As professionals engaged in the provision of legal services, SSMK Legal LLC (the “Firm”) is committed to protecting the privacy of confidential and “Personal Information” (information that directly or indirectly identifies individuals who may be clients, staff, agents, lawyers, law students, job applicants or others inside or outside the Firm) that is obtained outside the scope of litigation or anticipated litigation. It has always been the policy of the Firm to comply with the rules of professional conduct, which impose a duty to preserve and protect confidential client information.

This privacy statement is based on the Firm’s privacy and data protection principles. We apply it in light of our overarching obligations to comply with law, to maintain client confidentiality, and to represent our clients as effectively as possible. This statement is intended to summarize the Firm’s data protection practices generally, and to advise our clients, interested law students, job applicants, website visitors, and other third parties about the Firm’s privacy policies that may be applicable to them.

This statement is also addressed to parties outside the Firm who provide Personal Information to the Firm. This statement also describes how the Firm collects, processes, and discloses Personal Information in connection with the provision of legal services and the use of this website.

Collection and Use of Personal Information

The Firm collects Personal Information in the course of providing legal services to clients and as provided by visitors to this website. We may use that Personal Information where we believe it is in your, or our, best interest to do so, for the following purposes:

• to contact you and respond to your requests and enquiries

• to carry out, monitor and analyze our business or website operations

• to conduct our recruiting and selection process

• if you are or become a client of the Firm, to provide you with legal services, and otherwise deal with you and administer the matters you instruct us on, subject to additional written agreements between the Firm and clients, which more specifically govern the use of clients’ information 

• to contact you (unless you tell us that you prefer us not to) regarding legal or Firm developments that may be of interest to you. If you do not want to receive publications or details of events or seminars that we consider may be of interest to you, you may do so by clicking on the unsubscribe link in electronic marketing communications

• to enter into or carry out contracts of various kinds

• to comply with applicable laws, regulations, guidance or professional obligations that we may be subject to, including anti-money laundering requirements. 

Confidentiality, Security, and Retention of Personal Information

Consistent with our professional obligations, the Firm exercises the utmost discretion regarding the information our clients entrust to us. We maintain reasonable and appropriate physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards intended to maintain the confidentiality of Personal Information. Of course, we cannot guarantee that these safeguards will always work.

We may retain information provided by you, including Personal Information, for as long as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, or to achieve the purposes for which the information was originally collected and for the purposes described in the statement and in our applicable policies. 

Disclosure and Transfer of Personal Information

We do not disclose any Personal Information to unrelated parties outside of the Firm, except in very limited circumstances. Such circumstances include disclosures to our agents or data processors or other contractors acting on our behalf and at our direction, subject to appropriate confidentiality, privacy and information security commitments provided by the receiving party and verified by the Firm, or where we believe it necessary to provide a service which you have requested, or as permitted or required by law, or as otherwise authorized or directed by you. Consistent with our professional obligations, we may provide Personal Information to regulatory authorities and law enforcement officials in accordance with applicable law or when we otherwise believe in good faith that the provision of such information is required or permitted by law, such as in connection with the investigation or assertion of our legal defenses or for our compliance matters.

Our website does not allow any third parties to collect Personal Information about your online activities over time for their own purposes. The Firm does not knowingly collect, maintain, or store Personal Information of minors that is submitted via this website. To the extent the Firm collects Personal Information on minors in the context of one of the purposes mentioned in the Statement, the Firm will only do so with the appropriate consent or as otherwise permitted under applicable laws.

Contact Us

The Firm has a Chief Privacy Officer and regularly promotes compliance with privacy and data protection principles. If you have any questions relating to the use of your Personal Information please contact the Chief Privacy Officer at privacy@ssmklaw.com. 

We reserve the right to change this Statement at any time without advance notice. Should any new policy go into effect for our website, the Firm will post it on this website.