Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

At Bird & Lovibond we take your privacy seriously and this privacy statement explains what personal data or information we collect from you, and from people who visit our website, and how we use it. We would encourage you to read the information below.

Who are we?

Bird & Lovibond is a trading name of Bird and Lovibond Limited, a limited company registered in England & Wales, company registration number 11248730, whose registered office is 2-4 Packhorse Road, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, SL9 7QE.  Bird & Lovibond is a registered data controller (ICO registration number ZB557204).  We have offices in Uxbridge, Greenford, and Ruislip.

What personal data or information do we collect?

We may collect personal data about clients, prospective clients, job applicants, our current and former employees, suppliers, and external experts. The personal information we collect may include your name, address, email address, IP address, and information regarding what pages you access on this website and when.

How do we collect data or information from you?

We collect personal information about you when you:

  • Instruct us to act on your behalf
  • Make an enquiry via the forms on our website or via the telephone
  • Use our website
  • Enquire about a job opportunity
  • Work for or with the firm
  • Exchange business cards with a member of the firm
  • Attend one of our networking events

How is your information used?

We collect your personal data or information to operate the firm effectively and provide you with a high-quality service. We may use your information:

  • To deliver legal services to you on your instruction
  • To answer enquiries that you make prior to any formal instruction
  • To avoid any conflict of interest as we represent you
  • To keep you informed about our services, our insight into industry trends and best practice, if you have opted-in to receive these communications
  • To invite you to our networking events with expert speakers on topics which we believe will be of interest to you
  • To process a job application
  • To fulfil our obligations as an employer
  • To provide benefits to you as an employee
  • To adhere to regulations set out by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority
  • To adhere to quality standards as set out under the Lexcel Standard
  • To maintain security of our office and IT infrastructure
  • To invoice you, and to track payments you make or payments made to you
  • To send you information which we believe may be of interest.

We believe that all these purposes are justified on the basis of our legitimate interests in running and promoting the firm, our contractual requirements to deliver the agreed legal services to you, and our legal obligations, both as a business and responsible employer. The exception is for sending email marketing about our services, which we carry out on the basis of consent or legitimate interests. If you would like to know more, please read below:

  • Clients
  • Prospective Clients
  • Job Applicants
  • Current and Former Employees
  • External Experts
  • Event attendees

Clients

As a client, we will hold the following information about you:

  • Name, date of birth, and contact information
  • National insurance number
  • Information relating to your legal matter
  • Financial details
  • Demographic information such as postcode
  • Information and documents relating to the service we are providing, including communications with you
  • Billing and payment information

We store your information in our practice management system and our accounting system on our secure servers based in the UK. We also hold paper copies of your information in the client matter files, stored in our offices and in a secure, offsite storage archive, managed by Harrow Green.

We occasionally use third-party online tools:

  • Dropbox to share documents electronically with you, with your agreement. Dropbox uses servers that are based in the USA, therefore, personal information may be transferred outside of the EEA. For more information, please view Dropbox’s Privacy Policy.

We will retain your client matter file for the duration of our relationship with you, then for a minimum of 7 years after, and a maximum of 15 years, if required for audit purposes. Where there are specific retention periods relating to your matter file, we will make you aware of these at the time we open and close the file. If we act on your behalf whilst you are under 18, we will retain your file until your 21st birthday. We store wills and related matter files indefinitely and store them securely in our office. We may move your files to a secure offsite storage firm, Harrow Green. We will retain financial records for 6 years, following the end of the current financial year.

Prospective Clients

As a prospective client, we may hold the following information about you:

  • Name, date of birth, and contact information
  • National insurance number
  • Brief information relating to your legal matter
  • Demographic information such as postcode
  • Signposting information we may have provided to you if we are unable to provide you with a service

We store your information on our secure servers based in the UK. Communications with you relating to your initial enquiry may also be stored in our email system for a period of 6 months. We will retain minimal personal information about you to enable us to conduct conflict of interest checks as required by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority.

Job Applicants

When you apply for a job with us, we may hold the following information about you:

  • Name, date of birth, and contact information
  • Information relating to your qualifications and experience
  • Demographic information such as postcode
  • References where we take them up
  • Information and documents relating to the review, interview, and selection process, including communications with you.

We store your information on our secure servers based in the UK. We will also store communications with you relating to the interview process on our email server, based in the UK. We will retain your personal data relating to the review, interview, and selection process for a period of six months after the interview date.

