Minden Gross LLP recognizes the importance of privacy and the sensitivity of personal information. As lawyers we have a professional obligation to keep confidential all information we receive within a lawyer-client relationship. We are committed to protecting any Personal Information we hold. This Privacy Policy explains how we manage our online and offline information, how we use and share that Personal Information, safeguard your privacy, and how you can opt out of a use or correct or change such information.

Your privacy rights

From January 1, 2004, all businesses engaged in commercial activities must comply with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act ("Act") and the Canadian Standards Association Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information, which it incorporates. These obligations extend to lawyers and law firms, including Minden Gross LLP.  The Act gives you rights concerning the privacy of your Personal Information.

Accountability

Minden Gross LLP is responsible and accountable for the Personal Information we collect and hold. To meet our obligations to our clients, we have developed this policy and informed our lawyers and support staff about our policies and practices. 

Minden Gross LLP provides legal services and products to a wide range of clients. In doing so, it also produces direct marketing materials concerning its services and developments in the law. We will not, as a condition of providing you with legal services and products, require you to consent to the collection, use, or disclosure of Personal Information beyond which is absolutely necessary or required by law.

Scope

This Privacy Policy applies to Personal Information  that is collected by Minden Gross LLP in the course of our business, including on the Minden Gross LLP website (“Site”), mobile applications, blogs, and other online or offline services (together with any and all future online and offline services managed by or on behalf of Minden Gross LLP, the “Services”). This Privacy Policy does not apply to any third party websites, services, or applications, even if they are accessible through our Services. All individuals whose responsibilities include the collection of Personal Information on behalf of Minden Gross LLP are expected to protect that data by adherence to this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy is intended to meet requirements globally in the jurisdictions where our clients and Site visitors reside.

Transparency/Notice
The types of Personal Information we collect

“Personal information” means any information that can be used to identify you or by which your identity could be deduced. Our primary goals in collecting Personal Information are:

• to assess whether we can act for you, including to avoid conflicts of interest; and
• to provide information and/or professional services to you.

The types of Personal Information we may collect (directly from you or from third party sources) and our privacy practices depend on the nature of the relationship you have with Minden Gross LLP and the requirements of applicable law. Some of the information that we collect may include:

• name, address, email address, phone number, the nature of client or the potential client’s legal issue;
• financial, credit, billing, and account information to determine credit worthiness;
• other personal information material to your legal issue and any other personal information provided by you to us when you ask or instruct us to act for you;
• resumes, work history information, or application forms submitted to us;
• information about individuals we collect in the course of acting for clients, including personal information about employees of clients, referrals, adverse parties and parties with parallel interests, other counsel, mediators and arbitrators, witnesses and potential witnesses, expert witnesses and consultants; and
• interest in a legal issue or area of law, for instance, when you sign up to attend a seminar or function, or when you request receipt of materials concerning our services and developments in the law.  

How we collect your Personal Information

We collect information only by lawful and fair means and not in an unreasonably intrusive way. We typically collect your Personal Information from or through interaction with you at the start of an engagement, and in the course of our representation.

Minden Gross LLP’s intention is not to seek sensitive information through our Site unless legally required for recruiting purposes or for communication by consent through our newsletter subscription service.

Sometimes we may obtain information about you from other sources, for example:

• your insurance company;
• your real estate agent in a property transaction;
• from a government agency or registry;
• your employer, if we are acting for you, at its request; or
• your accountant.

Consent

We collect, use and disclose your Personal Information with your consent or as permitted or required by law. Your consent may be express or implied depending on the circumstances and the sensitivity of the Personal Information in question.  If you provide personal information about another person to us, we assume you have the consent of that individual to enable us to collect, use or disclose their information as described in this Privacy Policy. 

By providing personal data (including sensitive personal data) to us via our Site or email addresses provided on the Site, you are consenting to our use of your personal data as set out in this Privacy Policy.

Use of your information

We use your Personal Information to assess whether we can act for you (including to avoid conflicts of interest), to provide legal advice and services to you, to administer our client time and billing databases, and to include you in any direct marketing activities. If you tell us that you no longer wish to receive information about our services, or about new developments in the law, we will not send any further material to you.

Third Parties

Minden Gross LLP will only disclose Personal Information to third parties under the following circumstances:

• when we are required or authorized by law to do so, for example if a court issues a subpoena;
• when you have consented to the disclosure;
• when the legal services we are providing require us to give your information to third parties, consent will be implied;
• where it is necessary to establish or collect fees;
• if we engage a third party to provide administrative services to us (like computer back-up services or archival file storage) and the third party is bound by our privacy policy;
• if we engage expert witnesses on your behalf;
• if we retain other law firms in other jurisdictions on your behalf;
• if the information is already publicly known.

Minden Gross LLP does not disclose your Personal Information to any third party to enable them to market their products and services. For example, we do not provide our client mailing lists to accounting firms or third party providers.

