Szemplinski Law Offices ("SLO") endeavours to maintaining the accuracy, security, and privacy of Personal Information in accordance with applicable legislation. This Privacy Policy is a statement of principles and guidelines concerning the protection of Personal Information of SLO's clients and other individuals.
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Consent
By submitting Personal Information to SLO or its service providers and agents, you agree that SLO may collect, use, and disclose such Personal Information in accordance with this Privacy Policy and as permitted or required by law.
SLO assumes that an individual has consented to the reasonable collection and use of Personal Information consistent with the purposes for which the information was given when the individual initiates contact with SLO or voluntarily provides Personal Information to SLO. SLO also assumes that clients who retain SLO, or individuals involved in proceedings or matters opposite or adverse to SLO's clients, consent to the reasonable collection, use, and disclosure of their Personal Information by SLO's professionals and agents for purposes of representation or provision of legal advice to clients and the conduct of the transactions or proceedings involving clients.
Subject to legal and contractual requirements, you may refuse or withdraw your consent to certain of the identified purposes at any time by contacting SLO's Privacy Officer. If you refuse or withdraw your consent, SLO may not be able to provide you or continue to provide you with certain services or information.
If you provide SLO or its service providers and agents with Personal Information of another individual, you represent that you have all necessary authority and/or have obtained all necessary consents from such person to enable SLO to collect, use, and disclose such Personal Information for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy.
- Personal Information Collected
Personal Information means information about an identifiable individual as defined from time to time in applicable privacy legislation. Personal Information does not include information that is considered business contact information, being your name, title or position, business address, telephone number, fax number, or email address.
The types of Personal Information that SLO may collect about you include your name, home address, telephone number, personal email address, billing and account information, information about a legal issue and other information incidental to providing legal advice and services, including Personal Information about witnesses, family members, beneficiaries, directors, officers, employees, adverse parties, interested parties, investigators, decision-makers, experts, other professional advisors, and SLO's clients' business partners, investors, shareholders, competitors, and customers who are individuals.
SLO retains the right to use aggregated information in any way that it deems appropriate, including providing aggregated information to third parties. Such aggregate information does not include any identifiable Personal Information.
- Reasons for Collecting Personal Information
SLO collects, uses, and discloses Personal Information about its clients and service providers in order to provide its clients with professional legal services and representation. More specifically, SLO collects, uses, and discloses your Personal Information for the following purposes:
a. To establish and manage client relationships, provide legal advice, perform legal services, fulfill legal duties, and avoid conflicts of interest. This may include the sharing of Personal Information by and between SLO personnel and affiliated companies and entities for such purposes.
b. To share Personal Information to and from third parties for the purpose of providing legal services. Such third parties may include opposing parties, interested parties, opposing, foreign, and other counsel and advisors, witnesses, decision-makers, and experts.
c. To consider whether SLO should establish a commercial relationship with clients, suppliers, and other third parties, including to evaluate credit standing and to match credit bureau or credit reporting agency information.
d. To establish and maintain commercial relationships with clients, suppliers, and other third parties, including to issue invoices, administer accounts, collect and process payments, and to fulfill contractual obligations.
e. To understand and respond to client, supplier, and other third party needs and preferences, including to contact and communicate with such parties and to conduct surveys, research, and evaluations.
f. To develop, enhance, market, sell, or otherwise provide SLO's products and services.
g. To market, sell, or otherwise provide products and services of third parties with whom SLO has a commercial relationship.
h. To distribute newsletters, conference information, legal updates, and other material to individuals on SLO's mail and email lists, including via third party mailing houses and email service providers.
i. To develop and manage SLO's knowledge-management precedent systems and databases.
j. To develop and manage SLO's business and operations.
k. To detect and protect SLO and other third parties against error, negligence, breach of contract, fraud, theft, and other illegal activity, to audit compliance with SLO's policies and contractual obligations, and to monitor and enforce compliance with this Website's Terms of Use.
l. To engage in business transactions, including the purchase, sale, lease, merger, amalgamation, or any other type of acquisition, disposal, securitization, or financing involving SLO.
m. To consider the admission of individuals as employees, associates, or contractors of the firm. If you apply to SLO for a job or contract, your Personal Information has to be considered as part of the review process. SLO normally retains information from candidates after a decision has been made, unless you ask us not to retain the information. If SLO offers you a job which you accept, the information will be retained in accordance with SLO's privacy procedures for employee records.
n. As permitted by, and to comply with, any legal or regulatory requirements or provisions.
o. For any other purpose to which you consent.