Current and Former Employees

When you work for us, we may hold the following information about you:

  • Name, date of birth, and contact information
  • National insurance number and Unique Tax Reference (UTR)
  • Information relating to your qualifications and experience
  • Demographic information such as postcode
  • Information and documents relating to your performance and supervision as an employee of the firm, including communications with you
  • Your photograph, including Passport and Driving Licence
  • Financial information, such as bank details, pension scheme and salary details
  • Information about your next of kin
  • Health information

We store your information on secure servers based in the UK and in hard copy in a secure filing cabinet in the office. We will also store communications with you on our email server, based in the UK. We will retain your personal data for the duration of your employment and for a period of 7 years after you leave the firm. Beyond this point, we only retain minimal information about you to confirm the period of time you were employed by the firm for reference purposes. We share your information with HMRC, and our chosen pension / benefits providers.

External Experts

When you work with us to provide expertise on matters we are working on, we may hold the following information about you:

  • Name and contact information
  • Information relating to your qualifications and experience
  • Demographic information such as postcode
  • Information and documents relating to the service you provide us with, including communications with you
  • Feedback about your performance

We store your information in our practice management system and accounting system on our secure servers based in the UK. We will also store communications with you on our email server, based in the UK. We will retain your personal data for the time you are available as an expert and for a maximum of 1 year after you are no longer available.

Event Attendees

When you sign up to or join us at an event run by Bird & Lovibond , we may hold the following information about you:

  • Name and business contact information
  • Information relating to your business activities
  • Demographic information such as postcode, preferences and interests
  • Information relating to you which helps ensure you enjoy the event, such as your dietary or access requirements and including our communications with you
  • Billing and payment information, if relevant

We will store your information on our secure servers hosted in the UK. We may also store communications with you after you have signed up in our email system on our secure servers hosted in the UK. We also host joint events with a local bank and local accountants, where we review a common invite list to ensure there are no duplications. If you attend the event, you may share your data with those partner organisations.

We currently use third party online tools to help us manage our event invitations:

  • Mailchimp to send you an invite to the event. Mailchimp uses servers that are based in the US therefore personal information is transferred outside of the EEA. For more information please view Mailchimp’s Privacy Policy.

Who has access to your information?

We do not sell or rent your personal data or information to any third party or share your information with third parties for their marketing purposes.

We will disclose your data or information if required by law, for example by a court order or for the prevention of fraud or other crime.

We may pass information about your matter to the prosecution and to other parties within the justice system (e.g. Barristers, Police) as required to provide legal services to you.

We may pass your information on to third party service providers, agents or subcontractors for the purposes of completing a task or providing services to you on our behalf (e.g. to provide external expertise in your matter). However, we disclose only the personal information necessary to deliver that service and have a contract in place that requires them to keep your information secure and not to use it for other purposes.

Third party service providers who act as data processors on our behalf:

  • Argold IT provide us with IT Infrastructure and Support Services. They do not routinely access the data on our systems, but may have to provide maintenance and upgrade services which gives them access to the data

Transfers outside of the European Economic Area

Your personal information in the European Economic Area (EEA) is protected by data protection laws, but other countries do not necessarily protect your personal information in the same way. The EEA covers all countries in the EU plus Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland. A limited number of the third-party providers we use to help us manage our business and services may involve data transferring to the United States or other countries outside of the EEA. Specific providers are identified above, and we link to their relevant Privacy Policies.

Your rights

You have certain rights over the processing of your personal information by Bird &Lovibond. These are:

  • The right to be informed, which is what this privacy policy is for
  • The right to access the data we hold about you
  • The right to object to direct marketing
  • The right to object to processing carried out on the basis of legitimate interests
  • The right to erasure (in some circumstances)
  • The right to data portability
  • The right to have your data rectified if it is inaccurate
  • The right to have your data restricted or blocked from processing

We undertake direct marketing activities on the basis of consent or legitimate interests, and we will always give you the opportunity to opt-out of such communications.

How you can update your information

The accuracy of your information is important to us. If you change your contact details or if you want to update any of the information we hold on you, please email us at: dtrood@bird-lovibond.co.uk or by post at: Data Protection Lead, 5 Vine Street, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB8 1QE.

How you can access your personal information

You have the right to ask for a copy of the personal information Bird & Lovibond hold relating to you. To do this please contact: dtrood@bird-lovibond.co.uk or by post at: Data Protection Lead, 5 Vine Street, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB8 1QE.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint about our processing of your personal data with the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office.

Keeping your data secure

When you give us personal information we take steps to ensure that it’s treated securely and strive to protect it on our internal systems. Our secure server systems encrypt your information.

Contacting us via email

We use Transport Layer Security (TLS) to encrypt and protect email traffic in line with government standards. If your email service does not support TLS, you should be aware that any emails we send or receive may not be protected in transit.

We will also monitor any emails sent to us, including file attachments, for viruses or malicious software. Please be aware that you have a responsibility to ensure that any email you send is within the bounds of the law.

Changes to this privacy notice

We keep our privacy notice under regular review. This privacy notice was last updated on 01/09/2023.