Scott Nicol Professional Corporation (Nicol Law, we, us) recognizes the importance of client privacy, including the sensitivity of the personal information we may have. We are committed to safeguarding the personal information we have or control concerning any individual.
As lawyers we have a professional and ethical obligation to keep confidential all information we receive within a lawyer-client relationship subject to other legal requirements and a client or prospective client’s (you) instructions to provide legal services.
Your Privacy Rights
We manage your personal information in compliance with Alberta’s Personal Information Protection Act, the Law Society of Alberta’s regulating documents, and Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, as applicable. Should you choose to engage our services, your information will be governed by this Privacy Statement and our Engagement General Terms.
Why We Collect Personal Information
We collect personal information for the purposes of serving your legal and related needs, including to determine whether we can serve those needs. We follow reasonable and prudent business practices to collect, use, and disclose your personal information.
The Personal Information We Collect
Personal information is any information that identifies you. In Alberta, business contact information such as your office address, job title, business phone number, email address, fax number or other related business contact information is not considered personal information.
How We Collect Personal Information
We collect information only by lawful and fair means. We will obtain your written consent to make directed individual requests for your relevant sensitive personal information from a particular organization or business, such as medical professionals or financial institutions.
Where possible we collect your personal information directly from you. We may ask you for your consent at the start of a retainer and during our representation. Your consent may be in writing, verbal, or implied as necessary to further your legal needs.
Consent
If you initiate contact with us or volunteer to provide relevant personal information verbally or in writing, we may determine that you are consenting to the collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information as described in this Privacy Statement.
In certain circumstances, we may disclose your personal information without your consent. These include, but are not limited to:
- When we are required or authorized by law to do so;
- When the use of the information is necessary to respond to an emergency that threatens the life, health or security of an individual or the public;
- When it is necessary to establish or collect our fees; or
- If the information is already publicly known.
Use of Your Information
We use your personal information to provide legal advice and services to you and to administer our legal business incidental to providing legal services, such as client billing.
We may send you information about our other legal services or about new developments in the law. You may at any time withdraw your consent by notifying us, and we will not send you any such material.
We do not disclose or sell your personal information or business contact information to any third party to enable them to market their products and services.
Release of Your Information
We may release information about you to serve specific needs while providing legal services.
Accuracy of Your Information
You have the right to request a correction of the personal information that we hold about you.
We rely on you to provide us with accurate personal and business contact information for the purposes of providing you with legal services and maintaining contact with you. If during our professional relationship your information changes, please inform us so that we can make any necessary changes.
Protecting Your Personal Information
To protect your personal information, we will:
- Not collect, use, or disclose your personal information for any purpose other than those we identify to you or are reasonably evident;
- Only disclose your personal information to those persons who have a need to know your personal information;
- Keep your personal information only for as long as needed it to fulfill the stated purpose or as required by law;
- Maintain your personal information in as accurate a form as possible;
- Keep your personal information physically secure; and
- Maintain technological safeguards for your sensitive personal information.
Accessing Your Personal Information
You may request access to the personal information we have about you. The request must be in writing and directed to the privacy officer identified below. We may charge a reasonable fee for retrieval and copying of your personal information.
There are exceptions to your right to access your personal information and we may deny access in those circumstances.
Changes to this Privacy Statement
We may review and change our Privacy Statement from time to time in order to update our privacy commitment to you in keeping with current privacy laws.
Contact Information
Please contact our Privacy Officer if you wish to access your personal information, withdraw your consent, or have concerns about our privacy practices or how we’ve handled your personal information:
Erik Thompson, erik.thompson@nicollaw.ca