What Personal Information We Collect
The types of personal information we may collect include:
- Contact information – name, email address, telephone number, and postal address;
- Identity information – date of birth and government-issued identification documents, where required by law;
- Matter-related information – details about your legal matter, financial information, anddocuments you provide to us;
- Website usage data – IP address, browser type, pages visited, and other technical data collected automatically when you visit our Website; and
- Communications – records of correspondence between you and our firm.
Where practical, we will collect personal information directly from you. We may also collect information from third parties such as courts, government agencies, other lawyers, or referrers, where this is necessary to provide our services.
Sensitive Information
We may collect sensitive information (such as health information, criminal history, or immigration status) where it is relevant to your matter. We will only collect sensitive information with your consent or where otherwise required or authorised by law. We handle all sensitive information with the highest degree of care and confidentiality.
How We Use Your Personal Information
We collect and use your personal information for the following purposes:
- To provide legal services to you and manage your matter;
To communicate with you about your matter and our services; - To meet our professional obligations including file notes, billing, and trust accounting;
- To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations, including anti-money laundering requirements;
- To improve our Website and the services we offer;
- To respond to enquiries submitted via our Website or by email or phone;
- For direct marketing communications – where you have consented, or where we are otherwise permitted to do so under applicable law. You may opt out of marketing communications at any time.
Disclosure of Personal Information
We treat your personal information as confidential. We will not sell, trade, or rent your personal information to third parties. We may disclose your personal information to:
- Courts, tribunals, and regulatory authorities as required in the course of your matter;
- Barristers, experts, and other professionals engaged to assist with your matter;
- Other parties to a transaction or dispute, as required or authorised;
- Our IT service providers and cloud storage providers, who are bound by confidentiality and data protection obligations;
- Law enforcement or government agencies where we are required by law to do so;
- Our professional indemnity insurers and Law Society of NSW, where required.
We do not disclose your personal information to overseas recipients unless required in the context of an international matter, and only after taking reasonable steps to ensure adequate privacy protections are in place.
Storage and Security of Personal Information
We take the security of your personal information seriously. We store personal information in secure electronic systems and physical files, with access restricted to authorised staff only.We implement reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your information from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification, or disclosure. While we take all reasonable steps to secure your information, please be aware that no method of electronic transmission is completely secure.We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purpose for which it was collected, and in accordance with our legal and professional obligations.
Cookies and Website Analytics
Our Website may use cookies which are small data files stored on your device to improve your browsing experience and to analyse website traffic. We may use third-party analytics tools such as Google Analytics to help us understand how visitors interact with our Website. You can configure your browser to refuse cookies or to alert you when cookies are being sent. Please note that some features of the Website may not function properly if you disable
cookies.
Access to and Correction of Your Personal Information
You have the right to request access to the personal information we hold about you, and to request corrections if that information is inaccurate, incomplete, or out of date. To make such a request, please contact our office.
We will respond to your request within a reasonable time. In some circumstances, we may be unable to provide access, for example, where the information is subject to legal professional privilege, or where providing access would unreasonably impact the privacy of others. Where we decline a request, we will provide written reasons.
Complaints
If you believe we have mishandled your personal information or breached the Australian Privacy Principles, we encourage you to contact us in the first instance so that we can seek to resolve your concern.
We will aim to resolve your concern as soon as reasonably practicable. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at www.oaic.gov.au.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal obligations. The current version will always be available on our Website. We encourage you to review this Policy periodically.
Contact Our Privacy Officer
For any privacy-related enquiries, requests, or complaints, please contact our office who will refer you to the firm’s privacy officer.