Legal / Website Policies
Policies of Use
GENERAL
- Please read these terms and conditions carefully. If you use ABRAMS Law (the “Firm”) website or any of its content and you correspond with the Firm through e-mail, whether by receipt or transmittal (collectively the “Website”) you agree that you are bound by these terms and conditions, as may be amended from time to time. If you do not accept these terms and conditions, please refrain from use of this Website.
- The Firm provides this Website for informational purposes only.
- The Firm makes no representations or warranties, express or implied, with respect to the information provided herein or on any third-party website which may be accessed through this Website, including any representations or warranties as to accuracy, timeliness, or completeness. The Firm shall not be responsible for any act or omission in reliance upon the content of this Website or any third-party website that may be accessible through a link herein.
TERMS OF USE
- The content of this Website is not intended to, and shall not, constitute a promise or assurance of results or capabilities, a representation of facts, circumstances, or law, and shall not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion. If you require legal advice or a legal opinion you should consult with a lawyer. This Website is not a substitute for legal counsel.
- Use of this Website including, but not limited to online form submissions, subscriptions to newsletters and blogs, e-mails, facsimiles, voicemails to Firm personnel, and other communications, written or otherwise (collectively “Unsolicited Communications”), shall not be considered privileged or confidential unless you are already a current client of the Firm.
- Unsolicited Communications shall not create an attorney-client relationship with the Firm or any of its attorneys and shall not give rise to any conflicts of interest that would preclude the Firm from representing a current client or a third-party. You should not send to the Firm or any of its personnel confidential information or information about any legal matter without first contacting one of our lawyers and receiving a written statement from the Firm indicating its agreement to represent or advise you. Please note that any information you convey to the Firm over the Internet may not be secure.
ATTORNEY/PERSONNEL TITLES AND DESIGNATIONS
- The use of attorney titles such as “partner”, “member”, “of counsel”, “associate”, etc. is intended to imply a lawyer’s level of experience and professional accomplishment. These titles do not connote and should not be interpreted as an ownership interest, sharing of liability, or sharing of responsibility in or management of the Firm.
JURISDICTIONAL NONCOMPLIANCE
- The Firm refuses representation of any entity or person viewing this Website in a jurisdiction where this Website fails to comply with that jurisdiction’s laws and ethical rules.
JURISDICTIONAL NONCOMPLIANCE
- The Firm refuses representation of any entity or person viewing this Website in a jurisdiction where this Website fails to comply with that jurisdiction’s laws and ethical rules.
PRIVACY POLICY
WHAT THIS PRIVACY POLICY COVERS
- “ABRAMS LAW” or “ABRAMS” is the trading name of the Law Offices of Jonathan Abrams Esq., Attorney-At-Law (the “Attorney”).
- Abrams is located in London, United Kingdom at Pearl House, 746 Finchley Road, London, NW11 7TH, United Kingdom and we are providing this Privacy Policy to explain our data collection, use and storage of any personal data which we process. We are not VAT registered.
- This privacy policy applies to your use of this Website. Please review this policy carefully. If you have any questions about our privacy practices, you can send an email to [email protected].
- Abrams is committed to protecting your privacy and uses a safe online experience. This statement of privacy applies to the Attorney’s practice, website and to our processing activities in general. The conditions of processing of personal data and the purposes for which personal data may be collected, stored and used are described in this Privacy Policy. By using the Attorney’s website, you signify that you are happy with the data protection practices described in this statement.
WE COLLECT
- The Firm collects no personal identifiers (such as name, address, email address, etc.) (“Personal Identifiers”) when you visit this Website except when specifically and knowingly provided by you, e.g. when you request to be contacted or have information sent to you. Any information provided by you is used solely for the purpose provided, unless you agree in advance upon request to additional use, e.g. if you request information about a particular practice area, you may be asked if you would like to be added to that practice area’s mailing list or e-mail list in order to receive newsletters or memos of interest. At any time, you may request that you be removed from any or all lists on which you were previously included. The Firm does not share any personal information you provide with third-parties.
- The Firm does use “cookies” to collect information about your use of the site. The information collected is not Personal Identifiers, but basic information about your computer and its connection to the Internet, e.g., the name of the website or domain from which you access this Website, your IP address, and the date and time you accessed this Website. This information is collected to assist us in marketing, and site management and development.
LEGISLATION
- The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provides new rights to individuals regarding the collection, storage and use of their personal data. This Privacy Policy has been updated to take account of any new requirements under GDPR. Also covered in this Privacy Policy are the requirements of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 updated 2004 and 2011 (PECR). The revised Data Protection Act and the ePrivacy Directive will be enacted into UK law and any changes will be adopted in a revised Privacy Policy.
WHO IS THE DATA CONTROLLER?
- Jonathan Abrams
- +44 (0) 20 8004 7016
- [email protected]
WHAT IS PERSONAL DATA?
- Personal data means any information which relates to a living individual who can be identified either directly or indirectly by reference to an identifier such as their name, email address and other personal details.
WHAT TYPE OF DATA DO WE COLLECT?
