Privacy Notice - Barristers - Minerva Chambers

About this notice

This privacy notice concerns the personal information I collect, store and otherwise process about you and the reasons and legal basis for the processing. It also tells you who I share this personal information with, the security put in place to protect your data and how to contact me in the event you need further information.

“I” or “me” refers to the barrister you are instructing or to each of them if there is more than one.

Who am I?

I collect, use and am responsible for personal information about you. When I do this, I am the ‘controller’ of this information for the purposes of the GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

If you need to contact me about your data or the processing carried out, you can use the contact details that appears next to my name on the Barristers at Minerva Chambers page

What do I do with your personal information?

Personal Information collected from you

When providing legal services or undertaking the other functions set out below, I collect personal information you provide which may include any or all of the following categories of personal data and special categories of personal data:

Personal Data: (“Personal Data”)

personal details
financial details
family details
lifestyle and social circumstances
goods and services
education, training and employment details
data relating to criminal convictions and offences or related security measures
other personal data relevant to my provision of legal services, including data specific to the instructions or appointment in question

Special Categories of Personal Data: (“Special Categories of Personal Data”)

data concerning health
data revealing racial or ethnic origin
data revealing political opinions
data revealing religious or philosophical beliefs
data revealing trade union membership
data concerning sex life or sexual orientation
genetic data
biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person

Personal Information collected from others

I may also obtain personal information, including in the categories listed above, from third parties, such as other legal professionals, experts, members of the public, your family and friends, witnesses, courts, adjudicators, arbitrators, expert determiners, mediators and other forms of dispute resolution service provider, tribunals, investigators, government departments, regulators, public records and registers.

How do I use your personal information?

I may use your personal information for the following purposes (“Purposes”):

to provide professional services as a barrister, including the provision of legal advice and representation in courts, adjudications, arbitrations, expert determinations, mediations, tribunals and other forms of dispute resolution procedure
to provide professional services as an adjudicator, arbitrator, expert determiner, judge, mediator and provider of other forms of dispute resolution services
to provide professional services as a member of a disciplinary tribunal or investigation panel
to check for conflicts of interest in relation to any of the professional services referred to above
to carry out anti-money laundering and terrorist financing checks
to obtain and administer professional indemnity insurance
to promote and market any of the professional services referred to above
to carry out office administration and keep accounting records
to take or defend legal or regulatory proceedings or to exercise a lien
to respond to potential complaints or to make complaints
to train other barristers, pupils, mini-pupils and secondees and when providing work-shadowing opportunities
to respond to requests for references
when procuring goods and services
to publish legal articles and books
to publish legal judgments and decisions of courts and tribunals, awards and decisions in adjudications, arbitrations, expert determinations and other forms of dispute resolution procedure, disciplinary tribunals and investigations
as required or permitted by law

Whether information has to be provided by you, and why

If I have been instructed by you or on your behalf to provide professional services as a barrister or I have been appointed to provide professional services as an adjudicator, arbitrator, expert determiner, mediator or other provider of dispute resolution services, member of a disciplinary or investigation panel, your personal information has to be provided, to enable me to provide those professional services, and to enable me to comply with my professional obligations and to keep accounting records.

The legal basis for processing your personal information

I rely on the following as the lawful basis on which I collect and use your personal information:

In relation to Personal Data:

If you are an actual or prospective client, processing is necessary for the performance of a contract for legal services or in order to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract.
Processing is necessary for the purpose of my legitimate interests and/or the legitimate interests of a third party in carrying out the processing for the Purposes and my legitimate interests assessment.
Processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which I am subject.
If you have given your consent to the processing of your personal data, I may process that information for the Purposes to the extent of your consent. You have the right to withdraw this consent at any time, but this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing activity I have carried out before the withdrawal of your consent.

In relation to Special Categories of Personal Data:

Processing is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims or court proceedings.
If you have given your explicit consent to the processing of such personal data, I may process that information for the Purposes to the extent of your consent. You have the right to withdraw this consent at any time, but this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing activity I have carried out before the withdrawal of your consent.

