Privacy Policy

LDL Privacy Notice


Our contact details  


LDL is a firm of solicitors providing legal services to individual clients and business clients, including those instructing us on behalf of private and third sector bodies.  In order to do this, we collect and use personal data about our clients, potential clients and other individuals when this is necessary to provide our legal services.  


In relation to the provision of legal services, much of the personal data that we process is subject to an obligation we have to our clients to maintain their confidentiality and/or legal privilege. This means that sometimes we do not require to tell other individuals that we are processing their data or provide them with a copy of it.  


This obligation of confidentiality does not apply to all of the personal data that we collect and use and so this notice provides information about how we process the personal data which is not subject to an obligation of confidentiality and/or legal privilege.   


We have appointed a data protection manager who can be contacted in the following ways: 


E-mail: dataprotectionmanager@ldl-law.co.uk


Types of personal information we have  


Because of the nature of the services we provide, the types of data we process can be quite varied, but will usually include full name, contact details and information about you as a client in addition to information about your employees and contractors.  


 We will ask our individual clients and those representing our corporate clients for copies of information identification documentation and other information in order to comply with our obligations under anti-money laundering laws.  We may also require to carry out the same identity and anti-money laundering checks on others. 


Depending on the nature of our relationship with you, we will process information about your: 


  • financial affairs
  • family, lifestyle and social circumstances
  • education and employment background; and
  • medical conditions


In some circumstances, again depending on the nature of relationship with our client, we will process special categories of personal data, in which case we take particular care to process such data in accordance with the stricter legal requirements set out in Data Protection legislation, particularly in relation to security and confidentiality.  


Special category data includes: 


  • information revealing racial or ethnic origin
  • revealing political opinions
  • information revealing your religious or philosophical beliefs  
  • information revealing trade union membership
  • genetic or biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying natural persons; 
  • information concerning health; and 
  • information concerning sex life or sexual orientation. 


If we process information about criminal offences and convictions, the same considerations will be taken into account. Further information about how we do this is set out below.  


How we get the information and why we have it and our lawful basis for processing 


We obtain personal data directly from our clients; from and about third parties involved in the provision of legal services to our clients; professional representatives; other professionals; witnesses and potential witnesses in court matters; and we will also use information that is publicly available. 


In relation to our individual clients, we have a contract to provide them with legal services and process their data as it is necessary to do, to provide them with our legal services.  


 In relation to our business clients, our contract is not with an individual, but we have a legitimate business interest in processing personal data as necessary to provide our legal services.  


 We have a legal obligation to process identification documentation and other information from our individual and business clients and to carry out checks to comply with anti-money laundering legislation.  


 We process the data of third parties because we have a legitimate business interest to do so, and it is necessary for us to do so, in order to provide our legal services.  


 Where we process any special category personal data or criminal offence data, we can rely one of the legal bases set out above, and because the processing is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.  


What we do with the information we have including who we share it with 


The data that we collect and use is to assist us in providing legal services to our clients, to comply with the legislation that regulates our profession and to keep our clients informed about our services.  


In order to do this, we share this information with third parties on a regular basis, including those set out below.  Often when we share personal data clients and other third parties will be aware of this but occasionally personal data will be shared confidentially.    


  • Solicitors or advocates/barristers for the other party 
  • Advocates or barristers
  • Party litigants 
  • Courts or employment tribunals
  • Expert witnesses and advisers 
  • Legal directories (e.g. Chambers and the Legal500)


If you are a client, you will usually know when we share your data and who we share it with.  


 From time to time we send updates about our services and events we are hosting by email. If you do not want to receive these messages, please contact us using the contact details above. You can also click on the unsubscribe link in any emails we send.  


 The personal data we process will also be shared with third parties who assist us to provide our services but who do not use this data for their own purposes ('data processors'). We have a written contract with any such organisation who will only do what we instruct them to do with the data provided to them; they will keep the data secure and will only gather personal data and use it on our instructions to carry out these checks.  


How we store your information  


Your information is securely stored on our IT systems which are hosted on a secure cloud server. We also use third party software to help us manage the information we use to provide our legal services.  We have contracts with these providers to ensure that the data is secure and that it will not be used by them for their own purposes.  If the data is stored outwith the EEA, we will ensure that there is adequate protection in place to ensure the same data protection standards are maintained4.  


We have procedures to deal with any suspected data security breach and will notify you and the ICO of a suspected breach where data protection legislation requires us to do so. 


We keep personal data for as long as it is necessary for our requirements, including the regulatory requirements placed upon all law firms. After this time we will delete the data securely or anonymise it.  


 If you wish further information about our retention policy then please contact us using the details above.   


Your data protection rights 


Under data protection law, you have rights including: 


  • Right of access - You have the right to ask us for a copy of your personal information. Unless you are a client, we will have to consider whether the personal data about you is subject to a duty of confidentiality we owe to our client or whether other exemptions may apply. You also have the right to information about how we use your data. This notice should answer most of your questions but you should contact us if you have further queries.  
  • Right to rectification - You have the right to ask us to rectify information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete.  
  • Right to erasure - You have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances.  
  • Right to restriction of processing - You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your information in certain circumstances.  
  • Right to object to processing - You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances. You have an absolute right to ask us to stop sending you marketing material and updates about our services.   


There is no charge for exercising these rights unless the request is manifestly unfounded or excessive. If it is, we will charge a reasonable fee or refuse to deal with the request.   Once a request is made, it will be acknowledged and we may ask for confirmation of identification from the requester and seek clarification of this request.  


We will do our best to respond without undue delay and within one month of receiving a request. However, if the request is complex we can extend that by another two months. If we do need more time, we will provide information as to why. Please make any requests using the contact details above. 


Consequences of failing to provide data 


If you are a client and you do not provide us with the information we require to provide you with legal services, or if you ask us to cease processing your data or to erase your data, then we may not be able to provide you with the all of the legal services that you have asked for. 


How to complain 


If you have any concerns about the way that we collect and use your data then please contact us using the details above and we will do our best to address these concerns.  However, you can also complain to the ICO if you are unhappy with how we have used your data and their contact details can be found here Contact us | ICO


Changes to our privacy notice 


We keep our privacy notice under review and will require to make changes from time to time. We will highlight any substantial updates on our website.  


This privacy notice was last updated on 1 July 2024