Bernard LLP is committed to maintaining the security, confidentiality and privacy of personal information. This Privacy Policy documents our on-going commitment and has been developed in compliance with applicable privacy legislation.
Scope of Privacy
This Policy applies to Bernard LLP and any of its affiliates (the “Affiliates”) from time to time in respect of activities that are subject to federal and provincial privacy legislation. References to “Bernard LLP”, “we” or “us” in this policy include Bernard LLP and any Affiliates from time to time.
This Policy addresses how Bernard LLP collects, uses and discloses personal information about our clients, service providers and other individuals. It does not apply to information collected, used or disclosed with respect to corporate or commercial entities. This Policy does not apply to the collection, use or disclosure of the following information by Bernard LLP:
- Business contact information; publicly available information recognized under applicable privacy legislation;
- Employee personal information, as the Bernard LLP Employee Privacy Policy applies to such information.
Accountability
Bernard LLP is responsible for personal information under its control.
Purposes
We collect, use and disclose personal information for purposes authorized or required by applicable privacy legislation or other law and for the following purposes:
- To provide legal advice and perform legal services;
- To establish and maintain client and supplier relationships, which may include evaluating credit standing and obtaining and providing credit information and credit reports;
- To fulfill legal duties and avoid conflicts of interest;
- To share information with third parties for the purpose of providing legal services, including data service providers, printers, registry agents, other suppliers of products and services, opposing counsel, foreign counsel, witnesses and experts;
- To manage and develop our business and operations;
- To detect and protect Bernard LLP, yourself and others from error, negligence, fraud or other illegal activity, which may include providing information to insurers;
- To provide information to anyone working with or for Bernard LLP as needed for the provision of our services;
- To issue invoices, process payments and collect debts owed to Bernard LLP;
- To engage in business transactions, including the sale, transfer, securitization, financing or other disposition of assets or liabilities of Bernard LLP;
- To comply with legal and regulatory requirements.
Consent
To the extent possible, we will obtain your consent to collect, use or disclose personal information except where we are authorized or required by law to do so without consent. For example, we may collect, use or disclose personal information without your knowledge or consent where:
- The personal information is publicly available from a prescribed source, such as a telephone directory;
- Bernard LLP is collecting or paying a debt;
- It is reasonable to expect that obtaining consent would compromise an investigation or proceeding.
Your consent can be express, implied or given through an authorized representative such as a lawyer, agent or broker.
Consent may be provided orally, in writing, electronically, through inaction (such as when you fail to notify us that you do not wish your personal information collected/used/disclosed for optional purposes following reasonable notice of same) or otherwise. By providing personal information to us, you agree that we may collect, use and disclose such personal information as set out in this Privacy Policy and as otherwise permitted or required by law.
You may withdraw consent at any time, subject to legal or contractual restrictions, provided that reasonable notice of withdrawal of consent is given to Bernard LLP. On receipt of notice of withdrawal of consent, we will inform you of the likely consequences of the withdrawal of consent, which may include our inability to provide services for which that information is necessary.
Limits on Collection of Personal Information
We will not collect personal information indiscriminately and will limit collection of personal information to that which is reasonable and necessary to provide our services and which is reasonable and necessary for the purposes consented to by you. Bernard LLP also collects personal information as authorized or required by law.
Limits for Using, Disclosing & Retaining Personal Information
We may store and process your personal information at our offices in British Columbia or elsewhere.
Our legal professionals are subject to professional and ethical obligations and, therefore, we will not disclose information that is subject to solicitor-client privilege unless our client has waived privilege or we are required to do so by law.
Bernard LLP does not sell or exchange for consideration any personal information it holds.
We will destroy, erase or make anonymous documents or other records containing personal information as soon as it is reasonable to assume that the original purpose is no longer being served by retention of the information and retention is no longer necessary for legal or business purposes.
We will take due care when destroying personal information so as to prevent unauthorized access to the information.
Accuracy
We will make reasonable efforts to ensure that personal information we collect, use or disclose is accurate and complete. In some cases, we rely on you to ensure that certain information, such as your address or telephone number, is current, complete and accurate.
Safeguarding Personal Information
We recognize our professional and legal obligations to protect the confidential information of our clients. We recognize as well our legal obligations to protect the personal information we have gathered about our clients and about other individuals during the course of our practice of law.
We have therefore made arrangements to secure against the unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification, disposal or destruction of personal information.
Please note that confidentiality and security are not assured when information is transmitted through e-mail or other electronic communication. We will not be responsible for any loss or damage as a result of a breach of security and/or confidentiality when you transmit information to us by e-mail or other electronic communication or when we transmit such information by such means at your request.
Providing Access
You have a right to access your personal information held by Bernard LLP.
Subject to the limitations set out below, upon written request and authentication of identity, we will provide you with your personal information under our control.
We may charge a reasonable fee for providing information in response to an access request and will provide an estimate of any such fee upon receiving an access to information request. We may require a deposit for all or part of the fee.
In some situations, we may not be able to provide access to certain personal information. This may be the case where, for example, disclosure would reveal personal information about another individual, the personal information is protected by solicitor/client privilege, the information was collected for the purposes of an investigation, disclosure of the information would reveal confidential commercial information that, if disclosed, could harm the competitive position of Bernard LLP, or where we exercise our solicitor’s lien against materials in our files in respect of outstanding accounts. Bernard LLP may also be prevented by law from providing access to certain personal information.
Where an access request is refused, we will notify you in writing, document the reasons for refusal and outline further steps which are available to you.
Changes
We may review and change our Privacy Policy from time to time.
Website
Our web site presently does not use cookies. Cookies are small pieces of data which are stored on your computer to allow your web browser to remember something about a web site. Cookies are useful because they enable site personalization. For example, cookies can be used to remember a password so that you do not need to enter it every time you log onto a site. Cookies may also enable a site to track and target a user’s interests to enhance your experience on their site. Our web site may contain links to other sites and advertisements.
Our Privacy Policy only applies to information collected by our web site. We are not responsible for the privacy practices and policies of third parties.
For further information about our Privacy Policy, please contact:
Bernard LLP
1420 – 400 Burrard Street
(CIBC Building)
Vancouver, BC V6C 3A6
Phone: (604) 681-1700
Fax: (604) 681-1788