Privacy Statement

Who we are

We are Kearney Solicitors of 19 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2. You can contact us at this address by post or by email, as set out below.

Purpose

This privacy policy explains how we collect, use, process and disclose personal data that we obtain about you and your rights in relation to that data. If you have any questions about this policy or want to make a complaint about how we handle your personal data, please contact the firm’s principal and our data protection representative, Colm Kearney at the above address or at info@kearneysolicitors.ie.

What information do we process and why?

We collect information from three main sources, including (i) directly from you, from third parties (such as those parties who have been authorised by you to liaise with us regarding your file or from counterparty advisors to a file) or from publicly available sources (such as the Companies Registration Office, Property Registration Authority etc) in the provision of our legal services or otherwise during the course of our business relationship or for marketing purposes, and (ii) information automatically collected when you visit our website.

The main purposes for which we process data are to enable us to provide our legal and advisory services, for marketing and relationship management purposes and for the purposes of maintaining business relationships with third parties which assist us in the provision of our services.

We have set out below a list of the main categories of persons relating to whom we may hold personal data and the reasons for the collection, use, processing or disclosure of such data.



Clients

We may collect, process, use and disclose personal data relating to our clients or counterparties and their personnel in the following circumstances and for the legitimate interests of the provision of legal services and for the performance of a contract to which a client is a party, including:

• instructing and liaising with counsel and other professional service providers or liaising with counterparty solicitors in relation to matters we are handling
  
• to collect our fees or costs;
  
• in the provision of information on our services and legal updates that we consider may be relevant to clients, in inviting clients to events and in identifying where we may make improvements to our services, all of which are necessary for the legitimate interests of our firm in promoting our services;
  
• in complying with our obligations under anti-money laundering law and regulations;
  
• where required by our insurers and other regulatory authorities, including the Law Society of Ireland and the Revenue Commissioners.

Where we process special categories of data relating to a client, for example, health data that we may process in connection with a legal claim where we are acting on his or her behalf, our legal basis for processing will be that the processing is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

We share this data with our practice management system provider and may send emails through our email service provider, both of which may only process this data for the purpose of providing us with their services and no other purpose. We may also share certain parts of this data with Counsel, medical advisors, expert witnesses or counterpart solicitors. 

Our general retention period for client files is seven years after the relationship has ended or the matter has completed, with some exceptions where the files are required to be retained for a longer period. If you require further information, please contact us.

Potential Clients

We may collect, process, use and disclose personal data relating to potential clients and their personnel (such as name, contract details, current job description or other business contact information) in order to market the services of our firm and in the provision of legal updates / newsletters to which you have subscribed.

The legal basis for the processing of this data is processing necessary for the purpose of the legitimate interests of our firm in promoting our services. We always include an unsubscribe option in such communications so that you can opt out of receiving communications at any time.

We will retain this data for a period of one year after the potential client has unsubscribed from our communications, however, where requested, his or her contact details will be deleted.

Business Contacts

We may collect, process, use and disclose personal data (such as name, contact details, job title, seniority) from business contacts for the legitimate interests of the administration, operation and promotion of our legal services.

Such personal data is retained for the length of the business relationship. However, where requested by a business contact, his or her contact details will be deleted. 

Suppliers

We may collect, process, use and disclose personal data (such as name, contact details and other business contact information) from suppliers necessary to receive and optimise the services provided to us or otherwise perform the contracts with those suppliers and manage payment arrangements.

Such personal data is retained for seven years after the supplier relationship ends unless there are any legal and/or regulatory exceptions which require documentation to be held for longer periods.

Experts / Consultants

We may collect, process, use and disclose personal data (such as name, contact details and other business information, including personal data included in a curriculum vitae) from consultants or experts (including expert witnesses) required to assist clients or ourselves in the appointment of appropriately experienced experts or consultants.

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Such personal data is retained for as long as the expert / consultant is providing services to us or to our clients. 

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Solicitors / Counsel

With regard to client matters, we may collect, process, use and disclose personal data (such as name, contact details, job title, other business contact information) relating to other solicitors and barristers in order to liaise with them on client matters, which is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by our firm in representing our clients.

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We save the information you provide on our practice management system in order to share your contact information with our client file. We may also send you emails through our email service provider.

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The retention period for client files is set out above.

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Employees / Consultants

Personal data in relation to employees or consultants hired by Kearney Solicitors will be processed and held on various internal systems and applications in order to manage the performance of the employer / employee or consultancy contractual relationship. For more information on personal data regarding employees or consultants, please see our privacy notice for staff, which is available upon request.

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Job Applicants

As part of our recruitment process and in order to ascertain a candidate’s suitability for a specific role, we may proces personal data relating to prospective employees or consultants. We may send a candidate emails about their application through our email service provider. This processing is necessary for the purpose of the legitimate interests of our firm in recruiting new staff. Please see the privacy notice in the job advertisement for further information about how we process applicant data.

