We recognize the importance of your personal privacy and the sensitivity of your personal information. As lawyers, paralegals and law clerks we have a professional obligation to keep confidential all information we receive during our relationship. This Privacy Policy outlines how we manage your personal information and safeguard your privacy.
In order to properly represent you, we require our client’s personal information. Wherever possible we collect your personal information directly from you. But sometimes we may obtain information about you from other sources, such as:
- The insurance company
- A government agency or registry
- An employer
- An accountant or other professional, like a doctor
- The other side in a litigation matter
We use your personal information to provide legal advice and services, to fulfill our own professional responsibilities, to manage our conflict avoidance program and, occasionally, to include you in our marketing activities.
We retain personal information as long as may be necessary to complete our retainer, fulfill our own professional responsibilities, conduct our business, satisfy the requirements of the Law Society of Upper Canada and our insurers, and as may be required for the maintenance of our marketing activities and our conflicts system.
Under certain circumstances, and/or as part of our retainer, BachmannLaw, the Personal Injury Group will disclose your personal information, such as:
- When we are required or authorized by law to do so.
- When you have consented to the disclosure, expressly or by implication, or the disclosure is necessary in the matter about which we have been retained.
- When our retainer requires us to give your information to third parties (for example to a doctor for the purpose of obtaining a medical opinion) your consent will be implied, unless you tell us otherwise.
- Where it is necessary to establish or collect fees.
- If we engage a third party to provide administrative services to us (like computer back-up services or archival file storage, or our auditors).
- If we engage expert witnesses on your behalf or retain other law firms on your behalf.
- If the information is already publicly known.
We take all reasonable precautions to ensure that personal information is kept safe from loss, unauthorized access, modification or disclosure.
You may ask for access to any personal information we hold about you. However, we may ask that we be reimbursed for the time and cost to us of such access at our normal rates.
Rights to access your personal information are not absolute. We may deny access when:
- Denial of access is required or authorized by law (for example, when a record containing personal information about you is subject to a claim of legal professional privilege by BachmannLaw, the Personal Injury Group or one of our clients).
- Information relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings.
- Granting you access would have an unreasonable impact on other people’s privacy.
- To do so would prejudice negotiations.
- To protect our firm’s rights and property.
- Where the request is frivolous or vexatious.