Privacy
Privacy Policy
Aird & Berlis LLP and our affiliates, Aird & McBurney LP and Maxims Limited Partnership, (collectively, the “Firm”) are committed to the proper management of the personal information of clients and others, and of all visitors to our website (“Website”) that we collect, use and disclose in the course of business.
This Privacy Policy evidences our commitment to maintaining the privacy of our clients and individuals with whom we interact in the course of business. This Privacy Policy provides information on how the Firm collects, uses and discloses the personal information we collect and use in the course of our dealings. The Privacy Policy also describes our practices regarding the privacy of information that we collect through our Website, which is hosted and operated from Canada.
Our collection, use and disclosure of personal information are governed by applicable privacy legislation as well as our professional obligations as required by the Law Society of Ontario. As legal professionals, we are required to maintain the confidentiality of our clients. The standards provided for in this Privacy Policy are maintained in addition to any professional obligations of confidentiality to which we are already subject.
Please note that any communications or transmission of information to the Firm or to any member of our Firm for marketing purposes or to request information about the Firm, through the use of our Website or otherwise, is not intended to create, and receipt of which will not constitute, a solicitor-client relationship.
Controlling the collection, use and disclosure of personal information is an ongoing process. We will continue to review our personal information management practices and improve them as necessary to better protect the privacy of individuals.
We want you to be able to access the information you’re looking for quickly. To help with that, please click on the links below.
1. What Is Personal Information?
3. Collection of Personal Information
4. Purposes of Personal Information
9. Disclosure of Personal Information
10. Transborder Flow of Information
12. Retention of Personal Information
13. Protection of Personal Information
14. Your Access to Your Personal Information
17. More Information About the Firm’s Privacy Practices
18. Questions and Contacting the Firm’s Privacy Officer
1. What Is Personal Information?
For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, the term “Personal Information” means any information that is defined to be Personal Information under applicable privacy laws. This typically includes information about an identified individual or information of an individual whose identity may be inferred or determined from the information; however, it typically does not include business contact information used for communicating with such individual about their job.
The type of information that may be collected includes but is not limited to your name and home contact information, billing and account information, “know your client” and other information we’re required to collect pursuant to applicable law, as well as information relevant to a client’s legal matters and information incidental to the provision of legal advice and services by the Firm.
Examples of this type of information include Personal Information about directors, officers and employees of a client or other parties, witnesses, beneficiaries, family members, adverse parties or parties-in-interest, information about shareholders, security holders, investors, potential investors, buyers or sellers, business partners, competitors, target entities and their representatives, individuals, clients, pension plan members and other individuals, as well as copies of personal identification which may provide or confirm this Personal Information. We collect this information through retainers, ongoing legal relationships, general correspondence, faxes, emails, electronic messages and telephone inquiries, or through the “Contact Us” link on our Website.
2. Your Consent
By providing us with your Personal Information, you consent to the collection, use and disclosure of that information as described in this Privacy Policy.
We will not, as a condition of supplying a service, require you to consent to the collection, use or disclosure of your Personal Information beyond that required to enable us to provide the services requested. The form of the consent that we will seek before collecting, using or disclosing Personal Information may vary, depending upon the circumstances and the type of information, and includes express oral or written consent, implied consent and opt-out consent. We will consider the sensitivity of the information and the individual’s reasonable expectations in determining how consent must be given.
You may refuse to give Personal Information and may, subject to legal or contractual restrictions and reasonable notice, withdraw consent at any time to the continued use and disclosure of Personal Information previously collected. The period of reasonable notice will vary depending on the nature of the information and its purpose to the Firm. The Firm will inform you of the implications of refusing or withdrawing consent, which may have legal consequences or preclude the Firm from providing legal or other services.
If you provide us with the Personal Information of another individual, you represent and warrant that you have the authority to do so, including where applicable that you have obtained the necessary consent of the other person for us to collect, use and/or disclose their Personal Information.
