Our law firm knows that the privacy of the personal information that we receive about our clients is important. We understand that our clients trust us to protect the confidentiality and security of their information. The information that we collect about our clients is used only to provide the legal and related services that our clients request from us. Although there is a federal law designed to protect the privacy of nonpublic personal information about consumers, as attorneys, we have been and continue to be bound by professional standards of confidentiality with respect to our clients’ information that are even more stringent than those required by this law. From time to time, we receive information from persons or entities that are not our clients. For instance, we may provide closing services for a client who is a buyer or seller in a real estate transaction, who are doing business with our clients but are not themselves clients of this firm. If such persons are not clients of this firm, we do not undertake any responsibility to protect their information and may be obligated in some instances to provide that information to others.

This notice informs you of our privacy policy and describes how we treat the information that we receive about our clients.

Information We May Collect About Our Clients

We may collect nonpublic personal information about our clients in connection with providing services. The types of nonpublic personal information that we may collect vary according to the services that we perform, and may include:

• Information that we receive from our clients (such as name, address, income, assets, social security information, and other financial or household information);
• Information about our relationship with our clients and past history with us and others (such as the types of legal services we provide to the client, invoice balances and payment history); and
• Information that we receive, from third parties such as accountants, financial advisors, insurance agents, banking institutions and others.

How We Handle Information About Our Clients

We do not disclose any public or nonpublic personal information about our clients that you have provided to us to anyone outside of our firm, except as authorized by our clients or required by law. For example, with our clients’ consent, we may disclose personal information to a third-party contractor, such as an appraiser or accountant, who is assisting us in providing services. We may also disclose personal information about our clients in the course of litigation, as necessary or convenient to our representation of our clients’ interests and legal positions. In addition, we will release information to the extent required by law or regulation. We do not sell client information to anyone or disclose client information to marketing companies. Again, if you are not our client, we may use or disclose your information for any reason whatsoever.

How We Protect Our Clients’ Information

We restrict access to public and nonpublic personal information about our clients that our clients have provided to us to those attorneys and staff members in our firm who may need to know the information to provide services to our clients. All of our attorneys and employees are required to maintain the confidentiality of all nonpublic personal information about our clients. We maintain safeguards that comply with the law and our more stringent professional standards to protect the public and nonpublic personal information concerning our clients.

If you have questions or comments, please call any of the attorneys at our firm.