Privacy Policy

INTRODUCTION

Mr. O’Hara and his staff, recognize and respect his clients’ personal information and endeavour to safeguard that information from unauthorized use, retention, or disclosure to third parties. It is upon this fundamental principle that our firm adheres to the Law Society of Ontario’s Rules of Professional Conduct regarding the security of our clients’ personal information, common law principles of solicitor-client privilege and, where applicable, litigation-privilege. In addition, the protection of our clients’ personal information is governed by O’Hara Law privacy policy (the “Privacy Policy”), as follows:

O’Hara Law Privacy Policy assures you as an existing or future client, that in retaining our services to represent you or your business, the entire O’Hara Law team will handle your file in accordance with this policy pursuant to all applicable Federal and Provincial legislation including, but not limited to, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”).

SCOPE

This Privacy Policy governs personal information collected from the client, other lawyers in the course of representing the client or providing legal services to the client, as well as organizations that have information relevant and necessary to fulfilling the purpose for which our firm’s services have been retained.

Personal information is defined under PIPEDA as any information that is identifiable or directly attributable to an individual. It does not cover information about an individual that is available from a public source, such as a telephone directory, court record, or land registry office. It also does not cover aggregated data, used for statistical and reporting purposes, from which data the client’s identity cannot be determined.

This Privacy Policy applies to O’Hara Law lawyers, staff and contracted employees. As well, O’Hara Law ensures that all third party service providers sign confidentiality agreements prior to any transfer of a client’s personal information in the course of providing the services for which O’Hara Law was retained.

COLLECTION PERSONAL INFORMATION

O’Hara Law collects personal information for the following limited purposes:

1. to represent the client as set out in the retainer agreement, if applicable;
2. to establish and maintain client lists for collection of legal fees, record keeping and statistical purposes.

CONSENT TO THE COLLECTION, USE, AND DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

When a client retains the services of O’Hara Law, the client consents to O’Hara Law collecting, using and disclosing personal information obtained for the limited purpose for which O’Hara Law was retained, as well as those purposes listed above in this Privacy Policy.

O’Hara Law will not use client personal information for any purposes other than that consented to by the client, either by express or implied consent. O’Hara Law does not sell, barter, or lease personal information it obtains from its client to third parties (i.e. O’Hara Law would not provide our client mailing list to another law firm or business).

If the client requests additional services of O’Hara Law beyond that of the original retainer, the client is giving implied consent to O’Hara Law using the personal information already held for the original purpose, as well as any new personal information collected for the new purpose and no signature will be required on a new or amending retainer agreement, if applicable.

Under PIPEDA and other Federal and Provincial Legislation, O’Hara Law may disclose personal information without client consent to:

• government or legal enforcement agencies if O’Hara Law determines that the client has provided incorrect information for fraudulent or illegal purposes;
• government or legal enforcement agencies if the information is collected in the midst of a criminal investigation;
• legal enforcement agency if O’Hara Law determines that there is imminent risk of death or serious bodily harm, including psychological harm, to an identifiable person or group of persons;
• disclosure to a third party individual or organization if so ordered by a Court or Tribunal of competent jurisdiction; and
• defend against allegations of criminal or civil liability, or professional malpractice or misconduct, by the client or former client.

ACCURACY

O’Hara Law endeavours to ensure that all personal information provided by the client and in its possession, is accurate, current and as complete as is necessary for the purposes for which the personal information was collected, used and maintained in an active file. Upon notification by a client that the personal information requires correction or updating, O’Hara Law will make the necessary amendments to the client’s active file where applicable.

Personal information contained in files that have been closed, or pertaining to matters of the client that have been resolved, will not be actively updated or maintained. O’Hara Law will retain personal information until the matter is closed or the retainer is terminated by either the client or O’Hara Law. All personal information will be returned to the client and only information pertaining to the services for which O’Hara Law was retained will be maintained in the file once it is closed. Closed files are retained for the period prescribed by relevant Federal and Provincial legislation.

SAFEGUARDS

O’Hara Law has implemented a number of physical, organizational and technological safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the client’s personal information, including but not limited to:

1) PHYSICAL

Client files are maintained in filing cabinets, located in areas where access is restricted to authorized personnel. Clients do not have access to the filing cabinet.

Highly sensitive information such as financial account information, estate information, and physical evidence, are stored in a locked cabinet with no available access to anyone but those individuals in O’Hara Law.

2) ORGANIZATIONAL

Only O’Hara Law lawyers and employees working on the client’s file will have access to the personal information contained in the file.

3) TECHNOLOGICAL

O’Hara Law utilizes firewall, virus protection and other technological safeguards to protect personal information that is retained on the computer network. O’Hara Law has developed and implemented safe Internet and email use protocols for its lawyers and employees to reduce the risk of inadvertent disclosure as a result of Internet-sourced viruses or cookies.

Regarding electronic transmission of personal information (i.e. email), there is no method of transmitting or storing data that is completely secure. O’Hara Law uses all available technological security in the transmission of the client’s personal information, either in the course of communicating with the client, or in the course of communication with opposing or allied legal counsel and third party service providers. Notwithstanding these technological safeguards, all Internet transmissions are susceptible to possible loss, misrouting, interception and misuse.

OPENNESS

O’Hara Law makes available its privacy policies and procedures regarding the handling of personal information that it collects for the duration of the retainer on the Internet website at oharalaw.ca.  

LINKS TO OTHER SITES

O’Hara Law may contain links to other sites that are not operated by O’Hara Law. If you click on a third party link, you will be directed to that third party’s site. We strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of every site you visit.

O’Hara Law has no control over, and assumes no responsibility for, the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third party sites or services.

INDIVIDUAL ACCESS

Under PIPEDA, an individual is entitled to access to the personal information held about them with the following exceptions as permitted under the Federal Privacy Legislation:

• No access will be granted if the information is protected by solicitor-client privilege or litigation privilege;
• O’Hara Law will deny access if the individual seeking access fails to produce sufficient identification to verify that they are the individual about whose personal information access is being sought;
• No access will be granted to personal information that is not about the individual seeking access;
• No access will be granted to information that is part of a criminal investigation;
• No access will be granted where such access would harm or interfere with law enforcement activities and other investigative functions of a body authorized by statute to perform such functions;
• No access will be granted to information where such access might threaten the life, safety and security, including psychological safety, of the individual seeking access;
• No access will be granted to the individual who is a minor or mentally incompetent;
• O’Hara Law reserves the right to refuse access that it believes is repetitious, frivolous, or vexatious.

Where possible, O’Hara Law will provide the requested information at nominal cost to the individual. Where the information requested is stored off-site, O’Hara Law reserves the right to charge the individual seeking access, the cost to have such information retrieved from the off-site storage facility.

The individual entitled to access may challenge the completeness of their personal information under O’Hara Law’s care and control. Upon successful demonstration that there is an error in the personal information held by O’Hara Law, O’Hara Law  will amend the information where appropriate.

CONTACT INFORMATION

If a question arises regarding access to your personal information held by O’Hara Law , or there is a concern about the manner in which O’Hara Law collects, uses, retains and discloses your personal information as a client of O’Hara Law, please contact us.