3. Collection of Personal Information
We will not collect Personal Information indiscriminately. We will limit the amount and type of information we collect to that necessary to fulfil the purposes we have identified to you, or as otherwise permitted or required by law. We may also collect information about your business and business interests, or your personal interests, to better serve you and foster our relationship.
4. Purposes of Personal Information
The Firm collects, uses and discloses your Personal Information for the following purposes:
(a) collecting, recording and using the information relevant to the performance of the services rendered to our clients;
(b) establishing and managing client relationships, providing legal advice, performing legal services, fulfilling legal duties and avoiding legal conflicts of interest;
(c) sharing Personal Information with third-party agents, contractors or service providers (the “Agents”), or otherwise, for the purpose of providing legal services in the context of legal proceedings, including conducting litigation, arbitrations, mediations or other proceedings (which may include opposing parties, parties in interests, opposing, foreign and other counsel and advisors, witnesses, courts, adjudicators, arbitrators, other decision-makers and experts);
(d) contacting and communicating with clients and other individuals for the purpose of conducting market research and evaluating client service and satisfaction;
(e) distributing our publications and invitations to events to individuals who subscribe to our mailing lists (with rights to unsubscribe should you no longer wish to receive the publications and invitations);
(f) maintaining, developing and managing our document management, knowledge management and precedent systems and databases, including the facilitation of precedent and template-type documents for purposes of ensuring efficiency and cost effectiveness of services;
(g) developing and managing our business and operations;
(h) recording and determining the services the Firm will provide to you in the course of your relationship with us;
(i) administrative purposes, including but not limited to accounting, performing credit checks, billing and collection in relation to your account and your relationship with us;
(j) communication between you and our lawyers and other legal professionals, including assistants and clerks, generally as well as communicating information to our Agents in the course of a contract or providing our services to you;
(k) recruitment purposes;
(l) the development of programs (including seminars and other events) that may be of interest to you and the delivery of an invitation to such seminars or events, including educational, networking or other seminars run by the Firm;
(m) detecting and protecting against fraud and error, negligence, breach of contract, theft and other illegal activity and, where necessary, to meet our insurance requirements;
(n) communicating with our insurers;
(o) for employees of the Firm, we will maintain your Personal Information in an employee file, which will be collected and used for the purposes of decision-making regarding your hiring, duties, transfer, training, discipline, evaluation, promotion and retention, recording and determining your eligibility for participation in various benefit plans offered by the Firm to employees, and communicating this information to Agents in the course of the performance of a contract or otherwise in our relationship with you;
(p) responding to your questions or concerns, as submitted by you through our Website; and
(q) as permitted by and to comply with applicable legal or regulatory requirements or provisions, as well as our professional obligations vis-a-vis the Law Society of Ontario.
For employees, officers, directors and partners of the Firm, you also understand that we may use and disclose your Personal Information to third parties connected with the proposed or actual financing, insuring, sale, securitization, assignment or other disposal of all or part of our business or assets (including accounts) for the purposes of evaluating and/or performing the proposed transaction. These purposes may include, as examples, permitting such parties to determine whether to proceed or continue with the transaction, fulfilling any reporting or audit requirements to such parties, and/or disclosing Personal Information as part of concluding a sale or transfer of assets. Disclosure in this manner will only occur 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 contemplated, 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. Also, the Personal Information disclosed in this instance will be, to the extent practicable, anonymized or aggregated.
Our successors and assigns may collect, use and disclose your Personal Information for substantially the same purposes as described in this Privacy Policy.
When possible, we will collect Personal Information from you directly. However, to provide legal services to clients, or for legal, administrative, marketing or management purposes, we may also collect Personal Information through outside sources such as credit bureaus, government agencies or institutions, employment and other references, employers and service providers.
5. Internet Service Provider
Certain information may be collected on our Website through various technologies, described below, without you actively providing the information.
