As lawyers, we have long recognized the importance of safeguarding our clients privacy and their right to have their personal information kept safe. In our relationship with our clients we are obliged to keep any and all information that we receive from our clients in confidence as part of our lawyer / client relationship. This privacy policy outlines how we handle your personal information and safeguard your privacy.

Although as lawyers we have always respected our clients right to privacy, The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act which came into effect on January 1, 2004 and The Canadian Standards Association Model Code for the protection of personal information which is incorporated in that Act dictates that all businesses, including law firms that are engaging in commercial activities must comply with the legislation. The Act gives you rights concerning the privacy of your personal information. It also renders us responsible for the personal information that we collect and hold. Because we are accountable for this information, we have developed this policy and trained our lawyers and support staff about our policies and practices.

Richmond Nychuk provides legal services and products to a wide range of clients. Personal information is needed in order to do so. As well, we produce newsletters from time to time on issues which we believe may be of interest to our clients.

Richmond Nychuk collects personal information only by lawful and fair means and we collect only that information that is reasonably necessary. In most instances we collect your personal information directly from you either at the commencement of our relationship with you or during the course of our representation.

Sometimes we may obtain information about you from other sources, which might include

Normally we will ask you to specifically consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information. However, your consent may be implied by the nature of our business with you and your conduct with us.

Richmond Nychuk requires your personal information to enable us to provide legal advice and services to you. We also require it for billing purposes and for account collection purposes. Your personal information is also of assistance in helping us to manage and develop our business operations and to learn more about the general needs of our existing and future clients. We also hope that you appreciate receiving information about our services from time to time as well as new developments in the law. However, at your request, we will not send these materials.

Richmond Nychuk does not disclose your personal information to any third parties to enable them to market products or services. Any disclosure made of your personal information made by Richmond Nychuk is for purposes relating to our provision of services to you, with your express consent or if required or authorized by law. Some instances of where we may disclose your information are as follows:

• Where the legal services being provided requires us to give your information to third parties (for example and lender in a real estate / mortgage transaction or the requirement of filing financial information in family law proceedings) in these instances your consent will be implied unless you tell us otherwise.

• Where the disclosure is necessary to establish or collect fees.

• If we engage a third party to provide administrative services to us, then the third party is bound by our privacy policy. Examples of these would include computer repair services, court runners and process servers.

• 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.

Since we use your personal information to provide legal services to you, it is important that the information be accurate and up to date. Please keep us informed of any changes to this information.

Richmond Nychuk takes all reasonable precautions to ensure that the personal information is kept safe from loss, unauthorized access, modification or disclosure. Both the premises and the file storage are secured and protected. We utilize technological safeguards like security software and firewalls to prevent hacking or unauthorized computer access. All staff members and third party service providers to whom personal information may be transferred while providing our services to you are aware of our policy and are required to meet the standards that we have set in protecting your personal information.

We will respond promptly to any request for access to your personal information. We do not charge for a request for summary information but where there is a more detailed request which may require archive or other retrieval costs we will charge a nominal professional and disbursement fee. We will, of course, advise you of the cost prior to any retrieval of such records or information. You should be aware that in some instances that information may no longer be available. It is our policy to destroy files after 6 years. Access to information may be denied in some circumstances. For example, denial of access may be required or authorized by law when a record containing the personal information about you is subject to a claim of legal professional privilege by one of our clients. In the event that the information relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings against you it will not be provided. If granting you access to your information would have an unreasonable impact on other people's privacy, it will be denied. If disclosing the information to you would prejudice negotiations with you again, it will be denied. In the event that the request would amount to a violation of our firms rights and property it will be denied. If in the opinion of the privacy officer the request is frivolous or vexatious the information may again be denied. In the event that we deny your request for access to information we shall provide an explanation as to why we have done so.

Richmond Nychuk regularly reviews its policies and procedures to endeavor to satisfy the needs of our clients. This privacy policy may be subject to change from time to time to ensure compliance and to best meet your needs.

Our web site may contain links to other sites which will not be governed by this privacy policy. As well, on our web site like most other commercial web sites, we may monitor traffic patterns, site usage and related site information in order to optimize our web service. We may provide aggregated information to third parties, but these statistics do not include any identifiable personal information.

Should you have questions or wish to access your personal information please contact our privacy officer Attention: Privacy Officer

Privacy Officer
Richmond Nychuk Barristers & Solicitors
100-2255 Albert Street
Regina, Saskatchewan
S4P 2V5

Email: privacyofficer@richmondnychuk.com
phone: (306) 359-0202
Facsimile (306) 359-0330

Copyright © 2004 Richmond Nychuk Law Office