Legal notices | Grays Solicitors LLP

LEGAL NOTICES

Grays Solicitors LLP
Grays Solicitors is the trading name of Grays Solicitors LLP, a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales under registration number OC415842.

The term ‘partner’ is used to refer to a member of the limited liability partnership or a solicitor of equivalent standing.

Regulation
We are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority under registration number 637213. The Solicitors Regulation Authority can be contacted at:

Solicitors Regulation Authority
The Cube
199 Wharfside Street
Birmingham
B1 1RN

Disclaimer
The information contained on this site relates only to the law of England and Wales and whilst we endeavour to ensure that this information is correct and accurate, we regret that we cannot give any warranty to that effect. We cannot be responsible for the consequences of reliance on that information, and any information of an advisory nature is general only and cannot be regarded as applicable to a specific case. However this disclaimer is not intended to affect your statutory rights.

Copyright Notice
The materials contained on this site except as where identified as being the copyright of any other person are copyright to us and may be subject to other intellectual property rights. Whilst the pages may be downloaded or copied for the purposes for which the site is intended, such copies may only be used by you and within your organisation, and not for any commercial use without our express consent. All copyrights and trademark notices, marks, disclaimers and other such elements must be preserved and upheld at all times.

VAT
Our VAT number is 169 118057.

To protect your privacy, our website does not collect or store cookies.

Data protection

We have always been committed to protecting our clients’ privacy, but as a result of legislation which came into effect in 2018 we need to set out how we look after clients’ personal data when they use our services, and about their rights and how the law protects them.

Background information

Grays Solicitors LLP is what is described in the legislation as a “data controller”. Our contact details are as follows:

Grays Solicitors LLP

Duncombe Place

York YO1 7DY

Telephone: 01904 634771

Email: enquiries@grayssolicitors.co.uk

We have appointed a privacy/data protection representative who is responsible for dealing with any queries in relation to this notice or data protection matters generally. His contact details are:

Brian Mitchell
BJM@GraysSolicitors.co.uk

01904 634771

If you have any concerns please contact our privacy representative. You also have the right to complain, should you wish to do so, to the Information Commissioner’s Office (“the ICO”) on any data protection issues, should you be unhappy with how your data is handled.

What personal data we collect

Personal data is any information about you from which you can be identified. In the course of acting for you we may collect a number of different types of personal data, including basic identity information such as your name, date of birth, and contact details such as email and postal address, and so on. We may also collect financial data such as bank account numbers for the purposes of processing payments to you. We will not collect anything that is described in the legislation as “special category” data - which includes for example details of your race or ethnicity, religious beliefs, sexual orientation or health unless we are obliged to do so to establish, exercise or defend legal claims, or we obtain your specific consent to do so.

How we collect your data

Again, your personal data may be collected by various means, including directly from you by post, phone or email, or indirectly from third parties or from public sources such as Companies House, the Electoral Register, or HM Land Registry.

How we use your data

We will only use your personal data where the law permits us to do so. The most likely circumstances in the context of our business relationship with you will be:

where we need to perform the contract (for legal services) we have entered into, or are about to enter into with you;
where it is necessary for our legitimate interests and these interests are not overridden by your fundamental rights or interests; and/or
where we need to do so in order to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation.

As a firm of solicitors we will not generally be relying on your consent as our lawful basis for processing your personal data.

The purposes we use your personal data for

We will use your personal data for the provision of our services to you, from taking you on as a new client (which may include checking your identity with regulated third party electronic verification service providers in order to meet our anti-money laundering obligations), to delivering the agreed legal services to you. We may also use it for related purposes including updating and enhancing our client records, the management of our legal practice, legal and regulatory compliance and working with third parties like expert witnesses or other professional advisers on your behalf. Our use of your personal data will always be subject to your instructions, current legislation, and our duty of confidentiality.

How long we will keep your personal data for

We will not keep your personal data for longer than is reasonably necessary to meet the purposes for which it is processed. We normally retain client files for at least 10 years in case reference needs to be made to them in the future, but we may retain files for significantly longer periods - for the same reason. These files will nonetheless remain subject to the same confidentiality obligations as current files.

Disclosing your data

We will never pass your personal data to third parties for marketing or similar purposes. We may need to share your data with other professional organisations such as our accountants (eg for audit purposes), our bankers (eg for processing payments to you), our professional indemnity insurers and those who provide us with electronic identity verification services. We may also share it with HMRC, regulators and other UK authorities who require us to report to them in particular circumstances. Finally, we may, of course, also share your data with others involved in your legal matter, including barristers, experts, courts, agents and other solicitors.

Your rights under data protection legislation

You have the following rights under the new legislation, further details of which are available on request:

The right to request access to the personal data we hold and to check that we are processing it lawfully (this is known as making a “data subject access request”).

The right to require us to correct any inaccurate or out of date personal data.

The right to ask us to delete your personal data, in some circumstances, including where we do not have a good reason for continuing to process it.

The right to object to our processing your personal data where our basis for doing so is our legitimate interests.

The right to ask us to suspend processing your personal data in particular circumstances.

The right to ask us to transfer your personal data to you or a third party where this is automated information you initially gave consent for us to use or which we used to perform a contract with you.

Complaints about our service

As a firm, we are fortunate to receive very few complaints. But if you are dissatisfied with anything we have done or failed to do, or if you are unhappy with any aspect of our service, please do let us know as soon as possible.

Who to contact
Unless it is a matter of serious concern it is often best in the first instance just to tell whoever is dealing with your work. It may well be that there is a quick and easy solution and that little more is required than an acceptable apology.

If the day-to-day work is not being carried out by a partner, you may prefer to refer the matter to the partner with overall responsibility for your work - there always is such a partner who will be identified in our Terms of Business letter at the outset or otherwise notified to you in writing.

If you are not satisfied with the response which you receive at this stage or if your complaint is of a more serious nature, you may refer it to the partner with overall responsibility for dealing with such matters, Brian Mitchell, or if Mr Mitchell is himself the subject of complaint, to another partner.

Investigation
Whatever the nature or level of your complaint, it will be investigated - fairly and free of charge. Depending on the circumstances you may be asked to put it in writing if you have not already done so. You may wish to arrange a face-to-face meeting with Mr Mitchell or he may suggest it if he feels that it would be more appropriate - either before or after any necessary investigation has been undertaken.

If detailed investigation is required, this may take a little time. Files may have to be read; staff may have to be interviewed who are on holiday, off sick or otherwise not immediately available. Except in exceptional circumstances this can normally be completed within two to three weeks.

Outcome
On completion of our investigation we shall let you know the outcome in writing with a summary of the facts (unless the facts as such are not in issue) together with our conclusions.

All formal complaints (ie those which you state or which we consider to be formal complaints) are recorded in writing. Likewise recorded is the action taken and the conclusion reached.

Further redress
If you are not satisfied with the outcome you may refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman Service. Their contact details are:

Legal Ombudsman Service
PO Box 6806
Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ
Tel: 0300 555 0333
enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

They are generally able to deal with complaints from members of the public, small businesses, charities, clubs and trusts. Any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman Service should be made (i) within 6 months of our final response to your complaint and (ii) within 1 year of the alleged act or omission (or, if later, 1 year from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint).

Complaints about conduct

The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help you if you are concerned about our professional conduct. This could be for things like treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic, or failing to comply with our professional duties. You can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority.