Privacy

Regent Chambers is committed to protecting any personal data provided to us. In order to achieve this aim we operate a number of policies.

These privacy policies provide information about the nature of personal information we may collect (generally or through this website), how we may use that information, how we store it and when we will dispose of it.

Please read these policies before submitting any personal information to us.

All personal data provided by you through this website will be held by Regent Chambers. Our address is Regent House, 3 Pall Mall, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, ST1 1HP.

We are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) as a Data Controller for the personal data that we hold and process. Our registration number is ZA075386.

Our Data Protection Officer is Edward Palmer (edward.palmer@regentchambers.co.uk)

Data Collection

We are responsible in relation to the information we hold.

Virtually all of the information that we hold is provided by professional or lay clients in order that we can provide the legal services that have been requested.

We operate policies to ensure your data is used properly and to maintain your rights.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires organisations that hold data to have a lawful basis for keeping information.

Our basis for holding data :

We process and retain data :

With your consent (if you have a solicitor they may obtain this consent on our behalf).
In order to perform a contract with you as required by the contract.
To comply with any legal obligations.
Where necessary ‘legitimate interests’ or record keeping require it.

We use your information to :

Provide services, legal advice, quotations or relevant information to you.
Calculate payments for services and to maintain records of payment;
Enable analysis of outstanding fees or work;
Investigate complaints, assess feedback or address your concerns;
Communicate with you about events, developments or hearing dates in your case.

The types of data we hold :

We process both personal data and special categories of personal data as defined in the GDPR. This includes 'Common Data' including : name, address, email address, phone number and payment or bank details (if necessary).

We also collect 'Specific Data' such as client data, employee data, members of chambers data and equality and diversity data.

Members of Regent Chambers

In respect of members of our chambers we collect data, including supplier and VAT numbers, fees, debts, due rent and VAT figures.

For employees we collect data including names, N.I numbers and figures, wages, pension details and working hours.

We also collect data in respect of Pupillage and Mini-Pupillage, including names, contact details and academic qualifications.

We also collect Equality and Diversity data.

We retain your personal data while you remain a barrister, client, pupil, mini pupil, sub-contractor or employee, unless you ask us to delete it.

Sharing Your Data

We rarely share your personal data with other organisations but if necessary we will share with :

Delivery partners that provide services to chambers to assist with the work you require.

Our legal advisors in the event of a legal dispute.
Investigative authorities, the Bar Council or other third parties so as to meet our legal obligations.

Retention and Disposal Policy

Our Retention and Disposal Policy is published on our website and details how long we hold data for and how we dispose of it when it no longer needs to be held.

Requests to delete data

We will delete or anonymise your information at your request unless:

There are on-going issues, such as a claim, potential claim, complaint or dispute; or
We are legally required to maintain a record; or
There are overriding legitimate interests, including but not limited to fraud prevention or the safety and security of others.

Your Rights

Under the General Data Protection Regulation, you have a number of rights that you can usually exercise free of charge.

They include:

To access and obtain a copy of the personal information that we hold about you;
To ask us to correct any mistakes or add missing information.
Require us to delete your data or restrict data use in certain circumstances;
To have your data used fairly and transparently.

You can find out more want more about your rights under the GDPR by reading the Guidance from the Information Commissioners Office website.

Exercising Your Rights

If you want to exercise any of the rights available under GDPR , please call, write or email. Our Data Protection Officer is Edward Palmer.

Please state the right or rights that you would like to exercise.

We will need to contact you before we process your request in order to verify your identity. We will require a passport or a photographic driving licence and a utility bill from the last three months.

We will respond to you within one month of the date of your request (provided you have confirmed your identity).

This Policy was created in May 2018 and may be updated periodically.

Our Website Privacy Policy

This policy relates to this website only (www.regentchambers.co.uk). Should you follow links to any other website they will be operated and controlled by other third parties - with their own privacy policies - and we suggest you read & consider such policies separately and in addition.

It is also a matter of public record that the transmission of data over the internet can never be totally secure and information sent via this website or through email is sent at the users' risk.

The information we may collect

We may collect identity information - such as names, postal addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses - when submitted by users of www.regentchambers.co.uk.

If you apply for a position of work within chambers, or a mini-pupillage, we may also collect additional personal information that may be included in any C.V or application form that you send.

In the event of you making any application to Staffordshire Mediation (via Referral or Agreement to Mediate Forms) we may also collect any information provided by you as part of that application.

