Privacy Policy

Wilson Vukelich LLP and TCBL Services Inc. (collectively “WV LLP”) is committed to protecting the privacy rights of its clients and employees, as well as others with whom the firm deals. This commitment extends beyond our professional obligations and our compliance requirements under applicable law. The relationships between a law firm and its various stakeholders are based on trust. WV LLP understands the importance of this trust and how it is embodied in the ways in which we protect personal information that we receive in the course of carrying on our business.

This Privacy Policy has been prepared to inform you of our practices concerning the collection, use, and disclosure of Personal Information (as defined below).

WV LLP may revise this Privacy Policy at any time, within its sole discretion, and without any notice. You are responsible for visiting this Privacy Policy in order to determine if any changes have been made.

What is Personal Information?

For this Privacy Policy, “personal information” means any information provided to or collected by WV LLP, recorded in any form, about an identifiable individual, or an individual whose identity may be inferred or determined from this information. The term “personal information” does not include information recorded about one or more individuals where the identity of the individual(s) is not known and cannot be inferred from the information (being “aggregated information”).

WV LLP retains the right to use aggregated information in any way that it reasonably determines is appropriate.

Accountability

WV LLP is accountable to maintain the privacy, security and accuracy of all personal information under its care and control. Our lawyers and support staff have all been trained in this respect. Personal information is only collected, used and disclosed as permitted by, and in compliance with, applicable legal or regulatory requirements or provisions. WV LLP will not use personal information for any other purpose than identified in this Privacy Policy at or before the time of collection.

What Personal Information is Collected?

WV LLP may collect the following personal information:

name and contact information, including address, telephone and facsimile numbers, and email address
billing and account information, including bank or credit card information
information concerning the provision of legal advice and services by the firm, including the personal information of shareholders, directors, officers, agents, employees,
investors, buyers, security-holders, business partners, competitors, customers, suppliers, beneficiaries, family members, witnesses, adverse parties, parties-in-interest, professional advisors, investigators, adjudicators, experts and other parties who are individuals WV LLP does not use an individual’s Social Insurance Number as a means of identifying or organizing the information.

Why is Personal Information Collected?

WV LLP collects and uses personal information from its clients and prospective clients in order to establish, develop and/or manage client relationships, provide legal representation and services, fulfill legal duties, avoid conflicts of interest, and develop and manage our business and operations. WV LLP collects personal information from its employees, firm members, and prospective employees and firm members in order to consider the admission of individuals as employees and members of the firm, and carry out internal administrative functions. WV LLP also produces direct marketing materials and publications concerning its services and developments in the law, as well as notices of seminars and events at the firm, and other marketing or promotional communications concerning the firm, and WV LLP shares such information with its clients, prospective clients, referral sources, employees and members of the firm. All of this may include the sharing of personal information to and from third parties for such purposes. Such sharing of information with third parties is only on an “as needed” basis and provided such third parties agree to be bound by this privacy policy. By way of example, WV LLP may disclose personal information to:

service providers performing functions on behalf of WV LLP
organizations retained by WV LLP to assess creditworthiness or to collect debts
financial institutions on a confidential basis in connection with the assignment of a right to receive payment, the provision of security or other financing arrangement
persons who WV LLP may reasonably believe are providing or seeking such information as an individual’s agent
advisors and expert witnesses engaged by WV LLP on behalf of an individual, including without limitation the retention of lawyers in other jurisdictions
WV LLP’s insurers and regulatory agencies relating to the practise of law
any other third party(ies) where consent is given to such disclosure or where such disclosure is required or permitted by law
any other third party(ies) where the information has already been disclosed publicly without breach of this privacy policy

WV LLP does not disclose personal information to any third party to enable them to market their products and services.

Where is the Personal Information Stored?

