Privacy Notice

PD Law Solicitors is a trading name of PD Law (NW) Limited providing legal services to clients.

We are committed to protecting your information and privacy.

This notice explains how we use and process personal information collected. It addresses information provided to us

When visiting our site
When consulting in connection with provision of legal services
Otherwise as a result of our communications with you or one of our clients

It sets out how we process it, with who we may share it and choices you can make regarding use of information collected. We also describe measures taken to protect security of information provided and how you can contact us about our privacy practices. Please read it carefully to understand our views and practices about why personal information is collected,

Data Protection

For Data Protection Act 2018 notification purposes we are registered as a data controller with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO). Our registration details are as follows:

PD Law (NW) Limited – Z2578657

Our nominated Data Protection Officer is: Phillip Doyle

He can be contacted at info@pdlawsolicitors.co.uk or on 0151 422 8070

Who we are

PD Law Solicitors, 6 Mulberry Avenue, Widnes, Cheshire WA8 0WN are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) number SRA ID: 556246 in England and Wales.

As a regulated practice, we process personal information in accordance with data protection legislation and in line with obligations imposed on us under the SRA Codes of Conduct 2019.

How we collect your personal information

We collect, retain and process personal information to enable us to give legal advice, provide legal services and conduct legal proceedings on behalf of our clients.

We may collect personal information in a number of ways, including:

Online via our website or social media accounts such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook
In hard copy by fax or post, in person, via email or over the telephone
During the course of our dealings with you for or on behalf of a client
When you contact us via our website by filling in a claim or contact form or request a quote.
When you contact us with queries, we may keep a record of that correspondence
When you attend in person at one of our offices
When we collect your personal data from other third parties, for example from our estate agents, insurers, other clients or their representatives or other law firms
When we collect publicly available information about you or your business, including through electronic data sources, for example in connecting with anti-money laundering and credit risk reduction
For placement, recruitment and selection purposes.

Personal information collected

The type of information collected depends upon our relationship with you and the context in which we obtain and process your personal data.

Information collected and processed may include details of the following types of information:

Contact information (name, address, (including postal and email addresses), telephone and fax numbers and gender)
Occupational information, (job title, former job titles, organisational associations, professional experience and qualifications, interests and preferences where you advise us of these details in order to provide you with relevant tailored information about our services)
Identification documents, including date of birth and photographic identification
Online services in respect of which you have expressed an interest
Other information collected and used in the course of our business, including information provided by our clients concerning employees of our clients or those providing services to our Clients

What we do with personal information collected

We use the information provided to:

Ensure content from our site is presented in the most effective manner
Contact you by email, fax, post or phone where you have provided contact details. We may also keep a record of that correspondence
Notify you about changes to our service
Improve our products and services
Maintain internal records, including about cancelled accounts
Ensure good governance, accounting, management and auditing
Carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into between us
Refer you to another business about other legal services which may be of benefit to your interests
Provide you with information, products or services which you request from us
Send you information which you may find of interest where you have indicated your wish to be contacted for such purposes
Pass your details to experts, including counsel and other professionals for the purposes of obtaining professional advice and complying with our contractual obligations
To contact you in the course of providing services to our clients
Assist with recruitment and selection process
Where we have other legitimate reasons or take other action required or permitted by law or for other safety and security reasons
To respond to complaints against us.

Who do we share your information with

In providing our services, we may provide your personal information to staff in our office or other third parties, such as:

To other suppliers, such as expert witnesses, counsel, or other external agencies that we engage on our/your behalf. When we do so, they are required to act in accordance with our instructions and keep your personal information secure with an adequate level of protection
To courts, tribunals and other government bodies and relevant regulators (SRA and the ICO) in connection with matters relating to provision of our services
To professional indemnity insurers, brokers, auditors and other professional advisers
To our clients in connection with the provision of our services
To auditors in connection with maintenance of our quality certifications
To other third parties when required by law or other regulatory authority, where we are under a duty to do so to comply with legal or professional obligations (for example to comply with anti-money laundering obligations and counter terrorism measures)
To enforce or protect our rights, property or the safety of our partners, staff and clients. (This includes exchanging information with other companies and organisations for the purposes of fraud prevention and detection and credit risk reduction)
To other parties in legal proceedings, including solicitors acting on the other side of a case or transaction
To financial institutions providing finance for transactions.