How we use your personal data

We may use your personal data to provide the services requested by you. We may contact you for reasons relating to the service you have requested. We anticipate using your contact details to facilitate this.

We may use information provided via the mediation referral or agreement forms to assess the suitability of your case for mediation.

If personal information is provided in connection with an application for any position within Regent Chambers we will only use your data to process your application, monitor recruitment and compile statistics. Personal data relating to unsuccessful candidates will be kept for six months after the recruitment process and then will be disposed of securely.

We will not use your personal information for marketing purposes unless you give us permission to do so, for example to add you to one of our mailing lists.

Distribution of Information

Personal data provided by you via our website will only be used by Regent Chambers or barristers from Regent Chambers. We may need to pass your personal data to one or more of our barristers to enable us to provide the service you have requested.

In exceptional circumstances we may be required to share information with governmental agencies or other companies in respect of fraud prevention or investigation. We may do so when: (1) permitted or required by law; or, (2) trying to protect against or prevent actual or potential fraud or unauthorized transactions; or, (3) investigating fraud which has already taken place.

Other than in the circumstances identified above we will not share your personal information or data with any other company, business or individual.

Where will my personal data be kept?

Your personal data will be held on our computer system. We use the industry standard software package and data is protected by high-level security and encryption. Should we need to print your personal data this will remain in the possession and control of our employees and barristers at all times. Printed material will be securely disposed of once used.

For how long will my personal data be kept?

We will retain your personal data for as long as it is required to perform the requested service. Data will be securely disposed of when all anticipated use has been completed.

Personal information provided within any application for a position within Regent Chambers will be retained for six months before being securely disposed of.

Your rights in relation to your data.

You have the right to request a copy of the information that we hold about you under the General Data Protection Regulations. If you would like a copy of some or all of your personal information, please email or write to us at the address above.

We may make a charge for this service. We want to make sure that your personal information is accurate and up to date. You may ask us to correct or remove information you think is inaccurate.

Changes to privacy policy.

We keep our privacy policy under regular review and we will place any updates on this web page. This privacy policy was last updated on 11th May 2018.

For more information on our privacy policy.

Please address any questions or queries regarding this privacy policy to:

By post to: Nicola Towle at our contact address.

By e-mail to: clerks@regentchambers.co.uk

Data Retention Policy

Personal data should not be retained for longer than is required. However, there are valid reasons why data will need to be retained in some circumstances, for example, for the duration of any period of limitation that may apply to a particular case.

The Bar Council Guide to GDPR gives the following guidance on retention periods: at least a year after the maximum relevant limitation period measured from a defined endpoint, for the purpose of defending or taking legal action. Some possible endpoints are the latest of the end of all appeal periods for a case or the date of the last payment or the date or writing off fees on the case.

Regent Chambers has adopted the latter of these suggestions as such the review/deletion policy is as follows:

- One year after the maximum relevant limitation period, for the purpose of defending or taking legal action measured from the date of last payment or the date of writing off fees on the case.This will mean that the majority of cases dealt with by Regent Chambers will have an 8 year retention period.

- Those cases involving property should have a 13 year period.

- Once the relevant period is reached the stored data should be reviewed by the barrister with a view to deletion, if data is not deleted the reason for retention should be recorded and ideally stored with the data. A further review should take place 12 months thereafter and continue on this basis until the data is deleted.

Barristers should ensure that all supplementary material that is created during the life of any case (for example emails, correspondence or fee notes) are also securely destroyed once the retention period identified above has expired.

The possession of data in both physical and digital format should be reviewed regularly by all members of chambers to consider whether the retention of the data is still necessary.

Destruction

Barristers should ensure that they take appropriate steps for the secure disposal of confidential material which is not being returned to the professional client by either the cross-cut shredding of papers or the return of papers to Chambers for this to be organised.

Barristers who wish to dispose of any computer or electronic media upon which confidential material has been stored must ensure the material is effectively destroyed or wiped using a recognized method to put the data beyond recovery. Merely deleting the files, single-pass overwriting, or reformatting the disk is insufficient. Physical destruction or the use of specialist deletion and overwriting software is necessary.

The retention of precedents, pleadings, advices and documents that have been used in open Court can be retained provided that all personal data that would enable the identification of any individual has been redacted. Documents of this type may be retained for the purposes of reference, precedent, template or educational purposes.

This policy may be updated periodically.

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