We may share the information you provide in your application with our contracted recruiter in order to make a shortlist of candidates. This recruiter is not permitted to use this data other than on our behalf.

We may also send you emails about your application through our email service provider. 

We will retain unsuccessful applications for a period of 18 months, successful applications are retained with the individual’s human resource file.

Website

In order to improve our website offerings, to respond to any queries sent through our ‘contact us’ form or to sign up to our newsletter or updates when subscription is requested through our website, we may collect, disclose, use or otherwise process personal data from visitors to our website.

The processing is carried out for our legitimate interest in the administration and operation of our legal services as well as marketing and promoting our firm’s services. We always include an option to unsubscribe in our communications so that you can opt out of receiving such communications at any time.

We may share this data with our client relationship management system provided, who may only process this data for the purpose of providing us with their services.

We will retain this information for one year, save for information relating to persons who have subscribed to our newsletter or updates, which will be retained for a period of one year after that person has unsubscribed from our communications, however, where requested, any contact details or data will be deleted.

Our website may contain links to other websites. Kearney Solicitors is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such other websites. If you link to or visit another website, please review the privacy statement for that website.

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Disclosure of your personal data 

We may disclose your personal data to third parties who provide a service to us or are retained on your behalf to provide a service to you and are bound by confidentiality provisions such as our IT service providers, our practice management system provider, regulators, professional advisers, barristers or experts retained on your behalf. 

Such disclosure may also occur where required by law or in order to comply with any legal obligation, where necessary to administer our working relationship with you or where we have a legitimate interest in doing so to protect the rights, property, or safety of Kearney Solicitors, our customers, or others. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organisations for the purposes of fraud protection and credit risk reduction.

In the event that we sell or buy any business or assets, we may also disclose your personal data to the prospective seller or buyer of such business or assets.

Retention

We will retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, as required by law or regulatory guidance to which we are subject and for the exercise or defence of legal claims that may be brought by or against us.

To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of personal data, the purposes for which we process personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means and the applicable legal requirements. 

We have set out above the general retention periods with regard to each category of data processed by us, which has been determined in line with the considerations set out above.

Security of your Data

​We use industry standard security measures to protect your information and to prevent the loss, misuse or alteration of any information in our control. All Kearney Solicitors personnel are subject to strict confidentiality obligations. However, as effective as modern security practices are, no security system is entirely secure and we cannot guarantee the security of your information.

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Transfers of personal data to non-EEA countries

​To the limited extent that it is necessary to transfer personal data outside the EEA, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect the privacy and integrity of such personal data. We will only transfer your personal data to countries which are recognised as providing an adequate level of legal protection or where we can be satisfied that alternative arrangements are in place to protect your privacy rights, such as entering into European Commission approved standard contractual clauses with the provider. 

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Remote access to our systems is on authorised devices only and appropriate technical safeguards are applied to protect personal data.

Your rights in relation to your personal data

​You have the following rights under the GDPR, in certain circumstances and subject to certain exemptions, in relation to your personal data:

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• right to request access to copies of the personal data we hold about you, together with further information in relation to its processing, including the right to request us to provide you, or a third party, with a copy of your personal data in a structured, commonly used machine-readable format,
• right to request rectification of inaccurate data held about you or that such information be supplemented or updated such that it is complete;
• right to request erasure and for us to delete personal data that we hold about you – this is sometimes referred to as the right to be forgotten;
• right to request restriction of processing or to object to the processing of your personal data for particular purposes;
• right to object on legitimate grounds to the processing of your personal data where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and you want to object to processing on this ground;
• right to withdraw your consent in circumstances where your personal data is processed on the basis of consent, you may withdraw consent at any time. This does not affect the lawfulness of processing which took place prior to its withdrawal.

In order to exercise any of the rights set out above, please contact us at our contact detail at the start of this privacy notice. We may request that you provide proof of your identity for security reasons. We will respond to your request within one month. That period may be extended by two further months where necessary, taking into account the complexity and number of requests made. We have the right to refuse your request in certain circumstances, such as where there is a basis to do so in law, or if your request is manifestly unfounded or excessive, or to the extent necessary for important objectives of public interest.

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If you are unhappy with how we process personal data, please contact us so that we can rectify the situation, where possible. If you consider that the processing of your personal data infringes the GDPR, you may lodge a complaint with the Irish supervisory authority, namely, the Data Protection Commission.

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Automated decision-making and profiling

We do not use any personal data for the purpose of automated decision-making or profiling.

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Requirement to process personal data

​If you do not provide us with your information for the purposes described above, we cannot provide you with our legal services or assess your suitability for a role with our firm, where relevant. You may browse our website without providing us with any personal data and this will not affect your ability to view our website.

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Changes to this privacy notice

We may change this notice from time to time. If we make changes, the current version will always be available on our website, www.kearneysolicitors.ie and a hard copy will also be available from us upon request. 

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Each time you use our services or our website, the then current Privacy Statement will apply and you should review it each time you use the website to satisfy yourself that you are happy with it.