Who will I share your personal information with?

If you are a client, some of the personal information you provide will be protected by legal professional privilege unless and until that information becomes public in the course of any proceedings or otherwise. As a barrister I have an obligation to keep your personal information confidential, except where it otherwise becomes public or is disclosed as part of the case or proceedings.

It may be necessary to share your personal information with the following:

data processors, including Chambers’ employees and sub-contractors email service providers, data storage service providers
other legal professionals
lay and professional clients
courts, tribunals and arbitral institutions
members of an alternative dispute resolution panel including adjudicators, arbitrators, expert determiners, co-mediators, and arbitration panel secretaries
members of a disciplinary tribunal or investigation panel
witnesses and expert witnesses (including prospective witnesses and expert witnesses)
interpreters and transcribers
the general public in relation to the publication of legal judgments and decisions of courts and tribunals
the parties and legal advisors and appointing or supervising institutions in relation to adjudications, arbitrations, expert determinations, and other forms of dispute resolution procedure, disciplinary and investigation proceedings
trainee barristers including pupils and mini-pupils, and secondees
my professional indemnity insurers
family and associates of the person whose personal information I am processing
in the event of complaints, the Head of Chambers, other members of Chambers who deal with complaints, the Bar Standards Board, and the Legal Ombudsman
prosecution authorities
other regulatory authorities, including the Bar Standards Board and Financial Conduct Authority
the Information Commissioner’s Office
the police or intelligence services, where I am required or permitted by law to do so
current, past or prospective employers
education and examining bodies
business associates, professional advisers and trade bodies, e.g. the Bar Council and Legal Directories
the intended recipient, where you have asked me to provide a reference
as required or permitted by law

Sources of information

The personal information I obtain may include information from:

data processors, including Chambers’ employees and sub-contractors, email service providers, data storage service providers
other legal professionals
lay and professional clients
courts, tribunals and arbitral institutions
members of an alternative dispute resolution panel including adjudicators, arbitrators, expert determiners, co-mediators and independent investigators and arbitration panel secretaries
members of a disciplinary tribunal or investigation panel
witnesses and expert witnesses (including prospective witnesses and expert witnesses)
interpreters and transcribers
trainee barristers including pupils and mini-pupils, and secondees
family and associates of the person whose personal information I am processing
in the event of complaints, the Heads of Chambers, other members of Chambers who deal with complaints, the Bar Standards Board, and the Legal Ombudsman
prosecution authorities
other regulatory authorities, including the Bar Standards Board and Financial Conduct Authority
current, past or prospective employers
education and examining bodies
business associates, professional advisers and trade bodies, e.g. the Bar Council and Legal Directories
the intended recipient, where you have asked me to provide a reference
the general public in relation to the publication of legal judgments and decisions of courts and tribunals
public sources, such as the press, public registers and law

Transfer of your information outside the UK

This privacy notice is of general application and as such it is not possible to state whether it will be necessary to transfer your personal information out of the UK in any particular case or for any particular Purpose. Such transfers include transfers to cloud data storage providers situated outside the UK.

If you are outside the UK or if the instructions you provide, come from outside the UK, it is inevitable that your personal information will be transferred to that country or those countries.

If you reside outside the UK or my professional services involve persons, organisations, courts, arbitral institutions, adjudicators, arbitrators, expert determiners, mediators, investigations, tribunals and other forms of dispute resolution entity outside the UK, it may be necessary to transfer your personal information to that country or those countries outside of the UK for that purpose.

If either of these cases apply to you and you wish additional precautions to be taken in respect of your personal information, please indicate this when providing instructions.

Where the UK has decided that a country or part of a country outside the UK or listed entities in such a country, ensures an adequate level of protection for personal information, I am entitled to transfer personal information to that country or to that entity. Please ask for further information if this is relevant to you.

