Privacy & Cookie Policy

Smith & Wells Solicitors (“Smith & Wells”) is committed to processing personal information about our clients in ways that comply with our legal and regulatory obligations, including under any Data Protection Act currently in force and the EU General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and to being clear with clients about what we do with their personal information. We do not capture or store any personal information about individuals who access this website, except where you voluntarily choose to give us your personal details.

The information we collect and how we use it

We may collect personal information which we receive when:
• you use our website
• you use our services
• you contact us
• information is provided to us by third parties during the litigation process or any other legal matter

This may include information which you provide when you:
• contract with us
• enter information on our website
• contact us directly in writing or by phone

We may collect the following types of information:
• your name, address, email address, telephone number(s) and other contact details
• information required to provide you with a service, and details of our services that you have used
• your company’s name, your position in the company; the company’s address, company’s email address and telephone number
• your payment information including bank account details
• details of any enquiry or complaint you make
• information about the mail or parcels sent to you via our services
• your information when signing for receipt of a parcel or letter
• any financial and employment information

How do we use the information we collect about you

We may use the personal information provided by you:
• to provide legal services
• to verify your identity
• to contact you by email, fax, post or phone where you have provided contact details. We may also keep a record of that correspondence
• to notify you about important changes or developments to our site or services
• to keep you informed about the services that we offer
• to maintain internal records
• to ensure good governance, accounting, management and auditing
• to carry out our obligations arising out of any contracts entered into between us
• to pass your details to experts, including counsel and other professionals for the purposes of obtaining professional advice and complying with our contractual obligations
• for market research purposes, on an anonymous basis to track activity on our site, to publish trends and/or to improve usefulness and content
• where we have other legitimate reasons such as to enforce our terms of use, or take other action required or permitted by law for other safety and security reasons
• to respond to complaints against us

Who we share your information with:

In providing our services, we may provide your personal information to our staff or other third parties, such as
• for the prevention of fraud against Smith & Wells, third parties and clients
• to our clients in connection with the provisions of our services
• 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) in connection with matters relating to the provision of our services
• for the purposes of identity verification
• to prevent money laundering
• to other third parties (including the police, law enforcement agencies, credit reference and fraud prevention agencies and other bodies) to protect our or another person’s rights, property, or safety including the exchange of information to protect against fraud and to reduce payment risks and in connection with the prevention and detection of crime.
• to auditors in connection with maintenance of our quality certifications
• where we have other legitimate reasons, such as to enforce our terms of use, or take other action required or permitted by law or for other safety security reasons
• to other parties in legal proceedings, including solicitors acting on the other side of a case or transaction
• to respond to complaints against us
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 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 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
• 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.

Updating your details

If any of the information that you have provided to Smith & Wells changes, for example if you change your e-mail address, name or payment details, please let us know the correct details by sending an e-mail to enquiries@smithandwells.co.uk or by sending a letter to Miss. Melonie Smith at Second Floor, 4-6 Hay Lane, Coventry, CV1 5RF.

Keeping you informed

If you have enquired about our services previously, we may also use the information we collect to let you know about our other services which may be of interest to you.

Data Protection Notice

Smith & Wells fully supports the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) and is committed to the protection of personal data belonging to our clients and colleagues. Any personal information collected by Smith & Wells will be used in accordance with the DPA. We are aware of our obligations under the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and have adopted a proactive approach to the implementation of the new legislation in the United Kingdom. This includes reviewing existing policies and where appropriate developing and implementing new policies and procedures to ensure personal data is collected, stored and disposed of in a manner compliant with the requirements of the GDPR and any subsequent legislation from time to time in force.
We have taken appropriate measures to keep our clients’ personal information secure. We are committed to keeping clients’ personal information secure to protect it from being inappropriately or accidentally accessed, used, shared or destroyed, and against it being lost. Internally, we restrict access to personal information. Only employees who need the information in order to do their jobs have access to it. We never transfer your data outside of the UK.
As a firm of solicitors, we are obliged to keep records for a minimum of six years after which time files may be destroyed. You have a right to know about the personal information we hold about you. You also have a right to have your data corrected or deleted and we can provide you with a copy of your personal data that we hold, free of charge, in an electronic format. Requests must be made in writing to Miss. Melonie Smith at Second Floor, 4-6 Hay Lane, Coventry, CV1 5RF and proof of identification is required in order to protect your information. We also require sufficient details to be able locate your information. For example, dates and details of the services that you have used.

Cookies

Cookies are small files that a website places on your hard disk to enable additional features of the website to work. Use of cookies is an industry standard and many websites use them and most internet browsers automatically accept cookies.
We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about web page traffic and improve our website in order to tailor it to customer needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system.
Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website, by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.