Information about guests and visitors

Minden Gross LLP collects information about its guests and visitors. Specifically, visitors/guests may be asked to provide their name, telephone number, and organization name. Minden Gross LLP also has video cameras in public-access areas on its premises. We use information we collect about guests of and visitors to Minden Gross LLP to enable us to act responsibly in the event of a health or other crisis or emergency and to enhance workplace security. The information collected is retained by Minden Gross LLP as long as necessary for security or emergency preparedness purposes. In most cases, the video information we collect is deleted within 15 days following its receipt.

Updating your information

Since we use your Personal Information to provide legal services to you, it is important that the information be accurate and up-to-date. 

If during the course of the retainer, any of your information changes, please inform us so that we can make any necessary changes.

Correcting errors

If Minden Gross LLP holds information about you and you can establish that it is not accurate, complete, and up-to-date, please contact our Chief Privacy Officer at the address below and Minden Gross LLP will take reasonable steps to correct it.

Is my Personal Information secure?

Minden Gross LLP takes all reasonable precautions to ensure that your Personal Information is kept safe from loss, unauthorized access, modification, or disclosure. Among the steps taken to protect your information are:

• premises security; 
• restricted file access to personal information; 
• deploying technological safeguards like security software and firewalls to prevent hacking or unauthorized computer access; 
• internal password and security policies.

Access to your Personal Information

You may ask for access to any personal information we hold about you.

Summary information is available on request. More detailed requests which require archive or other retrieval costs may be subject to our normal professional and disbursement fees.

Can I be denied access to my Personal Information?

Your rights to access your personal information are not absolute.

We may deny access when:

• denial of access is required or authorized by law (for example, when a record containing personal information about you is subject to a claim of legal professional privilege by one of our clients);
• information relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings against you;
• when granting you access would have an unreasonable impact on other people's privacy;
• when to do so would prejudice negotiations with you;
• to protect our firm's rights and property.

If we deny your request for access to, or refuse a request to correct information, we shall explain why.

Minden Gross LLP does not use your Social Insurance Number as a way of identifying or organizing the information we hold about you.

Can I request anonymity?

Whenever it is legal and practicable, we may offer the opportunity to address general inquiries without providing your name (for example, by accessing general information on our Site).  The Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act requires us to confirm the identity of all new clients. It may also require us to disclose information in relation to certain large cash transactions.

Credit Bureaus

To help us make credit decisions about clients, prevent fraud, check the identity of new clients, and prevent money-laundering, we may on occasion request information about you from the files of consumer reporting agencies.

Communicating with Us

It is important to remember that whatever you transmit or disclose online can be collected and used by others or unlawfully intercepted by third parties. No data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. While we strive to protect your Personal Information, we cannot warrant the security of any information you transmit to us over the Internet.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

Since Minden Gross LLP regularly reviews all of its policies and procedures, we may change our Privacy Policy from time to time. Although we may elect to advise affected individuals of any material changes to our Privacy Policy, if we determine it reasonably necessary to do so, you should review this Privacy Policy from time to time to ensure that you are aware of and accept any changes made. You may at any time request a current copy of our Privacy Policy.

Requests for Access

If you have any questions, or wish to access, add, amend or remove your personal information, or if you no longer wish to receive any information about our services, please inform us in writing at:

Minden Gross LLP
330 Front Street West, Suite 104
Toronto, ON M5V 3B7

Attention: Chief Privacy Officer
By fax at 416-864-9223 or by email at privacyinfo@mindengross.com

If for any reason you are not satisfied with the results of our investigation of in response to your complaint, you may file a complaint with the Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner at:

112 Kent Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 1H3
Tel: 1-800-282-1376

Human Resources data

If you apply to Minden Gross LLP for a job, we need to consider your Personal Information as part of our review process. We normally retain information from candidates after a decision has been made, unless you ask us not to retain the information. If we offer you a job, which you accept, the information will be retained in accordance with our privacy procedures for employee records.

Website

On our Site, like most other commercial websites, we may monitor traffic patterns, site usage, and related site information in order to optimise our web service. We may provide aggregated information to third parties, but these statistics do not include any identifiable personal information. 

We do not collect or compile personally identifying information for dissemination or sale to outside parties for consumer marketing purposes or host mailings on behalf of third parties.

Our Site may contain links to other websites and other websites may reference or link to our Site or other Services. These other domains and websites are not controlled by us and Minden Gross LLP does not endorse or make any representations about third party websites or social media platforms. We encourage our users to read the privacy policies of each and every website and application with which they interact. We do not endorse, screen, or approve and are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of such other websites or applications. Visiting these other websites or applications is at your own risk.

Opt-Out procedures

You have the right to opt-out of receiving unsolicited electronic informational or marketing information from Minden Gross LLP.

In accordance with the Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL), we must offer all email recipients the option to block future emails from Minden Gross LLP. Please note that if you decide not to provide us with the Personal Information that we request, or decide to opt-out of communications, we may not be able to provide you Services.

You have the right to opt out of certain uses and disclosures of your Personal Information. Where you have consented to Minden Gross LLP’s storing of your Personal Information or Sensitive Personal Information, you may withdraw that consent at any time and opt-out by:

• contacting privacyinfo@mindengross.com;
• clicking on the Unsubscribe option in the footer of the email; or
• replying to the email you receive asking to unsubscribe.

Updated June 4, 2018. Address updated Feb 29, 2024.