Place of Business:

Hendon Office
39 Finchley Lane London NW4 1BX
Tel: 020 8201 6311
Fax: 020 8201 6344
Email: info@pearlmans.co.uk

Soho Square Office
36 Soho Square London W1D 3QY
Tel: 020 7647 6795
Fax: 020 7647 6796

This policy explains when and why we collect personal information about you; how we use it, when we share your data with others and how we keep it safe.
This policy is intended for clients and prospective clients. If you are another party to a matter we are dealing with, we suggest you first contact your own company and/ or solicitor to check what information they have provided to us, but your rights in relation to your data remain the same.
We ask that you read this privacy policy carefully alongside our client care letter/ Terms of Business as it contains important information on how and why we collect, sort, use and share personal information, your rights in relation to your personal information and who to contact in the event you have a complaint.

1. Who we are
Pearlmans Limited (trading as Pearlmans Solicitors) is a limited company registered in England under the company registration no. 8384965. (“the firm”). The firm is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and its SRA number is 596592.
Personal data is collected, processed and stored by us. When we do so we are regulated under the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) which is enforceable from 25 May 2018 and applies across the European Union (including in the United Kingdom). We are responsible as a “controller” of that personal information for the purposes of those laws.
Our Data Protection Officer is Denise Pearlman. If you have any questions about this privacy policy or how we handle your personal information, please contact the Data Protection Officer using the contact details set out in paragraph 13 below.

2. The Personal Data we collect and use
The information we request from you and process will depend on the work we are doing for you. In many cases personal data will be restricted to basic information, such as name, address, gender, contact details and information needed to complete our ID Requirements. Some of the work we do may require us to ask for more sensitive information such as bank statements, medical records and death certificates. We will only hold and use your personal information which is relevant and necessary to complete our contract with you.
Our website does record the IP address of people submitting our online form, but this is not tracked or analysed.

3. Why we need your personal data
The primary reason for collecting and processing your personal data is to allow us to carry out our contract with you – which will ordinarily be to represent you and carry out your legal work. Our lawful basis for holding your personal data can be found in Article 6(1)(b) of the GDPR.
We may also legally hold your data if you have explicitly consented us to hold your information (pursuant to Article 6(1)(a) GDPR); to allow compliance with our legal obligations (pursuant to Article 6(1)(c) GDPR); or to protect your vital interests (pursuant to Article 6(1)(d) GDPR).
There may be some personal data that require your specific consent. If this is the case, we will contact you separately to ask for your consent which you are free to withdraw at any time.
If you have any queries about our lawful basis for holding your data, please contact us using the contact details set out in paragraph 13 of this privacy policy.

4. How we will use your personal data
We will only use your personal information for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If we need to use your personal information for an unrelated purpose, we will notify you and explain the legal basis which allows us to do so.

The following are some examples of how we will use your personal data:
• Checking your identity
• Verifying source of funds
• Communicating with you
• Processing your legal matter
• Keeping records of your matter
• Seeking services from third parties, such as other professionals and government bodies

5. Who has access to your personal data
We have procedures in place to ensure the secure processing of your personal data. Generally, we will only use your information within Pearlmans Solicitors. However, in carrying out your legal work we may need to disclose your information to others, including but not limited to other professionals acting on your behalf, other solicitors and government bodies, for example in completing Stamp Duty Land Tax and Inheritance Tax forms on your behalf.
Where your information is shared with external parties, we ensure that they comply, strictly and confidentially, with our instructions and they do not use your personal information for their own purposes unless you have explicitly consented to them doing so.

6. Protecting your data
We recognise that your information is valuable, and we take all reasonable measures to protect it.
We have technology to protect personal data from loss, misuse, alteration or destruction and ensure that, where possible, physical access to our buildings is carefully controlled. We also insist that consultants and staff agree to protect confidentiality of all information.

7. Retaining your data
Your personal information will be retained, usually in computer or paper files, only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which the information was collected; or as required by law; or as long as is set out in any relevant contract you may hold with us. We will then keep your information for an additional period as set out below.
As a guide we will keep your information for a minimum of 6 years from the closure of your legal work, in case you, or we, need to reopen the case or to defend complaints or claims against us. This will apply even if you do not proceed with your matter to a conclusion. However, certain types of matters may be kept for longer periods and some, such as those involving wills, trusts or deeds to unregistered property, may be kept indefinitely.
If you wish to know how long your matter will be stored for please contact the Data Protection Officer or the solicitor dealing with your matter.