Our Website is hosted on servers shared with an internet service provider (“ISP”). Any Personal Information collected on our behalf by the ISP, such as server log data, is managed in accordance with this Privacy Policy and is protected by applicable law.
Certain information about internet users’ traffic patterns is passively and automatically collected and linked to users’ Internet Protocol (“IP”) addresses. These unique IP addresses are assigned to all web users by their ISPs and are automatically logged by internet servers. While the IP address itself does not identify an individual, it may, in appropriate circumstances such as an investigation of a security breach, be used with the co-operation of the ISP to locate and identify an individual using our Website.
6. Server Logs
In the normal course of establishing and maintaining internet connections, our servers automatically log information about visits to our Website. Server logs record statistical information, such as a visitor’s IP address and type of operating system, time and duration of visit and web pages requested. The server logs also identify categories of visitors by items such as domain and browser type. These statistics are reported in aggregate form to us and are used to improve our Website and ensure that it provides the optimal online experience for visitors.
We do not link server log information to any other data in a way that would enable us to identify individual visitors, except for security purposes, as discussed above.
7. Cookies
Like many other websites, our Website makes use of “per-session” and “persistent” cookie technology. Cookies are small text files that contain a unique identification number that are automatically deposited on a visitor’s computer. Per-session cookies track information during an open session and are stored only temporarily in your computer’s memory. Persistent cookies are deposited on a visitor’s computer until they expire or until the visitor deletes the cookies. Information from these cookies help us analyze traffic patterns to our Website, including the total number of visitors, the geographical location of the visitor and the types of internet browsers (e.g., Google Chrome, Firefox or Microsoft Edge) and operating systems (e.g., Windows or Apple MacOS) that our visitors use. We use this information and information you input into our Website to learn more about you and enhance your online visits. We do not cross-reference this information with any type of Personal Information that is voluntarily offered through our Website.
The use of cookie technology is common on the internet, and many internet browsers are initially set to accept cookies automatically. If you would prefer not to accept cookies, you can set your internet browser to notify you when your computer is receiving a cookie or to refuse cookies automatically. To readjust your internet browser’s cookie options, please refer to the instruction documentation of your particular browser or seek online assistance.
8. Remarketing
Our Website also uses third-party vendor remarketing tracking cookies, including the Google Ads tracking cookie. This means we will show ads to you across the internet, specifically on the Google Display Network. We do not collect Personal Information through the use of Google or any other third party’s remarketing system. Rather, third-party vendors will place cookies on web browsers in order to serve ads based on past visits to our Website. This allows us to continue to market our services to those who have shown interest in our firm.
You may opt out of Google’s use of cookies by visiting Google’s Ads Settings. Also, you can opt out of other third-party vendors’ use of remarketing cookies by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page.
9. Disclosure of Personal Information
We disclose Personal Information as described in this Privacy Policy, with your consent, or as otherwise permitted or required by law. To provide legal services, we may sometimes disclose our clients’ Personal Information to the Firm’s affiliates and to third parties, including foreign Agents and government or regulatory agencies.
We may disclose Personal Information:
(a) to third parties when it is necessary to do so to provide legal services to you; for example, when we engage an expert or consultant on your behalf in a matter, or when we retain another law firm or Agent to act or assist us on your behalf;
(b) to service providers, inside or outside Canada, retained by the Firm to assist us with marketing or other services, including technical support and mailing. We limit the service provider’s right to use the Personal Information only for the services it provides to us, and we require the service provider to maintain the confidentiality of the Personal Information and to take steps to protect the security of the Personal Information we give it;
(c) to third parties to assist us in evaluating your creditworthiness or to collect debts outstanding on an account;
(d) to anyone whom we reasonably believe is your Agent;
(e) to our insurers and to regulatory agencies in connection with regulatory or other activities relating to the obligations of the Firm and its professional responsibilities in relation to the practice of law;
(f) in connection with a business transaction involving the Firm; and
(g) to other third parties, where you consent or where such disclosure is required or permitted by law.
