will investigate and try to resolve all complaints. If you have questions about your privacy and our role in protecting it, please contact our Privacy Officer.
Changes to Our Privacy Policy
We reserve the right to change our Privacy Policy at any time by posting a new or updated version of the Privacy Policy on our Sites.