Privacy Policy

General Statement

Smith Duggan Buell & Rufo LLP (“Smith Duggan” or “Firm”) is committed to your privacy and takes the security of your personal information seriously. Please take a moment to read this Policy and learn about it. This Policy applies to the Firm’s website www.SmithDuggan.com (“Website”). The Firm is the owner of the information collected on this Website. By using this Website or submitting your personal information to us, you agree to the Firm’s use of your personal information in accordance with this Policy.

Website Visitors

The Firm, like most website operators, may collect non-personally-identifying information of the type that web browsers and servers typically can track, such as browser type, language preference, referring site, and the date and time of each visitor request. Collecting this type of information allows the Firm to better understand how our visitors use the Website. On occasion, the Firm may release non-personally-identifying information in the aggregate or provide it to others, either by disclosing a report or statistics on Website usage or otherwise.

Personally-Identifying Information

Visitors to the Firm’s Website may choose to interact with it in ways that allow the Firm to gather personally-identifying information. The type and amount of information that we gather depends on the type of interaction. Personally-identifying information or “personal information” means information by which you, as an individual, can be identified. It includes information such as your name, mailing address, telephone number, and e-mail address. Your personal information can include sensitive personal data, such as information as to your ethnicity, political opinions, religious, philosophical or similar beliefs, organizational memberships, physical or mental health, sexual life, commission of criminal offences and/or involvement in criminal proceedings. Visitors may always refuse to supply personal information, although that may prevent those visitors from engaging in certain Website-related activities.

The Firm notifies you of:

• What personally identifiable information of yours is collected from you through this website.
• How the information is used.
• How the information may be shared.
• How we protect your information. 

• How you can correct any inaccuracies in the information.

Information We Collect

Smith Duggan does not currently collect personal information through this Website except for the following:

• Information that your Internet service provider automatically provides to our web server, such as its web address and possibly your email address;
• Information that you send to the Firm in an email message using the email function of this Website;
• Information you send us when you sign up on this Website for legal alerts, newsletters, events or the like; and
• Information you submit to us in a CGI form (for example, when you submit a search request on this Website).

Please be aware that providing information, including personal information, to the Firm, including communication by use of the Website, email, telephone, or otherwise, does not create an attorney-client relationship. The Firm cannot represent you until it determines that doing so will not create a conflict of interest and the Firm accepts a proposed engagement. Confidential or time-sensitive information should not be sent through use of the Website and should not be conveyed to the Firm until a formal attorney-client relationship has been established. Information provided to Smith Duggan will not be treated as confidential, may be disclosed to others, and will not prevent the Firm from representing someone else whose interests are directly adverse to your interests, unless the Firm already represents you or the Firm later agrees to represent you.

How We Use The Information

Smith Duggan may use personal information collected from this Website in accordance with this Policy and applicable law for the following purposes:

• To provide you with legal services if you are a client or become a client;
• To respond to or to process requests, including by email or standard mail;
• To monitor the Website, to analyze usage of the Website, to create reports concerning the Website, and to improve or change the content of the Website;
• To employ cookies (or a string of information, including a unique reference code, to be stored on a user’s computer) to assist in providing a consistent and smooth browsing experience to visitors, although users may disable cookies or set any browser to refuse to accept them and still use the Website;
• To contact you or to provide information or marketing information to you that you have requested or that the Firm believes may interest you, including notices and updates on legal developments and communications relevant to use of the Website, including by email or standard mail;
• To represent the interests of clients of the Firm if you are not a client and do not become one; and/or
• To protect the property or rights of the Firm, third parties, or the public at large when the Firm believes in good faith that personal information should be disclosed and applicable law does not prohibit such disclosure.

For visitors to the Website who are based in the European Economic Area, please be aware that information that you provide to the Firm may be transferred to countries, including the United States, that do not have data protection laws equivalent to those in force in the European Economic Area.

How We Share The Information

Personal information of clients of the Firm will not be disclosed to third parties without your consent otherwise than in accordance with this Policy, unless required or permitted to do so by law, including the exercise or defense of the Firm’s legal rights. The Firm will not sell personal information, but personal information of those who are not clients of the Firm may be disclosed to third parties as permitted by law, although the Firm reserves the right to disclose such information to another law firm in the event of a merger or combination with such law firm.

The Firm may use third parties to provide services to the Firm or on behalf of its clients. These services may include data processing, hosting, storage, recovery, copying, or similar services. These third parties may have access to personal information you have provided so that those third parties may provide those services, but the Firm requires that any such providers enter into agreements with the Firm that protect the safety and security of such personal information, as well as the confidentiality, where applicable, of such personal information. The Firm cooperates with inquires from law enforcement and complies with requests for information pursuant to legal subpoena or process. Thus, the Firm will share personal information that the Firm, in its sole discretion, believes necessary or appropriate in order to respond to or comply with a law enforcement request or legal subpoena or process.

How We Protect The Information

Smith Duggan uses reasonable measures to protect against the unauthorized access, use, alteration or destruction of personal information. The Firm uses physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards to protect personal information, including firewalls and scanning software to detect and block malicious or unsolicited email. The Firm employs user authentication systems and passwords to limit access to the Firm’s computer systems and files to authorized users.

The Firm’s information security software may cause some email messages sent via this Website not to be received.

This Website may contain links to other sites, but those sites are not necessarily under the control of the Firm and the Firm is not responsible for the privacy practices of those other sites. If you decide to access any third-party site linked to this Website, you do so entirely at your own risk.

Correcting Inaccuracies

We will endeavor to correct or update personal information provided to the Firm upon receipt of a written request from the provider of the information. Any such request should be directed to Smith Duggan’s Firm Administrator at any Firm address reflected on this Website.

Modification of Policy

The Firm may modify this Policy at any time in its sole discretion in order to ensure that this Policy appropriately reflects the regulatory environment in which we operate and the Firm’s data collection and disclosure practices. Your continuing use of this Website constitutes your acceptance of any modification to this Policy in effect at the time of your access.