In the absence of an adequacy decision by the UK, I will transfer your personal information outside the UK where there are adequate safeguards in place in respect of such transfers.

In the absence of an adequacy decision or adequate safeguards, I will only transfer your personal information outside the UK where the transfer is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

I may also transfer your personal information outside the UK if you have given your explicit consent to the proposed transfer after having been informed of the possible risk of such transfer due to the absence of an adequacy decision or appropriate safeguards. You have the right to withdraw this consent at any time, but this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing activity I have carried out before the withdrawal of your consent.

Data security

I store your data in electronic form in a secure IT system protected by up-to-date security including firewall, secure access and anti-virus protection.

The computer hardware I use, including desktop and laptops is stored securely, backed up regularly and password protected including data held on mobile telephones and iPad. When replaced, the hard disc of computer equipment I use is securely destroyed.

When email data is to be permanently deleted this is done by instruction to an email archive facility.

When informed that a matter is closed or instructions are terminated for any other reason, hard copy papers are returned to my Instructing Solicitors or confidentially destroyed.
Chambers regularly reviews its information policy, including data security.

How long will I store your personal data?

I will normally store:

Your personal information until at least 1 year after the expiry of any relevant limitation period (which will usually be 15 years as recommended by my insurers), from the date of the last item of work carried out, the date of the last payment received or the date on which all outstanding payments are written off (whichever is the latest). This is because it may be needed for potential legal proceedings or subject to a complaint. At this point any further retention will be reviewed and the data will be marked for deletion or marked for retention for a further period. The latter retention period is likely to occur only where the personal information is needed for legal proceedings, regulatory matters or active deletion will be carried out (without further notice to you) as soon as reasonably practicable after the data is marked for deletion.
Your personal information related to anti-money laundering checks for five years after the completion of the transaction or the end of the professional relationship, whichever is the later.
That part of your personal information I need to carry out conflict checks for the rest of my career. This is likely to be limited to your name and contact details and the name of the case. This will not include any Special Categories of Personal Data.
That part of your personal information relating to marketing purposes for an indefinite period of time or until I become aware or are informed that you have ceased to be a potential client. This is likely to be limited to your name and contact details

Your rights

Under the GDPR, you have a number of rights you may exercise in certain circumstances.

The exercise of these rights is free of charge.

In summary, you may have the right to:

Access to your personal information and other supplementary information
Correction of errors or omissions in your personal information
Erasure of some or all of your personal information in certain circumstances
A copy of the personal information you have provided to me sent to you or to a third party in a commonly used and machine-readable format
Object at any time to processing of your personal information for direct marketing
Object in certain other situations to the continued processing of your personal information
Restrict my processing of your personal information in certain circumstances

If you want more information about your rights under the GDPR please see the Guidance from the Information Commissioners Office on Individual’s rights under the GDPR.

If you want to exercise any of these rights, please:

Use the contact details listed for me on this website. I may need to ask you to provide other information so that you can be identified
Provide a postal address so I may contact you to request further information to verify your identity
Provide proof of your identity
State the right or rights you wish to exercise

I will respond to you within one month from receipt of your request.

Marketing emails

If you wish to unsubscribe from any marketing emails you have signed up for, you can do so by emailing the barrister that sends marketing emails to you (subject line ‘unsubscribe’). It may take up to one week for this to become effective.

How to make a complaint?

The GDPR gives you the right to file a complaint with the Information Commissioners’ Office if you are in the UK, or with the supervisory authority of the Member State where you work, normally live or where the alleged infringement of data protection laws occurred. The Information Commissioner’s Office can be contacted at http://ico.org.uk/concerns/.

Future processing

I do not intend to process your personal information except for the reasons stated within this privacy notice. If this changes, this privacy notice will be amended and placed on my website page.

Changes to this privacy notice

This privacy notice was published on 1st February 2022

I continually review my privacy practices and may change this policy from time to time. When I do it will be placed on the Chambers website page.