Nadine Schweishelm Barrister & Solicitor Terms of Use
INTERNET
COMMUNICATIONS NOT PRIVATE OR CONFIDENTIAL
Nadine A. Schweishelm’s Law Office (Nadine A. Schweishelm Barrister & Solicitor) welcomes the opportunity to communicate with you via the internet. However, please be advised that the law firm cannot guarantee the privacy or confidentiality of any communication made through the internet. We cannot guarantee information sent through the internet will not be intercepted by a third party. If you wish to provide information of a confidential, personal or sensitive nature to one of the members of the firm, please contact the office directly by telephone.
UNINTENDED RECIPIENT
Any email originating from Nadine A. Schweishelm’s Law Office may be privileged and is intended for the exclusive use of the intended recipient. Any other person is strictly prohibited from disclosing, distributing or reproducing such email or the content thereof. If you receive communication from the firm and you are not the intended recipient please inform us immediately by telephone at (705) 446- 2338 and delete the email and destroy all copies.
LIMITED LIABILITY
If you chose to send confidential, personal or sensitive information through this website you do so at your own risk. To the maximum extent permitted by law, in no event shall Nadine A. Schweishelm Barrister & Solicitor be liable for any direct, indirect, punitive, incidental, special or consequential damages, whether foreseeable or unforeseeable, based on a claim (including, but not limited to, for damages, loss of profits or loss of business opportunities, delay or inability to use the site, the provision of or failure to provide services, mistakes, omissions, interruptions, deletion or corruption of files, errors, defects, delays in preparations or transmissions) arising out of or in any way connected with the use of the website whether based on contract, tort, strict liability or otherwise, even if advised of the possibility of such damage.
NO SOLICITOR-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP
If you choose to communicate with the firm via the internet this does not create a solicitor-client relationship without the express consent of Nadine A. Schweishelm Barrister & Solicitor.
NADINE SCHWEISHELM BARRISTER & SOLICITOR WEBSITE
In addition to the foregoing, Nadine A. Schweishelm Barrister & Solicitor provides a Site (currently located at http://www.georgianbaylaw.com) (the “Site”). By using the Site you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions set out below. If you do not wish to be bound by these terms and conditions please do not access or use the Site.
MODIFICATIONS TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Nadine A. Schweishelm Barrister & Solicitor reserves the right to change these Terms and Conditions at any time. Notice of any change to the Terms and Conditions will be posted on this screen. You agree to review the Terms and Conditions periodically and, in any event, each time such notice is posted. Your continued use of this Site will constitute agreement to abide and be bound by the Terms and Conditions as modified.
NO SOLICITOR-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP
If you choose to access our website this does not, without the express consent of Nadine A. Schweishelm Barrister & Solicitor, create a solicitor-client relationship. For purposes of clarity, your use of the Site may facilitate access to or communications with members of the firm by way of e-mail transmissions or otherwise. Receipt by any member of the firm of any such communication or transmission does not create a lawyer-client relationship.
LEGAL ADVICE NOT PROVIDED
The information on our website is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal or other professional advice. It is not intended to be legal advice or an opinion of any kind. You are advised to seek specific legal advice from Nadine Schweishelm (or your own legal counsel) in relation to any decision or course of action contemplated.
NO WARRANT OR GUARANTEE
Nadine A. Schweishelm Barrister & Solicitor does not warrant or guarantee the quality, accuracy or completeness of any information provided on the said website. The information contained in articles published is current as of its original date of publication, but should not be relied upon as certain information (which may be significant) may now be out of date and no longer applicable.
NO LIABILITY
Your use of the Site is at your own risk. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Site and any data and/or information associated with the Site is provided on an ‘as is’ basis without representations, warranties or conditions of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to representations, warranties or conditions of title or implied warranties or conditions of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Nadine A. Schweishelm Barrister & Solicitor is not responsible or liable for the suitability, accuracy, validity or reliability of the Site for any purpose.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, in no event shall Nadine A. Schweishelm Barrister & Solicitor be liable for any direct, indirect, punitive, incidental, special or consequential damages, whether foreseeable or unforeseeable, based on a claim (including, but not limited to, for damages for loss of profit or loss of business opportunity, delay or inability to use the Site, the provision of or failure to provide services, mistakes, omissions, interruptions, deletion or corruption of files, errors, defects, delays in preparations or transmissions) arising out of or in any way connected with the use of the Site whether based on contract, tort, strict liability or otherwise, even if advised of the possibility of such damages.
NO UNLAWFUL OR PROHIBITED USE
As a condition of your use of this Site, you represent and warrant that you will not use the Site for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these Terms and Conditions.
OWNERSHIP OF CONTENT
The materials used and displayed on the Site, including but not limited to text, software, photographs, graphics, illustrations, artwork, video, music, sound, and names, logos and trade-marks are the property of Nadine A. Schweishelm Barrister & Solicitor or its licensors and are protected by copyright, trade-mark and other laws. Any such content may be displayed solely for your personal, non-commercial use and you agree not to modify, reproduce, retransmit, distribute, disseminate, sell, publish, broadcast or circulate any such material without the prior written permission of Nadine A. Schweishelm Barrister & Solicitor or the applicable third party licensor.
