Privacy Policy

Introduction

The lawyers and staff of Maisonneuve Dawkins recognize and respect the importance of privacy and the sensitivity of personal information. We are committed to protecting any personal information we hold and endeavour to safeguard that information from unauthorized use, retention, or disclosure to third parties. It is upon this fundamental principle that our firm adheres to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, the Law Society of Upper Canada’s Rules of Professional Conduct regarding the security of our clients’ personal information, common law principles of solicitor-client privilege and, where applicable, litigation-privilege. This Privacy Policy outlines how we manage your personal information.

Scope of the Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy governs personal information collected from the client, other lawyers in the course of representing the client or providing legal services to the client, as well as organizations that have information relevant and necessary to fulfilling the purpose for which our firm’s services have been retained.

What Personal Information Do We Collect?

Personal information is any information that identifies the client, or by which the client’s identity could be deduced. It does not cover information about an individual that is available from a public source, such as a telephone directory, court record, or land registry office. It also does not cover aggregated data, used for statistical and reporting purposes, from which data the client’s identity cannot be determined.

Maisonneuve Dawkins endeavours to ensure that all personal information provided by the client, and in its possession, is accurate, current and as complete as is necessary for the purposes for which the personal information was collected, used and maintained in an active file. Upon notification by the client that the personal information requires correction or updating, we will make the necessary amendments to the client’s active file where applicable.

Personal information contained in files that have been closed, or pertaining to matters of the client that have been resolved, will not be actively updated or maintained.

Purposes for Collection of Personal Information

Maisonneuve Dawkins collects personal information for the following limited purposes:

• to represent the client in accordance with the retainer; and
• to establish and maintain client lists for collection of legal fees, record keeping and statistical purposes.

How Do We Collect Personal Information?

We collect information only by lawful and fair means and not in an unreasonably intrusive way. Wherever possible, we collect your personal information directly from you, at the start of a retainer and in the course of our representation. Sometimes, we may obtain information about the client from other sources: for example,

• An insurance company;
• A real estate agent in a property transaction;
• From a government agency or registry;
• An employer;
• An accountant;
• Consumer reporting agencies (i.e.: Credit Bureau).

Consent

In most cases, we shall ask the client to specifically consent, use, or disclose personal information. Normally, we ask for the client’s consent in writing, but in some circumstances, we may accept oral consent. Sometimes, consent may be implied through the client’s conduct with us.

If the client requests additional services from Maisonneuve Dawkins, beyond that of the original retainer, the client is giving implied consent to the Firm using the personal information already held for the original purpose, as well as any new personal information collected for the new purpose and no signature will be required on a new or amending retainer.

Disclosure of Personal Information

Maisonneuve Dawkins does not disclose the client’s personal information to any third party to enable them to market their products and services. We do not sell, barter, or lease personal information we obtain from our clients, to third parties. For example, we do not provide our client mailing lists to other law firms.

Under certain circumstances, we will disclose your personal information:

• When we are required or authorized by law to do so, for example if a court issues a subpoena;
• When there is imminent risk of death or serious bodily harm, including psychological harm, to an identifiable person or group of persons;
• When it is determined, by the Firm, that the client has deliberately provided incorrect information for fraudulent or illegal purposes;
• When the client has consented to the disclosure;
• When the legal services we are providing requires us to give information to third parties (for example a lender in a real estate mortgage transaction) the client’s consent will be implied, unless you tell us otherwise;
• Where it is necessary to establish or collect fees;
• If we engage a third party to provide administrative services to us (like computer back-up services or archival file storage) and the third party is bound by our privacy policy;
• If we engage expert witnesses on the client’s behalf;
• If we retain other law firms in other jurisdictions, on the client’s behalf;
• When required, to defend against allegations of criminal or civil liability, or professional malpractice or misconduct, by the client or former client;
• If the information is already publicly known.

Safeguards

Maisonneuve Dawkins takes all reasonable precautions to ensure that the client’s personal information is kept safe from loss, unauthorized access, modification or disclosure.

Among the steps taken to protect the client’s information are:

• Premises security;
• Restricted file access to personal information;
• Deploying technological safeguards like security software and firewall to prevent hacking or unauthorized computer access;
• Internal password and security policies.

Access to Personal Information in Our Possession

A client may ask for access to any personal information we hold about that client. Subject to the exceptions listed below, summary information is available on request. More detailed requests which require archive or other retrieval costs may be subject to our normal professional and disbursement fees. Where the information requested is stored off-site, we reserve the right to charge the individual seeking access, the cost to have such information retrieved from the off-site storage facility. The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act and Federal Privacy Legislation allow exceptions to the disclosure of information to the client:

• No access will be granted if the information is protected by solicitor-client privilege or litigation privilege;
• Access will be denied if the individual seeking access fails to produce sufficient identification to verify that they are the individual about whose personal information access is being sought;
• No access will be granted to personal information that is not about the individual seeking access;
• No access will be granted to information that is part of a criminal investigation;
• No access will be granted where such access would harm or interfere with law enforcement activities and other investigative functions of a body authorized by statute to perform such functions;
• No access will be granted to information where such access might threaten the life, safety and security, including psychological safety, of the individual seeking access;
• No access will be granted to the individual who is a minor or mentally incompetent;
• No access will be granted if the information requested relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings against the individual seeking access;
• No access will be granted if the request would have an unreasonable impact on other people’s privacy;
• Access will be denied if the denial is required to protect our Firm’s rights and property;
• No access will be granted if to do so would prejudice negotiations with the client;
• We reserve the right to refuse access that we believe to be repetitious, frivolous, or vexatious.
• The individual entitled to access may challenge the completeness of their personal information held under the care and control of Maisonneuve Dawkins. Upon successful demonstration that there is an error in the personal information held by the firm, we will amend the information where appropriate.

If Maisonneuve Dawkins denies a request for access, or refuses to correct information, we shall provide an explanation for our decision.

Maisonneuve Dawkins will not be responsible for maintaining the client’s personal information and documents after a matter is closed or the retainer terminated. Although the disclosure of the client’s information is governed by this Privacy Policy, Maisonneuve Dawkins shreds and discards all of its files, after a reasonable amount of time has expired following the closing of the matter or the termination of the retainer. The client is responsible for requesting any personally owned documents within 30 days of receipt of our Firm’s final account.

Communication with Us

You should be aware that e-mail is not a 100% secure medium, and you should be aware of this when contacting us to send personal or confidential information.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

Since Maisonneuve Dawkins regularly reviews all of its policies and procedures, we may change our Privacy Policy from time to time.

Requests for Access

If you have any questions or wish to access your personal information, please write to our Privacy Contact at

Privacy Officer

Maisonneuve Dawkins

Lawyers – Avocats

15 Balsam Street South

Timmins, Ontario

P4N 2C7

If you are not satisfied with our response, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada can be reached at

112 Kent Street

Place de Ville, Tower B, 3 Floor

Ottawa, Ontario

KlA 1H4

1-800-282-1376.

Employment Inquiries

If you apply to Maisonneuve Dawkins for a job, we need to consider your personal information, as part of our review process. We normally retain information from candidates after a decision has been made, unless you ask us not to retain the information. If we offer you a job, which you accept, the information will be retained in accordance with our privacy procedures for employee records.

Website

Our website contains links to other sites, which are not governed by this privacy policy.

On our website, like most other commercial websites, we may monitor traffic patterns, site usage and related site information in order to optimize our web service. We may provide aggregated information to third parties, but these statistics do not include any identifiable personal information.