Esteri Law Professional Corporation (“Esteri Law”, “we”, “our”, or “us”, “the Firm”) is committed to maintaining the accuracy, confidentiality, and security of your personal information. As legal professionals, we have a professional obligation to keep all information received within a lawyer-client relationship confidential. This Privacy Policy outlines how we manage personal information in accordance with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and the provisions of the Canadian Standards Association’s Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information (the “Code”) incorporated into the Act.

As of January 1, 2004, all organizations engaged in commercial activities in Canada must comply with PIPEDA. These obligations extend to lawyers and law firms, including Esteri Law. According to the Act, you have the right to know how your personal information is collected, used, and disclosed. We take these responsibilities seriously.

“Personal Information” refers to information about an identifiable individual. This includes your home address, telephone number, personal email address, billing and account information, information about your legal issue, personal information about third parties involved in your legal matter, and any other data that can be linked to you as a person. It does not include business contact information or publicly available information as defined under PIPEDA.

We collect personal information only by lawful and fair means and not in an unreasonably intrusive manner. Most information is collected directly from you at the start of and during the course of our representation. In some instances, we may collect information from other sources, including:

    •   Government agencies and registries

    •   Insurance companies

    •   Financial institutions

    •   Employers (when acting at their request)

    •   Accountants or other professionals

Your personal information is used to:

    •   Provide legal advice and services

    •   Fulfill our professional and legal obligations

    •   Manage billing and accounting processes

    •   Administer conflict checks and internal records

    •   Conduct client communications and marketing (unless you opt out)

We do not disclose your information to third parties for marketing purposes.

We require your consent to collect, use, or disclose personal information. Consent may be provided in writing, orally, or implied through your conduct with us. You may withdraw your consent at any time, subject to legal or contractual restrictions.

Your information may be disclosed under the following circumstances:

    •   When required or authorized by law (e.g., subpoena or court order)

    •   When you have given consent

    •   Where legal services require disclosure to third parties (e.g., financial institutions, opposing counsel, government bodies)

    •   To collect fees or enforce obligations

    •   To third-party service providers who are bound by our privacy obligations

    •   To expert witnesses or consultants retained on your behalf

    •   If we retain other law firms in other jurisdictions, on your behalf

    •   If the information is publicly available, as defined under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act.

If we engage third parties to process your personal information (such as IT providers, file storage companies, or administrative support services), we will enter into legal agreements that require them to safeguard your information in a manner consistent with this Privacy Policy and acceptable to us.

    To ensure we provide you with quality legal services, your personal information must be accurate and up to date. Please inform us of any changes to your information during the course of our representation.

We take reasonable precautions to protect your personal information from loss, unauthorized access, disclosure, or misuse. Security measures include:

    •   Premises security

    •   Restricted file access to personal information

    •   Use of encryption and secure networks

    •   Password-protected databases

    •   Confidentiality training for staff

You may request access to your personal information. Summary information will be provided free of charge, while more detailed requests are subject to our normal professional and disbursement fees. Access may be denied in certain circumstances as permitted by law, such as:

    •   Where information is protected by solicitor-client privilege;

    •   to do so would reveal confidential commercial information, and the personal information cannot be severed from the record;

    •   If disclosure could threaten another person’s safety, and the personal information cannot be severed from the record;

    •   If the information was generated in a formal dispute resolution process.

If we deny your request for access to, or refuse a request to correct information, we shall explain why. The Firm does not use your Social Insurance Number as a way of identifying or organizing the information we hold about you.

Our firm is committed to maintaining accurate, complete and up-to-date personal information. If your information is inaccurate or incomplete, please contact us to make the necessary updates. We will make reasonable efforts to correct it.

Where lawful and practical, we will allow anonymous access (e.g., accessing general information on our website). However, we are required by law (including under the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act) to confirm the identity of all new clients and report certain transactions to FINTRAC.

Our website contains links to other sites, which are not governed by this Privacy Policy. On our website, like most other commercial websites, we may monitor traffic patterns, site usage, and related site information in order to optimize our web service. We may provide aggregated information to third parties, but these statistics do not include any identifiable personal information.

Please be aware that email is not a fully secure medium. If you prefer another method of communication for sensitive information, let us know.

If you apply for a position at Esteri Law, we may retain your personal information during and after the application process unless you request otherwise. If hired, this information will be managed under our employee privacy procedures.

We review our policies regularly. This Privacy Policy may be updated to reflect changes in law or practice. The most current version will always be available on our website.

If you have questions or concerns about your personal information or this Policy, please contact:

Esteri Law Professional Corporation

130 King Street West, Suite 1900

Toronto, ON, M5X 1E3

Email: info@esterilaw.ca

Phone: 647-259-7663

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada:

112 Kent Street

Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 1H3

Toll-Free: 1-800-282-1376