WV LLP stores personal information in electronic and physical files, located either at our offices or at the offices of our service providers that are secure and to which access is restricted. WV LLP’s security measures include, without limitation, physical premises that are monitored by security 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, password-protected computers and the use of technology safeguards, such as firewalls, encryption and intrusion detection, to prevent hacking or unauthorized computer access. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the internet or by e-mail can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, WV LLP cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information transmitted electronically.

Consent

WV LLP collects personal information only by lawful and fair means and not in an unreasonably intrusive way. Wherever possible, WV LLP collects personal information directly from the individual, but it may obtain personal information from other sources, such as insurance companies or other financial institutions, real estate agents, government agencies or registries, the individual’s accountant or the individual’s employer in the event WV LLP acts for the individual. In addition, WV LLP, in order to make credit decisions about clients, prevent fraud, check the identity of new clients and prevent money laundering, may request personal information from the files of consumer reporting agencies and other databases.

If an individual has voluntarily provided personal information to WV LLP or its service providers and agents, such individual has consented to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information as described in this Privacy Policy and as permitted or required by law, and WV LLP may rely on the fact that such individual has all necessary authority and/or has obtained all necessary consents to enable WV LLP to collect, use and disclose such personal information. WV LLP will not use personal information for any purpose other than that for which consent was received. If WV LLP seeks to use your personal information for purposes other than those for which your consent has previously been obtained, or requires personal information for a new purpose, it will obtain the necessary consent from you.

There may be occasions where more specific personal information is necessary for WV LLP to proceed with a request for information, or provide the individual with legal services. In such cases, WV LLP will provide such individual with a description of the information required. In all cases, WV LLP limits the amount and type of information collected to only the personal information that is required.

Subject to legal and contractual requirements, an individual may refuse or withdraw consent to certain of the identified purposes at any time by contacting the WV LLP privacy compliance officer.

Website Privacy

In general, you can use our website without giving WV LLP any Personal Information. If you are one of our anonymous visitors, please bear in mind that we may still record certain analytical information and as further set out in this section.

WV LLP may use cookies, web beacons/pixel tags, log files and other technologies to collect certain information about visitors to our website, and recipients of our newsletters, invitations and other communications.

Accuracy of and Access to Personal Information Collected

WV LLP makes every effort to keep personal information collected and used by us as accurate, complete, current and relevant as necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. WV LLP will update any changes to personal information when received from an individual. If WV LLP holds personal information about an individual, which can be established by the individual to be inaccurate, incomplete or not up-to-date, WV LLP will take reasonable steps to correct it.

At the written request of an individual to WV LLP’s privacy compliance officer, such individual may view or edit their personal information as collected by WV LLP. WV LLP will inform such individual of the personal information WV LLP has about them, what it is being used for and, in cases where it has been disclosed, to whom it has been disclosed. The right of access to personal information is not absolute, and access may be denied in one or more of the following circumstances:

WV LLP is required or authorized by law to do so
the information relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings against such individual
the granting of access would have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of others
the granting of access would prejudice negotiations with a client
in order to protect the rights and property of WV LLP
in the event that the request is frivolous or vexatious

If access to personal information is denied, WV LLP shall explain the reason(s) behind such refusal to the individual, as applicable.

Wherever it is legal and practicable to do so, WV LLP may be able to deal with general inquiries without disclosing personal information. The Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (Canada) requires WV LLP to confirm the identity of all new clients and may require disclosure of information in respect of certain large cash transactions.

To make a request for access to personal information, an individual can send a letter, email or facsimile addressed to the WV LLP privacy compliance officer at the address indicated below, with their name and contact details, as well as the nature of the request.

Summary information is available on request, subject to the foregoing limits, but more detailed requests requiring archive or other retrieval costs may be subject to WsV LLP’s normal professional and disbursement fees.

Questions and Further Information

Any questions or comments about this Privacy Policy or WV LLP’s handling of personal information should be directed, preferably in writing, to WV LLP’s privacy compliance officer, Dan Condon by email, fax, or regular mail at WV LLP.

Last revised November 2016