THIRD PARTY SITES
Nadine A. Schweishelm Barrister & Solicitor may provide links to third party sites. These links are provided for convenience only and the firm does not endorse the information contained in those sites or guarantee its accuracy, timeliness or fitness for any purpose. The content in any linked site is not under our control and if you choose to access any such site, you do so entirely at your own risk.
GENERAL PROVISIONS
These Terms and Conditions, including any documents referenced herein (the “Agreement”) constitute the entire agreement between Nadine A. Schweishelm Barrister & Solicitor and you pertaining to the subject matter hereof and it supersedes all prior or contemporaneous communications and proposals, whether electronic, oral or written, between you and Nadine A. Schweishelm Barrister & Solicitor with respect to the Site. A printed version of this Agreement and of any notice given in electronic form shall be admissible in judicial or administrative proceedings based upon or relating to this Agreement to the same extent and subject to the same conditions as other business documents and records originally generated and maintained in printed form. Nadine A. Schweishelm Barrister & Solicitor’s failure to insist upon or enforce strict performance of any provision of this Agreement shall not be construed as a waiver of any provisions or right. If any of the provisions contained in this Agreement are determined to be void, invalid or otherwise unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, such determination shall not affect the remaining provisions contained herein. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Province of Ontario and the laws of Canada applicable therein. The parties expressly request and require that this Agreement and any related documents be drawn up solely in the English language. Les parties aux présentes convient et exigent que cette entente et tous les documents qui s’y rattachent soient rédigés seulement en anglais.
Nadine A. Schweishelm Barrister & Solicitor Privacy Policy
This policy is made pursuant to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act. It is a complicated Act and provides some additional exceptions to the privacy principles that are too detailed to set out here. There are some rare exceptions to the commitments set out below. As a law firm, privacy of personal information is an important principle at the Office of Nadine Schweishelm Barrister & Solicitor. The office is committed to collecting, using and disclosing personal information responsibly and only to the extent necessary for the services that we provide. We try to be open and transparent as to how we handle personal information. This document describes our privacy policies.
WHAT IS PERSONAL INFORMATION?
Personal information is information about an identifiable individual. It includes information that relates to personal characteristics, health, history, activities and views. Personal information does not include business information (business address and phone number), which is not protected by privacy legislation.
COLLECTING PERSONAL INFORMATION
HOW DO WE COLLECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?
The law firm collects information only by lawful means and not in an unreasonably intrusive way. Wherever possible we collect your personal information directly from you, both at the start of a retainer and in the course of our representation. In most cases we ask you to specifically consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information. Normally, we ask for your consent in writing, but in some circumstances we may accept your oral consent or your consent may be implied by your conduct with us. Sometimes we may obtain information about you from other sources, for example, your real estate agent, insurance company, accountant, financial advisor, mortgage broker or government agencies.
PRIMARY PURPOSES
As a firm, our primary purpose for the collection, use and disclosure of personal information is to serve our clients, and members of the general public. We collect information about various individuals for this primary purpose.
About Clients
to provide legal services and advice
to give legal opinions
to contact the client
About Members of the General Public
to gather and review information that is relevant to a legal issue affecting our clients
to provide notice of special events (seminars or conferences, for instance)
to make the general public aware of legal services in general or our firm in particular
on our website, we only collect, with the exception of cookies, the personal information that you provide and we only use that information for the purposes for which you gave it. Cookies are only used to help you navigate our website and are not used to monitor you.
We will, on request, remove such personal information from our distribution lists. We do not sell personal information or address lists to third party marketing companies.
SECONDARY PURPOSES
Like most organizations, we also collect, use and disclose information for purposes related to or secondary to our primary purposes. The most common examples of our related or secondary purposes are as follows:
to invoice clients for services rendered, process credit card payments, and collect unpaid accounts
to advise clients and others of new developments in the law or firm news and changes
to send greeting cards, invitations to events or firm marketing materials
to ensure high quality services (i.e.) assessing performance of staff and partners
to assist external advisors with audits or other quality assurance reviews
Lawyers in Ontario are regulated by the Law Society of Upper Canada which may inspect our records and interview our staff as a part of its regulatory activities in the public interest.
The firm believes that it should report information suggesting serious illegal behavior as well as serious misconduct, incapacity or incompetence of other practitioners to the proper authorities. These reports could include personal information about our clients, or other individuals, to support the concern, although we try to keep this disclosure to a minimum and are always mindful of solicitor and client privilege.
Various government agencies have the authority to review our files and interview our staff as part of their mandates (although solicitor-client privilege restricts their access to much of this information). In these circumstances, we may consult with professionals (lawyers and accountants, for instance).