On what basis do we process your information

The legal grounds for processing your personal data depend upon the nature of our relationship with you and the context of processing and are as follows:

Processing is necessary for the performance of a contract with you, or to take steps prior to entering into a contract with you. Our retainer is comprised of our engagement letter and our terms and conditions of business which sets out the terms of the contract and the services to be provided to you.
Processing is necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests or those of our clients in the provision of legal services and use in legal proceedings, except where those interests are overridden by the interests, rights or freedoms of affected individuals. In order to determine this we shall weigh up a number of factors, including what you were told at the time you provided your data, what your reasonable expectations are, and the nature of the data as well as its impact upon you
Processing is necessary for compliance with mandatory legal obligations to which we are subject.

How long do we keep your personal information

We only retain your information for as long as is necessary for the purpose for which it was obtained. This could include compliance with legal obligations (by way of example, in relation to anti money laundering regulations where we are required to keep information for minimum periods). It could also include conducting legal work as instructed, or establishing or defending claims which could be made against us, for example for negligence in the performance of our obligations.

Information collected from you concerning other people

Where you provide personal information to us about other people, we accept it on the understanding that you have made the other person aware about how we will use and disclose their information.

Children

Our services are not aimed at children. In matters involving children they will be represented by parents or legal guardians. Where we are acting in matters involving children we will explain why their personal data is needed and how it will be used.

Access to your information

You have the right to request details of personal information which we hold about you.

If you would like a copy of your personal information, please write to Phillip Doyle, PD Law Solicitors, 6 Mulberry Avenue, Turnstone Business Park, Widnes WA8 0WN.

Other rights

You also have the right to correct or complete information held by us.

If you think any information we have about you is incorrect, incomplete or needs updating please also let us know. We will update any information as soon as possible.

You may also in certain circumstances:

Request that we erase the personal data we hold about you
Restrict its processing whilst we continue to hold it
Where we process your data by automated means, ask us to transmit that data to another data controller. If you wish to request this we will let you know whether this is possible, taking into account compatibility of systems of the other data controller to whom you wish the transfer to be made
Object to processing. If you raise such objection we must stop unless we can demonstrate (1) an overriding legitimate business interest or (2) such processing is necessary in relation to legal proceedings
To have a decision taken by a human. We are however unlikely to take decisions which have a legal or similarly significant effect on you by automated means
Have a right to be notified of a personal data breach if it results in a high risk to your rights and freedoms
Right to withdraw your consent if you have given your consent to our processing of any of your personal data. (Please note that if you withdraw your consent, this will not affect the validity of any processing carried out prior to withdrawal).

These requests are free of charge.

Depending on the nature and extent of your request, we may be unable to continue acting for you. In this event, you will remain liable for our fees and disbursements incurred before the request was made.

Our contact information in connection with the exercise of these rights or other privacy issues appears at the bottom of this page.

If you consider we have breached our obligations in respect of your personal data you may raise your concerns with us. Alternatively, you can complain to the Information Commissioners Office. Further details can be found at ico.org.uk

Security and storage

All information you provide to us in electronic format is stored on our secure server within the United Kingdom

The internet is a global environment. It can involve transmission of data on an international basis. Transmission of information via the internet or any social media is not completely secure. By using our site and communicating with us electronically, you acknowledge and accept our processing of your personal information in this way.

Although we adopt appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its security when sent to this site. Transmission is at your own risk.

Once your information is received by us either in electronic or physical form, we take all reasonable steps necessary to prevent unauthorised access and ensure your information is handled securely and in accordance with this privacy notice. We have put in place suitable electronic, physical and managerial procedures to protect and secure the information collected.

How to contact us

If you have any queries or requests regarding this notice, or our practices concerning your personal data, please contact Phillip Doyle, Data Protection Officer, PD Law Solicitors, 6 Mulberry Avenue, Turnstone Business Park, Widnes WA8 0WN or email info@pdlawsolicitors.co.uk

We will take reasonable steps to resolve or answer concerns as soon as possible and normally within 30 days.

(Kindly note that queries about legal claims/legal matters should be directed to the file handler with conduct of the case as identified in our correspondence with you.)