This Privacy Policy explains the type of personal information we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, who we might disclose it to, how we keep it secure and how you can correct or modify it.

Who we are

Shires Law (Gloucester) Ltd (t/a Shires Law) are a Personal Injury Law firm based in Mitcheldean, Gloucestershire.

How and why we collect your personal information

We collect and process your personal information in order to facilitate the provision of the professional service(s) for which you have instructed, or may instruct, us. The personal information you supply to us in connection with your claim may include: your name, address, contact details, date of birth, details of the circumstances of the claim and any damage, injury or loss suffered by you, National Insurance number, employment and records held by your employer and GP.

Most of this information will have been provided by you, however there may be instances where it comes from other sources or third parties. For example, we may receive it from a medical report from your GP in the course of assisting with your personal injury claim.

Your personal data will be held in electronic and/or hard copy format.

We may use your personal information:

• To contact you to discuss your enquiry using the contact details provided by you in our enquiry forms, claim forms or by email;
• to perform a contract, such as engaging with an individual or company to provide legal or other services;
• for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims or proceedings;
• to comply with legal and regulatory obligations;
• for legitimate business purposes

Why we require your personal information

We will use your personal information for the following purposes:

• the provision of legal advice;
• the administration and management of your claim including conflict checking and billing;
• the legitimate business purposes associated with the operating of a law firm.
• to provide services ancillary to your claim, for example, medical assistance and reports, and/or
• to comply with any laws or regulations.

Who has access to it

We have a data protection regime in place to oversee the effective and secure processing of your personal data. We will not sell or rent your information to third parties. We will not share your information with third parties for marketing purposes.

Generally, we will only use your information within Shires Law. However there may be circumstances, where we may need to disclose some information to third parties; for example:

• Court or Tribunal
• Solicitors acting on the other side
• Asking an independent Barrister or Counsel for advice; or to represent you
• Non legal experts to obtain advice or assistance
• Translation Agencies
• Contracted Suppliers
• External auditors or our Regulator
• Financial Institutions
• Insurance Companies
• Providers of identity verification
• Any disclosure required by law or regulation; such as the prevention of financial crime and terrorism

In the event any of your information is shared with the aforementioned third parties, we ensure that they comply, strictly and confidentially, with our instructions and they do not use your personal information for their own purposes unless you have explicitly consented to them doing so.

There may be some uses of personal data that may require your specific consent. If this is the case we will contact you separately to ask for your consent which you are free to withdraw at any time.

If after providing us with your personal information it becomes apparent we are unable to offer our service to you, we may, with your consent, pass your details to another company who may be able to assist you.

Accessing and updating your personal information

You have a number of legal rights over the personal information we hold. These include the right:

• to access your personal information held in our records, whether electronically or manually;
• to correct or update any personal information that you think is incorrect;
• to object to further processing, including stop receiving marketing material from us which you previously signed up for, by updating your marketing preferences;
• to ask us to delete your personal information. We will only be able to accommodate this request where it is no longer necessary for the purpose(s) for which it was provided or where we no longer have a lawful basis to process your personal information;
• to receive the personal information we hold about you in a portable format, however this need only be provided in limited circumstances where the processing has been done by automated means; and
• to ask us to stop processing your personal information in certain circumstances. Asking us to stop doing this may mean we are no longer able to provide you with legal services and impact your client retainer.

You should contact us should you wish to have access to this information or to update or complete any of our records pertaining to your personal information. Requests can be made to our Data Protection Officer: Joanne du Plessis and you can contact them at info@shireslaw.co.uk

If you wish to raise a complaint on how we have handled your personal data, you can contact our aforementioned Data Protection Officer who will investigate further.

We will endeavour to resolve any complaints, but if you are not satisfied with our response or believe we are not processing your personal data in accordance with the law, please contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) – www.ico.org.uk

Other Websites

This website may contain links to other websites. This Privacy Policy only applies to Shires Law website, We bear no responsibility for the operation, content or policies of other websites.

How long we keep your personal information

We will retain your personal information for as long as it is reasonable and necessary for the use for which we have collected it in accordance with applicable laws, and our statutory obligations.

Protecting your personal information

We will keep your personal information confidential and will take appropriate measures to protect it against loss, theft or misuse and to safeguard your privacy.

Where you are provided with any confidential information (including a user ID or password), you must not disclose such information to any third party.

Updating this Policy

We may amend this policy at any time by either notifying you or posting a revised version on our website at www.shireslaw.co.uk
If we make a change to this policy, we will take your continued use of our services after that date as your acceptance of the change.