Legal
Privacy policy
NWS Legal Limited
How we collect, use, store and share personal data when you visit this website or contact us, and the rights you have under UK data protection law.
1. Who we are
NWS Legal Limited (“NWS Legal”, “we”, “us” or “our”) is a company incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number 17406319). We are the controller of personal data collected through this website.
NWS Legal Limited is not authorised or regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Legal services are provided by Nick Wenban-Smith, a solicitor of England and Wales (SRA ID 26014), who is our sole employee.
We do not have a Data Protection Officer. Please direct all privacy enquiries to Contact via email.
2. Scope of this policy
This policy explains how we collect, use, store and share personal data when you visit our website, including the general counsel services page, and when you contact us through it. It does not cover our client services, which are governed by our Terms of Business and our engagement letters. Information you provide during an engagement is handled under those terms.
This policy does not cover third-party websites linked from our site. Those sites have their own privacy policies.
3. Information we collect
Information you give us
When you use our contact or enquiry form, or email us: your name, email address, telephone number (if provided), company name and job title, and the content of your message.
If you ask us to call or arrange a meeting: scheduling details and any notes of the discussion.
Information collected automatically
Technical data such as your IP address, browser type and version, device type, operating system, time zone and the pages you visit.
Cookie and similar technology data, as described in section 8.
We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 16.
We do not ask for special category data (such as health or criminal offence data) through this website. Please do not include it in enquiry forms or emails. If you do, we will handle it in line with section 6 and our Terms of Business.
4. How we use your information and our lawful bases
| Purpose | Type of data | Lawful basis (UK GDPR Article 6) |
|---|---|---|
| Responding to your enquiry and arranging an initial discussion | Contact and enquiry data | Taking steps at your request before entering into a contract |
| Entering into and managing an engagement with you | Contact, company and matter data | Performance of a contract, or steps at your request before a contract |
| Keeping records of enquiries and communications | Contact and enquiry data | Our legitimate interests in managing enquiries and defending legal claims |
| Keeping the website secure and working properly | Technical data | Our legitimate interests in running a secure and functioning website |
| Understanding how the website is used and improving it (analytics) | Technical and usage data | Your consent, obtained through our cookie banner |
| Sending marketing emails or newsletters (if offered) | Contact data | Your consent, which you can withdraw at any time |
| Complying with legal and regulatory obligations, including anti-money laundering checks where they apply | All relevant data | Compliance with a legal obligation |
We do not use your personal data for automated decision-making or profiling that has legal or similarly significant effects.
5. Who we share your information with
We do not sell your personal data. We share it only where necessary, with:
- Service providers who process data on our behalf, including website hosting and development providers, email and form-handling providers, and analytics providers. These providers may only act on our written instructions.
- Professional advisers, such as accountants, insurers or IT advisers, where needed.
- Regulators, courts and law enforcement where required or permitted by law.
- Other parties in a matter, only where you have instructed us and it is appropriate, and with your knowledge.
6. International transfers
Some of our service providers, including website hosting and development platforms, may store or process data outside the United Kingdom. Where this happens, we rely on the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, or another safeguard permitted under UK data protection law.
7. How long we keep your information
- Enquiries that do not lead to an engagement: up to 12 months from the last contact, after which they are deleted.
- Enquiries that lead to an engagement: the periods set out in our Terms of Business, normally six years from the closure of the matter, longer where the file contains documents of ongoing value.
- Analytics data: if collected, as set by the analytics provider and our cookie settings, normally no more than 26 months.
- Marketing preferences: until you withdraw consent, plus a short record so that we can respect your choice.
8. Cookies and similar technologies
Our website uses the following categories of cookies:
- Strictly necessary cookies: needed for the site to function, such as security and load-balancing cookies. These do not require consent.
9. Your rights
Under UK data protection law, you have the right to:
- access the personal data we hold about you;
- have inaccurate data corrected;
- have your data erased in certain circumstances;
- restrict or object to our processing in certain circumstances;
- receive your data in a portable format, where applicable;
- withdraw consent at any time, where we rely on consent;
- object to direct marketing at any time.
These rights are subject to exemptions, including where we must keep information to comply with legal or professional obligations or to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
To exercise your rights, email Contact via email. We do not normally charge a fee, and we will respond within one month, which we may extend in line with the law.
10. Security
We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against loss, misuse and unauthorised access. These include secure hosting, access controls and encryption in transit where supported. No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure. Please do not send us sensitive information by email unless we have agreed a secure method with you. Note that email is not encrypted by default.
11. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top shows when it was last revised. Significant changes will be highlighted on this page.
12. Complaints
If you have a concern about how we handle your personal data, please contact us first at Contact via email so that we can try to resolve it.
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection, at ico.org.uk or by telephone on 0303 123 1113.