Privacy Policy

Introduction

LaBarge Weinstein LLP and its management corporations (“we”, “us”, “our”) are committed to protecting the Personal Information (as that term is defined below) of clients and other individuals such as website visitors (“you”, “your”). We safeguard your Personal Information through compliance with applicable privacy laws. Additionally, as a legal services firm, we have professional and ethical obligations imposed by the governing law societies in the jurisdictions in which we operate to keep confidential the information we receive in the context of a solicitor-client relationship.

This privacy policy (the “Privacy Policy”) explains how we collect, use and disclose Personal Information in the course of our business, including through the operation of our website (www.lwlaw.com) (the “Website”). Please note that our Website may contain links to third-party sites which are not governed by this Privacy Policy. If you go to such third-party sites, please review their privacy policies for information about how your Personal Information will be treated by those sites.

By submitting Personal Information to us, you signify your consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your Personal Information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If you do not consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your Personal Information in accordance with this Privacy Policy, please do not provide any Personal Information to us. However, certain services (including legal advisory services) can only be offered to you if you provide Personal Information.

Personal Information

Personal Information” means information about an identifiable individual or any information that allows an individual to be identified. Generally, this does not include information one expects to find on a business card such as your name, title, business address and telephone number unless such information is deemed to be Personal Information under the privacy laws applicable to your jurisdiction.

Consent

Wherever possible, we will obtain your consent to collect, use and disclose your Personal Information, unless otherwise permitted or required to do so by law. The type of consent we will seek will depend upon the circumstances, and may include express oral or written consent, implied consent (e.g. implied through your conduct) or opt-out consent. We assume that if you retain us, or if you are an adverse party or are otherwise involved in a matter under our retainer, you consent to our reasonable collection, use and disclosure of your Personal Information as needed to provide the services that we have been retained to provide.

By using our Website or retaining our firm to provide you with legal services, you consent to our collection, use and disclosure of your Personal Information as set forth in this Privacy Policy. If you submit any Personal Information of a third party, you represent and warrant to us that you have the necessary consent or legal authority to do so and also permit us to collect, use and disclose such Personal Information as specified in this Privacy Policy.

You may withdraw your consent to our collection, use and disclosure of your Personal Information at any time, subject to legal and/or contractual restrictions and upon reasonable notice. For example, if you opt-in to receive marketing communications from us, you may withdraw your consent to do so at any time by following the opt-out instructions in each communication, or by contacting our marketing department at unsubscribe@lwlaw.com. Withdrawal of your consent may limit our ability to provide you with certain services or information that may be of value to you.

Collection of Personal Information

We normally collect your Personal Information directly from you, at the start of or during the course of your retainer with our firm or when you contact us to request information about our services or to apply for an employment position. Occasionally, we may also obtain Personal Information from other sources such as a government agency or registry, other professionals who serve you, or other third parties with whom you have contractual or other legal relationships.

We limit the collection of your Personal Information to that which is required to enable us to provide you with the services requested, to operate our business, maintain our Website, and to comply with legal and regulatory requirements.

The types of Personal Information we may collect about you include your home address, telephone number, e-mail address, billing and bank account information, social insurance number, and information related to legal matters you are involved in. We may also ask you to provide us with photo identification. From time to time, we may collect Personal Information about other individuals associated with legal matters under our retainer, including directors, officers, employees, shareholders and investors or other third parties with whom you have contractual or other legal relationships.

Although we make commercially reasonable efforts to safeguard the Personal Information you provide to us by email or by using the “Contact Us” form on our Website, we cannot guarantee the confidentiality of such Personal Information, and it is important to recognize that such communication is not necessarily privileged. We recommend that information of a confidential and/or sensitive nature, including Personal Information, be provided directly to us by telephone or in person.

Web Traffic Analysis

When you visit our Website, we use Google Analytics to monitor traffic patterns, site usage and related site information. We do not use cookies or any electronic means to collect Personal Information from your computer and we do not collect IP addresses. However, Google collects IP addresses from Website visitors and tracks page views to deliver aggregated statistics and reporting to us. For more information, please see Google’s Privacy Policy, which is available at:  https://policies.google.com/privacy.

Storage and Transfer

We use servers located on our premises as well as cloud services hosted by third-party service providers whose servers are located in Canada and the United States. Specifically, we employ third-party cloud services to host our phone services, emails and documents, facilitate document execution and transfer, as well as for legal practice management, file management and transaction management. In addition, our trademark practice management software is hosted in the United Kingdom. Accordingly, your Personal Information may be available to government and/or law enforcement agencies in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, and may be accessed by these entities pursuant to a lawful order, irrespective of the safeguards we have implemented to protect your Personal Information.

Why We Collect Personal Information

We collect Personal Information in the normal course of our practice in order to:

  • determine whether we can act for you, including to assess potential conflicts of interest;
  • establish or verify your identity for know-your-client (“KYC”) and anti-money-laundering purposes;
  • provide legal services and complete ancillary transactions;
  • maintain client accounts and perform billing functions;
  • receive payments by wire transfer, credit card or cheque;
  • operate our firm Website;
  • provide you with information on our services, legal developments and invite you to attend our events;
  • fulfill our legal and professional obligations;
  • fulfill any other purpose permitted or required by law; and
  • for additional purposes for which you have provided us with consent.

