Privacy Policy

Mardini Law is a law practice in Toronto, Ontario. This policy explains how we collect, use, share and protect personal information, both through mardinilaw.ca and in the course of providing legal services.

We follow the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). As lawyers, we are also bound by a professional duty of confidentiality under the Law Society of Ontario's Rules of Professional Conduct, which in many cases goes further than privacy law.

What we collect

When you contact us or book a consultation. Your name, email address and phone number, the reason you are getting in touch, and anything else you choose to tell us.

When we act for you. The information the Law Society requires us to collect to identify and verify our clients (such as your name, address, occupation and government identification), the information we need to carry out your matter, and billing and payment details. Depending on the matter, this can include information about your family, your assets and debts, your wishes, and in some cases your health.

Information about other people. Estate work often involves information about family members, executors, attorneys, guardians and beneficiaries. When you give us information about someone else, you confirm that you are entitled to share it with us for the purpose of your matter.

When you visit our website. Like most websites, ours receives technical information such as your IP address, browser and device type, and the pages you visit. See Cookies and analytics below.

Our website does not have accounts or forms that store your information. Clients who use our secure client portal are covered by this policy as well.

Why we collect it

We use personal information to respond to your enquiry and schedule consultations, check for conflicts of interest, verify your identity as the Law Society requires, provide legal services and communicate with you about your matter, bill for our services and receive payment, meet our legal, professional and regulatory obligations, and understand how our website is used and how well our advertising works.

We do not use your information for any other purpose without your consent, unless the law permits or requires it.

Consent

We collect, use and share personal information with your consent. By contacting us, booking a consultation or retaining us, you consent to the uses described in this policy. You can withdraw your consent at any time, subject to legal and professional requirements, but this may mean we can no longer act for you.

Who we share it with

We do not sell personal information. We share it only in these situations.

Service providers who handle information on our behalf and are required to protect it. These include providers of email, calendar and document storage, appointment booking, practice management and our secure client portal, payment processing and banking, safe storage of original wills and powers of attorney, and, where a matter calls for them, electronic signing and identity verification. Our own systems run on servers located in Toronto. We will tell you which providers we use if you ask.

People involved in your matter, on your instructions or as your matter requires: for example courts, government registries, other lawyers, financial institutions and executors.

When the law requires or permits it, including to the Law Society of Ontario in the course of its regulatory work (such as a spot audit), which is itself bound by confidentiality.

Our designated replacement lawyer, who, as the Law Society requires, would step in to protect clients' interests if Chad Mardini were unable to practise.

Information stored outside Canada

Some of our service providers store or process information outside Canada, mainly in the United States. While there, it may be subject to the laws of that country, including access by its courts and authorities.

Cookies and analytics

Our website uses Google Analytics to understand how visitors use it, and Google Ads conversion tracking to measure whether our advertising leads to calls, emails and bookings. These tools use cookies and similar technologies. We use the results in aggregate and do not use them to identify you.

The booking calendar on our contact page is provided by Cal.com, and the map is provided by Google Maps. Both may set their own cookies.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings, manage ad personalization in Google's ad settings, and opt out of Google Analytics with Google's browser add-on. The website works without cookies.

How long we keep it

We keep client files for as long as needed for your matter and for as long as the Law Society's rules and the law require afterwards. Original wills and powers of attorney are kept in safe storage until they are needed. Enquiries that do not lead to a retainer are kept for one year for conflict-checking purposes. After that, information is securely destroyed.

How we protect it

We protect personal information with safeguards suited to its sensitivity: encrypted storage, access limited to those who need it, strong passwords and two-factor authentication, and our professional duty of confidentiality. Our client portal lets clients share documents with us securely.

Ordinary email is not completely secure. If you would rather we use another method for sensitive information, let us know.

Access and correction

You can ask to see the personal information we hold about you, and ask us to correct it if it is wrong. Please make your request in writing to our privacy officer. We will respond within 30 days. In some cases, such as where solicitor-client privilege or another person's privacy is involved, we may not be able to give you access, and we will tell you why.

Who is responsible

Chad Mardini is the firm's privacy officer and is accountable for how we handle personal information. You can reach him at:

Mardini Law
20 Toronto Street, Suite 300
Toronto, Ontario M5C 2B8
info@mardinilaw.ca
(416) 985-5221

Questions and complaints

If you have a question or concern about how we handle personal information, please contact our privacy officer first. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top shows when it was last changed.