- We may collect from you:
- your full name
- your job title (if applicable)
- your company name
- your email address
- your postal address
- your landline telephone number
- your mobile number
- information contained on your identity documents such as passport or driving licence number
WHAT ABOUT CHILDREN’S DATA?
- We do not knowingly process personal data of children under 16.
NEW RIGHTS UNDER THE GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION
- You have some additional rights under the GDPR.
- Access: Data Subject Access Request. You have the right to access the personal information we may hold about you. On receipt of such a request we will endeavour to respond to you as soon as possible, but at least within one calendar month. You must provide us with 2 forms of personal identification to ensure that we only disclose to you information which is relevant to you personally.
- Rectification: You have the right to request that we amend any personal information that may be incorrect or require updating.
- Erasure: You have the right to request that we delete any personal information pertaining to you. Any questions about these rights may be sent to [email protected]
- Data Portability: Under GDPR there is a new right to data portability, primarily designed to make it easier for individuals to switch between service providers. This is unlikely to be relevant to your relationship with the Attorney.
- The right to restrict or suspend processing: Individuals have a right to ‘block’ or suppress processing of personal data. If you decide to do this, we will continue to store the data, but not further process it until we have agreed a solution to the issue you have raised.
- Data breach reporting. You have the right to be informed of a data breach if there is material damage which might affect you. We have a process in place just in case this unlikely event happens.
DO WE COLLECT ANY SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF PERSONAL DATA?
- We do not collect any special categories of personal data, as defined by the GDPR, except if you are a staff member. If you apply for a vacancy at the Attorney’s practice but are not successful, we will delete your personal information including any special categories in line with our retention policy.
- Special categories of data under Article 9 of the GDPR are:
- “racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, and the processing of genetic data, biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation”
IS DATA COLLECTED FROM THIRD PARTY OR PUBLIC DOMAIN SOURCES?
- We may collect your personal data from you, a member of staff, face to face, or from a public source where we believe that you will be interested in what we do. Where we collect personal data from third party or public domain source we provide a means to opt-out or unsubscribe on every message we send you.
HOW DO WE USE YOUR PERSONAL DATA?
- We will only use your data for the purposes we have specified, primarily we use your personal data to send you what you have signed up for or where we have your consent to send you other information that we think you might be interested in.
WHAT ARE OUR GROUNDS FOR LAWFUL PROCESSING?
- We collect your consent to deliver to you what you have signed up for. You always have a choice of opting out or unsubscribing of any newsletters or by contacting us at [email protected].
HOW TO STOP RECEIVING COMMUNICATIONS
- The Attorney will not send marketing communications to individuals who have unsubscribed, opted-out or otherwise asked us to stop direct marketing. Where we collect contact information from you which may be used for marketing purposes, we will let you know how to stop receiving such information if that’s what you prefer.
SURVEYS OR MARKETING RESEARCH
- We may contact you from time to time to seek your views via a short survey to inform our strategic direction, your thoughts about our work, for a testimonial (to current or previous clients) and other matters. You always have the choice about whether to take part in our research.
IS DATA PROCESSED OUTSIDE OF THE UK? – IF SO HOW IS IT PROTECTED?
- We may have to process data outside of UK suppliers and we have put in place the Data Protection Privacy Policy and appropriate security measures to protect the security of your information and prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your personal data to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need to know. They will only process your personal data on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.
- We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected data security breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected breach where we are legally required to do so.
IS DATA SHARED WITH 3RD PARTIES AND IF SO, WHO?
- We may have to share your personal data with third parties, including our suppliers and other entities.
- We will share your personal data with third parties where required by law, where it is necessary to administer the working relationship with you or where we have another legitimate interest in doing so. For example another law firm or barrister.
- “Third parties” includes third-party service providers. The following activities are carried out by third-party service providers:
- Internet-Data/Telecom/ provider
- Electronic Client Data Base System
- Credit check/Anti Money Laundering check/provider
- Banks
- Professional Bodies involved in the transactions (HM Land Registry, Land Registry, Solicitors or Barristers)
- Onsite shredding services
- The delivery of scanning services
- The direct supply of boxes and packaging material
- Secure online storage or Cloud-based Accounts
- We will share your personal data with other entities in our group as part of our regular reporting activities on company performance, in the context of a business reorganisation or group restructuring exercise, for system maintenance support and hosting of data. We may share your personal data with other third parties, for example in the context of the possible sale or restructuring of the business. We may also need to share your personal data with a regulator or to otherwise comply with the law.
- All our third-party service providers and other entities in the group are required to take appropriate security measures to protect your personal data in line with our policies. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes. We only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.
DISCLOSURE TO OTHER ORGANISATIONS, DATA PROCESSORS
- We sometimes disclose personal data to our suppliers in order for them to process personal data on our behalf. When we do so we have a contract in place compliant with the GDPR to ensure the security of any personal data that each processor or sub-processor processes.
DATA SECURITY – HOW WE PROTECT YOUR DATA
- We follow appropriate security procedures in the collection, storage and use of your Information so as to prevent unauthorised access by third parties.