8. Your rights
You are entitled to request a copy of your personal data (otherwise known as a Subject Access Request). If you wish to make a request, please do so in writing using the contact details set out in paragraph 13 of this privacy policy.
A request for access to your personal data means you are entitled to a copy of the data we hold on you. If the information we hold about you is wrong or misleading, you can ask us to change it.
Your rights in relation to the information we hold on you are set out in full in Chapter 3 of the GDPR.

9. Your right to complain
If you wish to complain about how we have handled your personal data, you can contact the Data Protection Officer using the contact details set out in paragraph 13 of this privacy policy.
If you are not happy with our response or believe we are not processing your personal data in accordance with the law, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

10. Marketing
We may contact you in relation to services we provided. We may also occasionally invite you to social or educational activities run by the firm. If you at any time decide you would like us to stop contacting you for these purposes, please let us know.

11. Changes to our privacy policy
We keep our privacy policy under regular review and we will keep you informed of any updates as soon as possible.

12. Legal statement about this Privacy Policy
This privacy policy is not designed to form a legally binding contract. It is a guide to the personal information we collect, hold and process for you.
By signing our client care letter/ Terms of Business you acknowledge that you have read and accept this privacy policy.

13. How to contact us
For further information on how your personal information is used, how we maintain the security of your information, and your rights on the information we hold on you, please contact our Data Protection Officer using the contact details set out below:

Hendon Office
39 Finchley Lane London NW4 1BX
Tel: 020 8201 6311
Fax: 020 8201 6344
Email: info@pearlmans.co.uk

Soho Square Office
36 Soho Square London W1D 3QY
Tel: 020 7647 6795
Fax: 020 7647 6796

Or write to us at: Pearlmans Solicitors, 39 Finchley Lane, London, NW4 1BX

The following statement explains our policy regarding the personal information we collect about you.

1. Statement of intent
2. Information on visitors
3. Submitting personal information
4. Access to your personal information
5. Users 16 and under

1. Statement of intent
From time to time, you will be asked to submit personal information about yourself (eg name and email address etc) in order to receive or use services on our website. Such services include newsletters.

By entering your details in the fields requested, you enable Pearlmans to provide you with the services you select. Whenever you provide such personal information, we will treat the information in accordance with this policy. Our services are designed to give information that you want to receive. Pearlmans will act in accordance with current legislation and aim to meet current Internet best practice.

2. Information on visitors
During the course of any visit to Pearlmans, the pages you see, along with something called a cookie, are downloaded to your computer. Most, if not all, websites do this, because cookies allow the website publisher to do useful things like find out whether the computer (and probably its user) has visited the site before. This is done by checking to see, and finding, the cookie left there on a previous visit.

3. Submitting personal information
When you supply any personal information to Pearlmans, we have legal obligations towards you in the way we deal with that data. We must collect the information fairly, that is, we must explain how we will use it (see notices on particular webpages explaining why we are requesting the information). All information you provide to Pearlmans will only be used within Pearlmans and will never be supplied to anyone outside Pearlmans without first obtaining your consent, unless we are obliged by law to disclose it. We will hold your personal information on our systems for as long as you use the service you have requested, and remove it in the event that the purpose has been met.

If you are notified on this site that your information may be used to allow Pearlmans to contact you for “service administration purposes”, this means Pearlmans may contact you for a number of purposes related to the service you have signed up for. For example, we may wish to notify you a particular service has been suspended for maintenance. We will not contact you for promotional purposes, such as notifying you of improvements to the service unless you specifically request to be contacted for such purposes at the time you submit your information on the site, or at a later time if you sign up specifically to receive such promotional information.

4. Access to your personal information
You have the right to request a copy of the personal information Pearlmans holds about you and to have any inaccuracies corrected.

5. Users 16 and under
If you are aged 16 or under, please get your parent/guardian’s permission beforehand whenever you provide personal information to Pearlmans’s website. Users without this consent are not allowed to provide us with personal information.

Pearlmans Limited
39 Finchley Lane
London
NW4 1BX