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Parties to whom Personal Information may be Disclosed
From time to time, SLO may disclose your Personal Information as permitted by this Website's Terms of Use, and to:
a. Service providers, including an organization or individual retained by SLO to perform functions on its behalf, such as marketing, data processing, document management, corporate, legal, filing, and office services.
b. An organization or individual retained by SLO to evaluate your creditworthiness or to collect debts outstanding on an account.
c. A financial institution, on a confidential basis and solely in connection with the assignment of a right to receive payment, the provision of security, or other financing arrangements.
d. A person who, in the reasonable judgment of SLO, is providing or seeking the information as your agent.
e. To SLO's insurers and to regulatory agencies, in particular provincial law societies, or others in connection with regulatory or other activities relating to the obligations of SLO and its practice of the profession of law.
f. Any third party or parties, where you consent to such disclosure or where disclosure is required or permitted by law.
Personal Information may also be subject to transfer to another organization in the event of a merger or change of ownership of all or part of SLO. This will occur only if the parties have entered into an agreement under which the collection, use, and disclosure of the information is restricted to those purposes that relate to the business transaction, including a determination whether or not to proceed with the business transaction, and is to be used by the parties to carry out and complete the business transaction.
- Accessing Personal Information
Upon your written request, subject to certain exceptions, SLO will inform you of the existence, use, and disclosure of your Personal Information.
Your right to information about your Personal Information is not absolute. We may deny access when, in our sole discretion:
a. Denial of access is required or authorized by law.
b. Information is protected by lawyer-client confidentiality, or any type of privilege.
c. Information is generated in the course of a formal dispute resolution process.
d. Information relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings against you or any other party.
e. When granting you access would have an unreasonable impact on other people's privacy, where disclosure would reveal confidential information, or where any other person's interests may be affected.
f. When to do so would prejudice negotiations with you or any other party.
g. To protect SLO's rights and property.
h. Where the request is frivolous or vexatious, or would incur unreasonable time or cost, or is not feasible.
We may request that you provide sufficient identification and signed authorizations to permit access to the existence, use, or disclosure of your Personal Information.
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Storage and Security of Personal Information
To help protect the confidentiality of your Personal Information, SLO may employ administrative and technological safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of your Personal Information.
However, most methods of communication and storage are not fully secure and security measures may create challenges to the efficient exchange of information. Email is often the preferred method of communication and unless you object, SLO may use unencrypted emails when communicating with you.
SLO does not sell any Personal Information it has obtained.
- Privacy and the Website
a. Cookies - When an individual visitor accesses the SLO Website, a browser feature called a "cookie" may be used to collect information such as the type of web browser and operating system the visitor uses, the domain name of the website from which the visitor came, date and duration of the visit, number of visits, average time spent on the Website, pages viewed and number of cookies accumulated. A cookie is a small text file containing a unique identification number that identifies the visitor's browser, but not necessarily the visitor, each time the Website is visited. Unless a visitor specifically informs SLO, SLO will not know who the individual visitors are. In addition to the identified purposes described in this Privacy Policy, SLO may use this website information and share it with other organizations with whom SLO has a commercial relationship to measure the use of the Website, to improve its functionality and content, and to facilitate usage by a visitor. Visitors can configure their browsers either to notify them when they have received a cookie or refuse to accept cookies. However, if a visitor refuses to accept cookies, he or she may not be able to use some of the features available on the Website.
b. Online Communications - In order to provide website visitors with a service or information, visitors may voluntarily submit Personal Information to SLO for purposes such as asking a question, obtaining information, reviewing or downloading a publication, participating in a seminar or other event, and participating in contests and surveys. If you are known to SLO as a registered user of an online service, we may combine and store Personal Information about your use of the Website and the online information you have provided with certain other online and offline information SLO may have collected.
c. Email Communications - Occasionally, SLO may send marketing or promotional email communications to you with information that may be useful, including information about the services of SLO and other third parties with whom SLO has a relationship. Included in any such communications will be instructions on how to unsubscribe and inform SLO of preferences if you decide you do not want to receive any future marketing or promotional emails from SLO.
d. Links - The Website may contain links to other websites which are provided as a convenience only. Other third-party websites may have different privacy policies and practices than SLO. Operators of linked websites may collect your Personal Information and information when you link to their websites. SLO is not responsible for how such third parties collect, use, or disclose your Personal Information, so it is important to review their privacy policies before providing them with your Personal Information.
e. Logs - Your IP address, information about your browser and computer, and details about your activity on this Website may be collected and stored indefinitely for security and statistical purposes. By accessing this website, you agree to collection and storage of such information, whether by us or by various service providers. This information is our property or the property of service providers, and we have no obligation to release it to you.
- Changes to Privacy Policy
SLO may revise this Privacy Policy at any time by updating this web page. Use of the Website after such changes are posted will signify your acceptance of the revised Privacy Policy. It is your responsibility to check for such updates.
- Further Information
For information on SLO's privacy practices, contact the SLO Privacy Officer at:
Szemplinski Law Offices
104 - 34 Lakeshore Road East
Mississauga, ON, L5G 1C8, Canada
Tel: 905-602-5100
Fax: 905-602-5101