If you apply to the firm for a job, we will consider your Personal Information as part of our review process and we generally retain this information after a decision has been made, unless we are asked not to retain the information. The information submitted by successful candidates will be retained in our employee records for future consideration in accordance with our standard practices.

Disclosure of Personal Information

We do not disclose your Personal Information without your consent unless permitted or required to do so by law or as reasonably necessary for us to complete the services you have retained us to provide.

From time to time, we may disclose your Personal Information in the normal course of business to:

  • third parties such as opposing counsel, or experts or consultants retained by us to assist us in providing you with legal services;
  • service providers retained by us such as archival file storage or insurance providers;
  • a third party we reasonably believe is acting as your agent;
  • third parties for the purpose of collecting outstanding accounts;
  • third parties to comply with court orders, regulatory rules (including the rules of applicable provincial law societies) or to satisfy our insurance requirements; and
  • any other parties, where you provide us with consent.

If we (or substantially all of our assets) are acquired, or if we go out of business, enter bankruptcy, or go through some other change of control, such as a merger or change of ownership, Personal Information may be made available or otherwise transferred to the new controlling entity, where permitted under applicable law.

How We Protect Your Personal Information

We use various safeguards to protect your Personal Information against loss, theft, misuse, unauthorized access, unauthorized disclosure, copying, or alteration. These include: security of our physical premises; our professional obligations; contractual obligations to bind third-party service providers; security software and firewalls; internal document retention and disposal practices; and passwords that restrict access to our electronic files.

Retention

We will keep your Personal Information for as long as it remains necessary for the identified purpose or as required by law, which may extend beyond the termination of our relationship with you. We may retain certain data as necessary to prevent fraud or future abuse, or for legitimate business purposes, such as analysis of aggregated, non-personal information, or if otherwise required by law. All retained Personal Information will remain subject to the terms of this Privacy Policy.

Accessing and Correcting Your Personal Information

You have the right to request access to your Personal Information, and to receive an accounting of how that information has been used and disclosed, subject to certain exceptions prescribed by law. For example, if the requested information would reveal Personal Information about another individual, your request for access may be limited or denied. If your request is denied, we will notify you in writing of the reason for the denial.

You also have a right to challenge the accuracy and completeness of your Personal Information, and to have it amended as appropriate.

If you would like to request access to your Personal Information, challenge the accuracy and completeness of your Personal Information, or if you have any concerns regarding our privacy practices, please contact our Privacy Officer at privacyofficer@lwlaw.com or at:

LaBarge Weinstein LLP

515 Legget Drive, Suite 800

Ottawa, ON K2K 3G4

T: 613.599.9600

F: 613.599.0018

Attention: LW Privacy Officer

Residents of the European Economic Area (“EEA”)

LaBarge Weinstein does not specifically offer goods or services to residents in the European Economic Area (“EEA”). If the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is deemed to apply to LaBarge Weinstein’s practices, the following terms shall apply:

Transfers of any personal data (as that term is defined under the GDPR) of residents of the EEA are made in accordance with permitted legal measures under applicable laws. Whenever we transfer personal data out of the EEA, we ensure a similar degree of protection by at least one of the following safeguards:

  • The country to which the personal data is being sent has been deemed to provide an adequate level of protection for personal data by the European Commission.
  • Where we use certain service providers, we may use specific contracts approved by the European Commission which give personal data the same protection it has in the EEA.
  • Where we use providers based in the U.S., we may transfer personal data to them if they are part of the Privacy Shield which requires them to provide similar protection to personal data shared between the EEA and the U.S.

The legal grounds under which we process personal data of EEA residents are:

  • with consent;
  • to perform the services you have requested from us or, upon your request, to take the steps necessary to provide you with such services; or
  • in the furtherance of our legitimate interests in maintaining business relationships and communicating with you as a business contact, about our activities and services.

Further, individuals located in the EEA have certain rights under European law (including under the GDPR) with respect to personal data, including the right to request access to, obtain, correct, amend, delete, or limit the use of your personal data. Individuals who are located in to the EEA and who wish to exercise these rights, should contact us using the contact information above. If the inquiry relates to personal data collected by a third party, such as one of our clients, you should contact such third party.

Individuals also have the right to make complaints to regulatory authorities in respect of our privacy practices.

Changes to Our Privacy Policy

From time to time, we may make changes to our Privacy Policy. We will notify you of such changes by updating this Website and/or by sending an email to the email address we have on file. Continued access and/or use of our Website or provision of Personal Information to us after any update to our Privacy Policy will constitute your acceptance of, and agreement to this revised Privacy Policy. Please periodically review our Privacy Policy so that you are aware of our current policies on the collection, use and disclosure of Personal Information.

Last Updated

August 1st, 2019

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