Privacy Policy
In this privacy policy the expressions “we”, “us” and “our” are a reference to McDonald Law.
We are committed to protecting your privacy in accordance with the laws governing privacy including the Australian Privacy Principles (“AAPs”) as contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
The AAPs govern the way in which we must manage your personal information and this policy sets out how we collect, use, disclose and otherwise manage personal information about you.
This privacy policy does not govern the collection or use of information by third party websites that may be linked to our site. If you visit a website that we mention or link, be sure to review its privacy policy before providing this site with information.
We reserve the right to amend this privacy policy from time to time.
Amendments will be effective immediately upon notification on this website.
Your continued use of this website following such notification will represent an agreement by you to be bound by the privacy policy as amended.
Your Information
You do not have to disclose personal or sensitive information about yourself or your contact details when you visit our website.
By voluntarily providing us with any personal information, you consent to us using this information to assist you with your enquiry and to offer any of our services that may be relevant to you.
If we collect personal information about you before you become our client we use this information to determine if we are able to assist you with your legal matter. We hold onto this information to ensure any future communications with you is relevant.
When you become a client at McDonald Law, we collect all information necessary to process your legal matter.
The personal information that you provide to us is generally held for the purpose of:
- Providing services to you or someone else you know;
- Providing you with information about other services that we, our related entities and other organisations that we have affiliations with, offer that may be of interest to you;
- Facilitating our internal business operations, including the fulfilment of any legal requirements; and
- Analysing our services and customer needs with a view to developing new or improved services.
Should you choose not to provide us with the information requested, we may not be able to fulfil our obligations to you such as providing legal advice, assistance and / or representation.
Should you choose not to provide us with your personal information including your name, date of birth and / or contact information, we will not be able to represent you as we will not be able to conduct a conflict check.
Where your information is stored
All the information you provide to us is stored on computer, in the “cloud” and in paper-based files, where necessary. Your information is usually stored in a combination of all three (3) methods of record keeping.
We take all reasonable steps to protect your information from misuse, loss and unauthorised access, modification, or disclosure.
Third parties
We may disclose information to third parties when outsourcing services such as data storage, debt collection, bulk distribution and mailing, direct marketing, technology support services and obtaining expert help from consultants, including Counsel, to improve our services. Where this occurs, we have contractual agreements with our service providers to protect your information up to the same standards as if we stored the information ourselves and to prevent them using the information, we provide for any purposes than our own.
There may be situations where we store personal information with vendors who have been contracted to provide customer support and technological solutions, where we consult overseas based experts regarding your claim, or your matter is funded by an overseas based litigation funder. If these situations apply to you, we will be required to disclose your personal information to recipients outside Australia.
Where we require information from third parties and / or obtain information from third parties, we will comply with our privacy statement and endeavour to obtain your consent and always keep you informed of reasons for collecting such information.
There are times when we will be required by law to disclose any personal information we have about you, such as in the instance of an investigation into bankruptcy, counter terrorism, fraud, taxation etc.
Once your matter is finalised, we are required to keep your legal files for a minimum period of seven (7) years unless we are instructed to the contrary. We may sometimes be required to retain documents for a period longer than seven (7) years, for example documents that inform the making of a will.
We take all reasonable precautions to protect your personal information from misuse, loss and unauthorised access, however, we cannot guarantee security. You are responsible to take your own precautions to guard against “malware” (viruses, Trojan horses, bots etc) for example by installing an updating suitable anti-virus software.
You can access your personal information held by McDonald Law by making a written request to the address:
McDonald Law
Level 13, 111 Elizabeth Street
Sydney NSW 2000
For existing clients, you may wish to contact us directly.
Please be aware that in some circumstances, we are permitted to deny your request for access, or limit the access.