- We process data at our offices at Pearl House, 746 Finchley Road, London, NW11 7TH, United Kingdom with access restrictions in place and at the sites of our data processors within the UK. Our IT specialist retains our data at a different location equally protected behind the appropriate firewalls and other security devices.
- However, unfortunately, the transmission of Information via the Internet is not completely secure. We cannot ensure the security of your Information transmitted by you to us via the internet. Any such transmission is at your own risk and you acknowledge and agree that we shall not be responsible for any unauthorised use, distribution, damage or destruction of your Information, except to the extent we are required to accept such responsibility by the GDPR, The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations or other privacy regulations. Once we have received your Information we will use security procedures and features to prevent unauthorised access to it.
EXTERNAL LINKS NOT COVERED BY THIS POLICY
- Please remember that when you use a link to go from our website to another website or you request a service from a third party, our Policy no longer applies. Your browsing and interaction on any other website or your dealings with any other third-party service provider, is subject to that website’s or third party service provider’s own rules and policies. We do not monitor, control, or endorse the Information collection or privacy practices of any third parties. We encourage you to become familiar with the privacy practices of every website you visit or third-party service provider that you deal with and to contact them if you have any questions about their respective privacy policies and practices. This Policy applies solely to Information collected by us through our website or services and does not apply to these third-party websites and third-party service providers.
DATA RETENTION POLICY
- Our policy is to retain data only as long as this is necessary. If you unsubscribe or opt-out we may keep your personal data on a suppression list so that we don’t contact you again.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU HAVE A CONCERN
- Please contact us at [email protected] and we’ll be happy to help you.
- The Regulator of GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003, updated 2004 and 2011 is the Information Commissioner’s Office. If you feel you wish to draw the Regulator’s attention to the way and the purposes for which we are processing personal data, you may contact the ICO by clicking here https://ico.org.uk/concerns/
CHANGES TO OUR COMPANY
- In the event we go through a business transition, such as a merger, an acquisition by another company, or sale of all or a portion of our assets, your information may be among the assets transferred. You acknowledge that such transfers may occur and are permitted by this Policy.
CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY
- Amendments to this Privacy Policy are made every time something changes in the way or the purposes under which we process personal data.
WHEN LAST UPDATED?
- August 1 2024
ADDRESS
- Pearl House, 746 Finchley Road, London, NW11 7TH, United Kingdom
E-MAILS ORIGINATING FROM ABRAMSLAW.CO.UK ADDRESSES
- If an e-mail purports to originate from an ABRAMSLAW.CO.UK address, and which is unprompted, requests sensitive, confidential, or privileged data, creates a sense of urgency, purports to invoke action to be taken, the absence of which will create consequences, or which contains an unrecognized hyperlink, it is likely a phishing scam. Unless you have been notified of a request verbally and in advance, the Firm and/or its representatives will not ask for any personal information, including but not limited to passwords, and any e-mails will not contain any hyperlinks unless previously notified.
- If you believe you have received a phishing e-mail, impersonation, or other fraudulent e-mail, please notify your Firm point of contact. The Firm cannot be held responsible for any damages resulting from electronic communication interception, fraud, scams, impersonation attempts, and other unlawful conduct of third-parties.
WIRES AND ELECTRONIC TRANSFERS
- Never initiate a wire or electronically transmit funds without first confirming with the Firm by telephone the legitimacy of the request and the instructions. Due to the possibility of electronic communication interception, fraud, scams, impersonation attempts, and other unlawful conduct trends, it is the Firm’s policy that you confirm all wire or electronic fund transmittal requests by telephone and that you confirm that the originating e-mail address matches the e-mail address of a sender known to you. To confirm a wire request from us or one of our service providers, please contact the Firm before initiating the transfer. The Firm cannot be held responsible for any damages resulting from electronic communication interception, fraud, scams, impersonation attempts, and other unlawful conduct of third-parties.
COPYRIGHT
- Unless otherwise noted, this Website is copyrighted by the Firm. Redistribution of this website in whole, or in part, is expressly prohibited. All rights are reserved.
AMENDMENT TO FIRM POLICIES
- The Firm reserves the right to amend these or any of its policies at any time without advance notice.
FRAUD AND SCAMS (BEWARE!)
- Where you suspect that you have received fake communications purportedly circulated on behalf of ABRAMS Law by certain individuals/entities claiming they are representatives of ABRAMS Law, please contact us immediately.
- ABRAMS Law does not:
- Request payment of any kind without an invoice or other written notification
- Authorize anyone to collect money on its behalf
- ABRAMS Law reserves the right to take legal action, including criminal action, against such individuals/entities
- If you receive any unauthorized, suspicious or fraudulent correspondence, offers or request for payment, please email us at[email protected]or call +44 (0) 20 8004 7016
- IMPORTANT NOTICE ABOUT CYBER FRAUD:As a result of increased risk posed by cyber fraud, please do not send any funds unless and until you telephone ABRAMS to verify the account details by phone. Unfortunately, we do have to warn you that we cannot accept responsibility if you transfer money to an incorrect account.