Clients or other individuals may have questions about the services that we have provided after they have been received.
We retain our client information, as required by the Law Society of Upper Canada.
If Nadine Schweishelm Barrister & Solicitor’s firm or its assets were to be sold, the purchaser would want to conduct a “due diligence” review of the firm’s records to ensure that it is a viable business that has been honestly portrayed to the purchaser. This due diligence may include some review of our accounting and service files. The purchaser would not be able to remove or record personal information. Before being provided access to the files, the purchaser would be required to sign a confidentiality agreement. Only reputable purchasers who have already agreed to buy the organization’s business or its assets would be provided access to personal information, and only for these limited purposes.
In providing legal services, the firm uses a number of consultants and agencies that may, in the course of their duties, have limited access to personal information that we hold. These consultants include computer consultants, office security and maintenance, bookkeepers, accountants, file storage companies, temporary workers, credit card companies, website managers, cleaners and/or other lawyers. We restrict their access to any personal information that we hold as much as is reasonably possible. We also have their assurance that they will follow appropriate privacy principles.
PROTECTING PERSONAL INFORMATION
The essence of the solicitor/client relationship is based upon trust and confidence. It has always been of the utmost importance to us, as a law firm, to endeavor at all times to protect the personal information that we collect. We are bound by the rules of our profession dictated by the Law Society of Upper Canada.
HOW WE PROTECT PERSONAL INFORMATION
Paper information is either under supervision or secured in restricted areas.
Electronic hardware is either under supervision or secured in restricted areas. In addition, passwords are used on computers.
When information is delivered outside of our offices, whether by fax, phone, email, courier or otherwise, we endeavor to use only reputable companies and agencies.
Staff are trained to collect, use and disclose personal information only as is necessary to fulfill their duties and in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
RETENTION & DESTRUCTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
We need to retain personal information for some time to ensure that we can answer any questions that you might have about the services that we have provided and for our own accountability to external regulatory bodies. It is our practice to destroy any unnecessary documents by shredding them. We destroy unnecessary electronic information by deleting it. Alternatively, we may send all or some of a client file to the client once a matter is completed.
ACCESS TO YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
With some exceptions (one of which is quite broad), you have the right to see what personal information we hold about you. We can help you identify what records we might have about you and help you understand that information, if there is any confusion. We will need to confirm your identity, if we do not know you, before providing you with this access. We reserve the right to charge a nominal fee for such requests.
If there are any issues surrounding the disclosure of information, we may ask you to put your request in writing. If we cannot give you access, we will tell you within 30 days if at all possible, providing you, to the best of our ability, with particulars as to why the information cannot be released. If we collect personal information about you for a client, there is a good chance that this information would be protected by solicitor and client privilege and we will not provide access to it without our client’s consent.
If you believe that there is a mistake in the information that the firm has collected, you have the right to ask for it to be corrected. This applies to factual information and not to any legal opinions that we may have formed and/or provided. We may ask you to provide evidence that our records are wrong. When we agree that we have made a mistake, we will correct that mistake and notify anyone to whom we sent the incorrect information. If we do not agree that we have made a mistake, we will still agree to include in our file a brief statement from you on the point and we will forward that statement to anyone else who received the earlier information.
WEBSITE USAGE
Nadine Schweishelm Barrister & Solicitor uses or may use remarketing with Google Analytics to advertise online. Third-party vendors, including Google, may show our ads on sites across the Internet. Nadine Schweishelm Barrister & Solicitor and third-party vendors, including Google, use first-party cookies (such as the Google Analytics cookie) and third-party cookies (such as the DoubleClick cookie) together to inform, optimize, and serve ads based on someone’s past visits to your website. Nadine Schweishelm Barrister & Solicitor and third-party vendors, including Google, use first-party cookies (such as the Google Analytics cookies) and third-party cookies (such as the DoubleClick cookie) together to report how your ad impressions, other uses of ad services, and interactions with these ad impressions and ad services are related to visits to your site. Nadine Schweishelm Barrister & Solicitor uses data from Google’s Interest-based advertising or 3rd-party audience data (such as age, gender, and interests) with Google Analytics to optimize ads and improve website usability for our target audience.
By using the following Ads Settings, users can opt-out of Google Analytics for Display Advertising and customize Google Display Network ads. Users are also able to opt-out of sharing data with Google Analytics with the following browser add on: browser opt-outs.
REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION
As required by the privacy legislation, we are obligated to make available to you, at a reasonable cost, the personal information that we have about you, subject to overriding considerations of solicitor/client privilege. For further details about making a request for information, please contact our Information Officer, who would be pleased to assist you.
STILL HAVE QUESTIONS?
You can email us at info@georgianbaylaw.ca or send correspondence to:
74 Hurontario Street, Suite 203
Collingwood, Ontario
L9Y 2L
For more general inquiries, the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Canada oversees the administration of the Act in the private sector. The Commissioner also acts as an ombudsman for privacy disputes.