MCB Legal Studio is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) outlines how we handle your personal information to protect your privacy.

Applicable Legislation 

Organizations which collect, use, or disclose personal information in the course of commercial activities are required to comply with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”). These obligations extend to lawyers and law firms, including mcb | legal studio.

MCB Legal Studio also has professional and ethical obligations to keep your personal information confidential. 

Personal Information 

PIPEDA defines personal information as “information about an identifiable individual“. Personal information may include details such as your name, age, ID numbers, and intentions (e.g. to retain legal services), but does not include details such as your business contact information, employer’s name, or your job title.

Our professional obligations require us to collect certain personal information directly from you when you retain our services. MCB Legal Studio may also obtain personal information about you from other sources in connection with our representation of you (e.g. other individuals within your organization when we are representing the organization; your insurance company; a government agency or registry.)

Consent to Collection, Use and Disclosure of Personal Information 

Consent is an essential element of PIPEDA.  If you retain MCB Legal Studio, we will assume that we have your implied consent to our collection, use and disclosure of your personal information for the purposes of providing legal services to you or your organization. In addition, by providing your personal information to us, you agree that we may collect, use and disclose your personal information as outlined in this Policy.

Subject to any applicable legal restrictions, you may withdraw your consent at any time,  upon reasonable notice. Your withdrawal of consent may affect our ability to represent you.

Use of Personal Information 

We use your personal information to provide legal advice and services to you, to bill you for legal services; to maintain our database of clients; to provide you with information about developments in the law; and to invite you to firm events and other marketing activities.

Disclosure of Personal Information 

Unless otherwise outlined in this Policy, we will not disclose your personal information to third parties without your consent. Note there are some situations in which we may disclose your personal information without your consent. For example:

• when disclosure is required or authorized by law to do so, for example if a court issues a subpoena;

• where it is necessary to establish or collect fees; or

• if the information is already on the public record and the disclosure is directly related to the purposes for which it was recorded on the public record.

In some cases, your consent will be implied. For example, when the legal services we are providing to you require us to give your information to a third-party. We will also assume that we have your implied consent to disclose your personal information to our insurer in the event we are required to contact our insurer in connection with a claim or potential claim you have against MCB Legal Studio.

MCB Legal Studio utilizes third-party vendors to provide certain services, such as data storage and accounting services. We will use best efforts to ensure that any such third-party service provider is bound by the same privacy obligations as outlined in this Policy, but make no representation regarding any the safeguards employed by any third-party nor can we guarantee personal information stored by a third-party will not be subject to unauthorized use or access. 

Security 

MCB Legal Studio takes reasonable administrative and technological steps to protect the information it collects.  However, no data transmission over the internet or information stored on servers accessible through the internet can be guaranteed to be fully secure, and we cannot guarantee the security of any e-mail or other electronic communication sent to or by anyone at the firm.

Access to your Personal Information 

You have the right to access, challenge accuracy, and seek appropriate and reasonable amendments to your personal information. To do so, contact your MCB lawyer directly or write to privacy@mcblegal.ca.

Cookies and other Electronic Monitoring

We may monitor traffic patterns and site usage, and utilize “cookies” (small data files that we store on your computer) to optimize your visits to our website. You can disable cookies in your browser. We do not link IP addresses or cookies to personally identifiable information.

By accessing our website, you agree that we may collect, use and disclose any personal information collected about you through our website as described in this Policy.

Privacy Officer

If you have any questions or complaints about this Policy or the handling of your personal information, if you wish to withdraw your consent to our use of your personal information, or to request access to or update any information we have on file, please contact privacy@mcblegal.ca.