Personal Data & Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Partnership Counsel is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This policy sets out the basis on which personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us, will be processed by us. Please read the following carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your personal data and how we will treat it.

We comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

2. Information We May Collect

We may collect and process the following data about you:

• Information you give us: This includes information provided when you instruct us, correspond with us by post, phone or email, or contact us through our website. It may include your name, address, email address, phone number, and details of the matter on which you are seeking advice.
• Information we receive from others: We may receive information about you from the solicitor or other legal professional instructing us on your behalf.
• Information we collect about your use of our website: Each time you visit our website we may automatically collect technical information such as your IP address, browser type, and pages visited.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use information held about you in the following ways:

• To provide legal services to you or to the firm that has instructed us on your behalf
• To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
• To improve our website and ensure that content is presented most effectively
• To notify you of changes to our services
• To carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into between you and us

4. Legal Basis for Processing

We will only process your personal data where we have a lawful basis to do so. The legal bases we rely on include: performance of a contract with you; compliance with a legal obligation; our legitimate interests (where these are not overridden by your rights); and, where required, your consent.

5. Special Category Data

In the course of providing legal services, we may need to process special category data (for example, information about health, criminal proceedings, or other sensitive matters). We will only do so where necessary for the performance of legal services and subject to appropriate safeguards.

6. Disclosure of Your Information

We may share your personal information with selected third parties including:

• The solicitor or legal professional instructing us on your behalf
• Courts, tribunals, arbitrators and mediators as required in the course of legal proceedings
• Our regulatory bodies, including the Bar Standards Board, as required
• IT service providers who assist in the operation of our systems, subject to appropriate data processing agreements

We will not sell your personal data to third parties, nor will we disclose it to third parties for their marketing purposes.

7. Data Retention

We retain personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, regulatory, accounting, or reporting requirements. For client matter files, we generally retain data for a period of seven years after the conclusion of the matter, unless there are reasons to retain for longer.

8. Your Rights

Under UK GDPR you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data, including the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you
• Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data
• Request erasure of your data in certain circumstances
• Object to processing based on legitimate interests
• Request restriction of processing in certain circumstances
• Data portability in certain circumstances

To exercise any of these rights, please contact our Practice Manager, Tyroon Win, at the address above.

9. Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure, or access. All data is stored securely and access is restricted to those with a need to know.

10. Cookies

Our website uses cookies. Please see our Cookies Policy for full details.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page. This policy was last reviewed in 2025.

12. Complaints

If you have concerns about how we handle your personal data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk. We would, however, appreciate the chance to address your concerns directly before you approach the ICO, so please contact us in the first instance.