Privacy Policy

PRIVACY POLICY / terms and conditions


INTRODUCTION

Law firms in private practice in Ontario are subject to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (commonly referred to as “PIPEDA”), as well as provincial privacy legislation, with respect to any and all personal information collected in the course of commercial activities. “Personal Information” is information that allows an individual to be identified but does not include an individual’s business contact information (an individual’s name, title, position, business address, business telephone number, or business facsimile). 

The staff and lawyers of EsQrow Lawyers Professional Corporation (“EsQrow Lawyers”) recognize and respect their obligations under PIPEDA to maintain the privacy, security and accuracy of each existing and each future client’s Personal Information. In addition, EsQrow Lawyers has professional obligations under the Law Society of Upper Canada’s Rules of Professional Conduct, common law obligations and obligations under this Privacy Policy to protect and keep confidential all Personal Information we receive.


SCOPE

This Privacy Policy outlines how the staff, lawyers and contracted employees of EsQrow Lawyers manage and safeguard Personal Information.  


COLLECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

EsQrow Lawyers only collects Personal Information necessary to fulfill the purposes identified below, purposes identified to you prior to collection, or for any reasonable and legitimate purposes as required by law.

EsQrow Lawyers always collects Personal Information by fair and lawful means. 

EsQrow Lawyers collects Personal Information directly and indirectly, through third parties, and as agents on behalf of our clients, where we have obtained the necessary consent to do so.

Unless permitted by law, no Personal Information is collected about an individual without first obtaining the consent and knowledge of the individual. In certain cases, EsQrow Lawyers may obtain an individual’s express consent. In other cases, EsQrow Lawyers may determine that consent has been implied by the individual’s provision of Personal Information pursuant to this Privacy Policy.

EsQrow Lawyers commonly collects Personal Information regarding our existing and prospective clients and employees, which may include:

  • name, home address, telephone number, personal e-mail address
  • age, health status, citizenship, gender
  • birth-dates, marital status, number
  • Personal Information regarding children, parents and other family members
  • banking and other institutional information
  • billing/account information;
  • credit card information;
  • agent, officer, professional advisor and director information;
  • expert and other professional advisor information;
  • business partners, investors, shareholders, competitors and customers who are individuals; and
  • personal information related to corporate involvements.

Sometimes EsQrow Lawyers may obtain information about you from other sources such as:

  • your insurance company;
  • your real estate agent;
  • from a government agency or registry;
  • your employer; and
  • your accountant.

Please note that if Personal Information is provided to EsQrow Lawyers by a third-party individual, the provider of such information represents they have all the necessary authority and/or have obtained all necessary consents to enable EsQrow Lawyers to collect, use and disclose such Personal Information for the purposes set forth in this Privacy Policy.


HOW YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION IS USED

EsQrow Lawyers collects, uses and discloses Personal Information for the following limited purposes:

  • to provide our clients with our professional legal services;
  • to administer our client time and billing databases;
  • to establish and maintain our commercial relationships;
  • to establish and maintain client lists for collection of legal fees, record keeping, accounting, and statistical purposes;
  • protecting against fraud and error; and
  • general communication with clients.

Summarily, EsQrow Lawyers collects, uses and discloses Personal Information to provide professional legal services to and for clients, for administrative and management purposes, and to enhance our relationship with clients. We do not sell client lists or other Personal Information. 

 

DISCLOSURE

Except as set out in this Privacy Policy, EsQrow Lawyers does not transfer or otherwise disclose any Personal Information to any third party without the consent of our clients.

From time to time EsQrow Lawyers may share clients’ Personal Information with such third parties as:

  • service providers, including those organizations or individuals, retained by EsQrow Lawyers to perform functions on its behalf, such as marketing, data processing, document management and office services;
  • organizations or individuals retained by EsQrow Lawyers to evaluate your creditworthiness or to collect debts outstanding on account and financial institutions, on a confidential basis and solely in connection with the assignment of a right to receive payment, the provision of security or other financing arrangements;
  • project-related government and regulatory agencies and their agents and other organizations/enterprises on a confidential basis when required to provide services to and for clients;
  • certain third party professionals, on a confidential basis, from whom we order specific file-related services on behalf or our clients; and
  • other third parties where our clients consent to such disclosure or where disclosure is required or permitted by law, or if the information is already publicly known.

Access to Personal Information is otherwise limited to those employees of EsQrow Lawyers who have a need to know the Personal Information and who are bound to maintain the confidentiality of the Personal Information.

 

UPDATING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

EsQrow Lawyers endeavours to ensure that all Personal Information in its possession, is accurate, current and as complete as is necessary for the purposes for which the Personal Information was collected.

If during the course of your relationship with EsQrow Lawyers any of your Personal Information changes, please inform us so that we can make any necessary changes.

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.


HOW PERSONAL INFORMATION IS KEPT SECURE

Personal Information is treated as private and confidential by EsQrow Lawyers. EsQrow Lawyers maintains Personal Information in secure on-site and off-site data storage to safeguard it from unauthorized access, use, disclosure and modification. EsQrow Lawyers uses physical measures, such as restricted access to our offices and equipment, and organizational measures, such as security clearances and passwords to further protect Personal Information.

EsQrow Lawyers maintains the strict confidentiality of all Personal Information collected by limiting disclosure to those employees and such third party contractors of EsQrow Lawyers set out above, on a confidential basis, who require the information for the purposes set out above. EsQrow Lawyers only keeps Personal Information for as long as it remains necessary or relevant or as otherwise required by law.

 

WEBSITE AND ELECTRONIC MAIL

With respect to the EsQrow Lawyers website (www.esQrowlawyers.com), please be advised that, like most commercial websites, EsQrow Lawyers may monitor traffic patterns, site usage and related site information in order to optimize the web service.   

The website may contain links to other websites from time to time, which websites may collect Personal Information. The provision of links is for convenience only and does not constitute an endorsement, recommendation or approval of linked websites. EsQrow Lawyers does not assume responsibility for the privacy policies or practices of the linked websites.  

Also, please be advised that e-mail is not a 100% secure medium, and you should be aware of this when contacting us to send personal or confidential information.


ACCESS TO PERSONAL INFORMATION

If any individual wishes to access their Personal Information, in order to update, correct or delete any such information, please contact our Director, Finance & Administration using the contact information provided below. Similarly, if there are any questions or comments about this Privacy Policy, please contact our Director, Finance & Administration at the address provided below. Access to Personal Information and our Privacy Policy is free of charge.

ESQROW LAWYERS PC 
Barristers and Solicitors 
77 City Centre Drive, Suite 501
Mississauga, ON L5B 1M5 
Phone: 905-267-8596
Fax: 416-981-7183 | E: talktous@esQrowlawyers.com
Attention: Executive Assistant to Managing Director/Partner

Your rights to access your personal information are not absolute. EsQrow Lawyers may deny access when:

  • denial of access is required or authorized by law ;
  • information relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings against you;
  • when granting you access would have an unreasonable impact on other people’s privacy;
  • when to do so would prejudice negotiations with you;
  • to protect our firm’s rights and property; and
  • where the request is frivolous or vexatious.

 

PROSPECTIVE EMPLOYEES

If you apply to EsQrow Lawyers for a job, we need to consider your Personal Information as part of our review process. If we offer you a job, which you accept, the information will be retained in accordance with our privacy procedures for employee records.

 

No Unlawful or Prohibited Use

You agree that you will not, without our prior written permission, use the Site and the Content for purposes other than your own personal non-commercial use and benefit. You may not frame the Site or the Content or any part thereof on any commercial or non-commercial internet web site. You acquire absolutely no rights or licences to the Site or the Content other than the limited right to use the Site and the Content in accordance with these Terms and Conditions. You agree that you will not use the Site for any purpose that is unlawful. Except as expressly provided in these Terms and Conditions, any reproduction, retransmission, distribution, sale, republication, modification, translation of or creation of derivative works based on the Site or the Content, in whole or in part, and any decompilation disassembly, reverse engineering or other exploitation of the Site, without prior written permission, is strictly prohibited.

 

OWNERSHIP

All Content, designs, graphics, pictures, illustrations, software, artwork, video, music, sound, names, words, titles, phrases, logos and marks displayed on the Site or in the Content are owned by EsQrow Lawyers and are protected by copyright, trade-mark and other intellectual property laws and treaty provision laws.


THIRD PARTY SITES

The Site may provide links to third party web sites EsQrow Lawyers does not endorse the information contained in those web sites or guarantee their quality, accuracy, reliability, completeness, currency, timeliness, non-infringement, merchantability or fitness for any purpose. The content in any linked web site is not under EsQrow Lawyers’s control and if you choose to access any such web site, you do so entirely at your own risk.


GOVERNING LAW

This Privacy Policy and T&Cs are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the applicable laws of Canada and these laws apply to the use of the Site or the Content by you, notwithstanding your domicile, residency or physical location. The Site and the Content are intended for use only in jurisdictions where it may lawfully be offered for use.


General Provisions

These Terms and Conditions, including any documents referenced herein, constitute the entire agreement between EsQrow Lawyers and you pertaining to the subject matter hereof and supersedes all prior or contemporaneous communications and proposals, whether electronic, oral or written, between you and EsQrow Lawyers with respect to the Site. A printed version of our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions, and of any notice given in electronic form shall be admissible in judicial or administrative proceedings based upon or relating to these Terms and Conditions to the same extent and subject to the same conditions as other business documents and records originally generated and maintained in printed form. EsQrow Lawyers’s failure to insist upon or enforce strict performance of any provision of these Terms and Conditions shall not be construed as a waiver of any provisions or right. If any of the provisions contained in these Terms and Conditions are determined to be void, invalid or otherwise unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, such determination shall not affect the remaining provisions contained herein.


IMPORTANT NOTE

EsQrow Lawyers reserves the right to modify or supplement this Privacy Policy at any time.