10. Transborder Flow of Information
Your Personal Information may be processed, accessed, disclosed, transferred and/or stored (collectively, “Processed”) in Canada or another jurisdiction for those purposes set out herein. To the extent that Personal Information is Processed outside Canada, it will be subject to the laws of that jurisdiction, which may be different than those of Canada. For example, such laws may permit the disclosure of information to law enforcement and government authorities in that jurisdiction. We use contractual and other measures designed to ensure that Personal Information is protected in a manner consistent with our policies.
11. Third Parties
In respect of the Firm’s use of Agents who may receive Personal Information in the course of their work for the Firm and the Firm’s delivery of services to you, the Firm will use contractual and/or other arrangements to ensure that the Agents use the same level of protection of your Personal Information as is required by the Firm in accordance with this Privacy Policy. The types of services these Agents may be contracted to deliver to the Firm include, but are not limited to, website hosting, data analysis, newsletter services, credit agencies, promotional activities and other administrative services.
12. Retention of Personal Information
The amount of time we will retain Personal Information varies, depending on the services we have provided to you and the nature of the Personal Information we hold. This period typically extends past your immediate relationship with the Firm but will be only as long as is necessary for us to maintain sufficient information to respond to any issues that arise at a later date and as required or permitted by law. Once that time period elapses, we will utilize the procedures we have in place to safely destroy, delete, erase or otherwise dispose of the information, or to convert it into aggregated non-identifying form.
13. Protection of Personal Information
The Firm is committed to protecting the security of your Personal Information. We therefore use industry-standard technology and security safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the Personal Information to protect it from loss or theft, as well as unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use or modification. These safeguards include physical measures, such as restricted access to offices, equipment using biometric-based pass card technology and daily shredding of documents; organizational measures, such as training and security clearances; and publishing this policy to all of the Firm’s members and personnel with strict instructions to act in accordance with its principles and technological measures, such as the use of encryption, firewalls, digitally locked files and, of course, password protections.
Despite using reasonable security measures, no measure is 100 per cent secure. Our security processes are designed to mitigate risks in a reasonable manner. If you have reason to believe that your interaction with us, whether personally, through our Website, or otherwise, is no longer secure (e.g., you suspect that the security of your Personal Information has been compromised), we ask that you immediately notify us of the problem by contacting us using the contact information provided below.
14. Your Access to Your Personal Information
You can ask to view your Personal Information by writing to the Privacy Officer, whose postal and email addresses are provided at the conclusion of this Privacy Policy. You can request that corrections be made where you can show that the information we possess is inaccurate. Please note that under certain circumstances, you may not be permitted access; for example, where the disclosure of your records would cause security, legal or confidentiality concerns.
15. Links to Other Websites
Our Website may contain links to other websites. While we try to link only to websites that share our standards and respect for privacy, we are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of other websites. We strongly encourage all Website visitors to review the privacy statements and policies of all external websites.
16. Changes to Privacy Policy
We may amend this Privacy Policy at any time. We will post the Privacy Policy as amended on our Website and will take reasonable steps to inform you of any material amendments.
17. More Information About the Firm’s Privacy Practices
Please contact the Firm’s Privacy Officer with any questions or concerns you have about this Privacy Policy or the Firm’s handling of your Personal Information. We will respond as quickly as reasonably possible to your inquiry.
18. Questions and Contacting the Firm’s Privacy Officer
If you have questions about accessing your Personal Information, our practices surrounding the collection, use and disclosure of Personal Information, this Privacy Policy, or complaints about how your Personal Information has been handled, please email the Firm’s Privacy Officer or contact her using the information below:
Paige Backman
Aird & Berlis LLP
Brookfield Place, 181 Bay Street, Suite 1800
Toronto, Ontario M5J 2T9
T 416.863.1500 F 416.863.1515