The content of this Website is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. No action with regards to your particular circumstances should be taken until you have first sought the appropriate legal or professional advice having regard to your specific facts and circumstances. Reviewing our Website should not be viewed as having sought professional advice.

Keyser Mason Ball LLP does not in any way endorse the owner, the site, or the information contained therein, of any Website on the Internet that may be visited as a result of following any links provided on this Website. Unless explicitly indicated, there is no association or affiliation with Keyser Mason Ball LLP as these sites may be owned and operated by third parties and Keyser Mason Ball LLP expressly disclaims all liability with respect to actions taken or actions not taken based on information received from a third party Website linked, directly or indirectly, to that of Keyser Mason Ball LLP.

Be aware that legislative changes over time and even the interpretation of existing laws can vary following new court decisions. While the content of this Website may provide some general information, for any specific legal question you should seek professional legal advice.

If you would like more information, or have something specific you would like to discuss with us, please contact us by e-mail at kmb@kmblaw.com or telephone us directly at (905) 276-9111.

Privacy Policy

Keyser Mason Ball LLP provides a range of legal services to our clients. We have a policy of protecting the privacy of our clients in the course of providing services to them. Our relationship with our clients is based upon trust and maintaining client privacy is, therefore given the utmost priority.

Keyser Mason Ball, LLP and its affiliates (“Keyser Mason Ball” or “we”) recognize the importance of privacy and the sensitivity of personal information. As lawyers we have professional obligation to keep all confidential information we receive within a lawyer-client relationship. We are committed to protecting any personal information we hold. This Privacy Policy outlines how we manage the personal information and safeguard the privacy of our clients, service providers and other individuals (“you”).

Your privacy rights

From January 1, 2004, all businesses engaged in commercial activities must comply with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), available at , and the Canadian Standards Association Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information which it incorporates. PIPEDA gives you rights concerning the privacy of your personal information.

Keyser Mason Ball is responsible for the personal information we collect and hold. To ensure this accountability, we have developed this Privacy Policy, and trained our lawyers and support staff about our policies and practices.

What personal information do we collect?

For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, personal information is given the same meaning as it is given in applicable privacy legislation from time to time. Currently, Canadian privacy legislation defines personal information as any information that identifies an individual, or any information by which an individual’s identity could be deduced. Generally, personal information does not include what is generally considered to be business contact information, including your name, title or position, business address, telephone number or facsimilie number.

The types of personal information that we may collect from you include your name, home address, telephone number, personal e-mail address, billing and account information, information about a client’s legal issue and other information incidental to providing legal advise and services, including personal information about witnesses, family members, beneficiaries, directors, officers, employees, adverse parties, parties-in-interest, investigators, decision makers, experts, other professional advisors, and our clients’ business partners, investors, shareholders, competitors and customers whom are individuals.

How do we collect your personal information?

We collect information only by lawful and fair means and not in an unreasonably intrusive way. Wherever possible, we collect your personal information directly from you, at the start of a retainer and in the course of our representation.

We may also obtain information about you from other sources, including:

• Your insurance company;
• Your real estate agent in a property transaction;
• A government agency or registry;
• Your employer, if we are acting for you, at its request; and
• Your accountant.

Why do we collect your information

We use your personal information to provide legal products and services to you, to administer our client billing databases and to include you in any direct marketing activities. Direct marketing activities include providing you with information about our services or about new developments in the law from time to time. If you tell us that you no longer wish to receive information about our services or about new developments in the law, we will not send any further material. Our specific purposes for collecting your personal information include, but are not limited to:

• Establishing and managing client relationships;
• Providing legal advice and performing legal services;
• Avoiding conflicts of interest;
• Developing and managing our knowledge-management precedent systems and databases;
• Detecting error, negligence, breach of contract, fraud, theft and other illegal activity and protecting Keyser Mason Ball from the same;
• Auditing compliance with Keyser Mason Ball’s policies and contractual obligations;
• Engaging in business transactions, including the purchase, sale, lease, merger, amalgamation or any other type of acquisition, disposal, securitization or financing involving Keyser Mason Ball;
• Any purpose required to comply with any legal or regulatory requirements or provisions; and
• For any other purpose for which your consent has been obtained.

Consent

Your knowledge and consent is required for the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information except in situations where this would be inappropriate. Inappropriate circumstances include where your personal information is being sought for certain legal, medical, security reasons that would make it impossible or impractical to provide you with knowledge and to seek your consent.

Consent to collect, use or disclose your personal information is required and can be accepted orally or in writing, depending on the circumstances. In some cases, your consent will be implied through your conduct.

We will re-obtain your consent where we intend to use your personal information for a purpose which varies from the purpose for which the personal information was initially obtained.

You can withdraw your consent subject to reasonable notice and legal and contractual obligations. We will inform you of any and all implications of your withdrawal of consent.

Disclosure of your personal information

Keyser Mason Ball will disclose your personal information under certain circumstances. These circumstances include by are not limited to the following:

• When required or authorized by law to do so;
• When your consent for the disclosure has been obtained;
• When disclosure is required for the delivery of legal services wherein you consent is implied;
• Where it is necessary to establish or collect fees;
• If we engage a third party, bound by this Privacy Policy, to provide administrative services to us;
• If we engage expert witnesses on your behalf;
• If we retain other law firms in other jurisdictions on your behalf;
• If the information is already publicly known.

Keyser Mason Ball does not disclose your personal information to any third party to assist the third party in marketing their products or services. Keyser Mason Ball does not provide our client mailing lists to other firms.

Is my personal information secure?

Keyser Mason Ball takes all reasonable precautions to ensure that your personal information is kept safe from loss, unauthorized access and disclosure, and modification. Reasonable precautions taken include:

• Premises security;
• Restricted file access to personal information;
• Technological safeguards to prevent hacking, viruses and unauthorized computer access as much as is possible; and
• Implementing and employing internal password and security policies.

Access to personal information

You may ask for access to any personal information we hold about you. Summary information is available upon request. More detailed requests that require archive or other retrieval costs may be subject to our standard professional and disbursement fees. Contact information is provided below.

Updating your personal information

Since Keyser Mason Ball uses your information to provide you with legal services, it is important that this information be accurate and up-to-date.

If during the course of the retainer, any of your information changes, please inform us so that all necessary updates can be made. Contact information is provided below.

Correcting errors

If Keyser Mason Ball holds information about you and you can establish that it is not accurate, complete and up-to-date, Keyser Mason Ball will take reasonable steps to correct it.

Can I be denied access to my personal information?

Your right to access your personal information is not absolute. Keyser Mason Ball may deny you access to your personal information in certain circumstances, including:

• When denial of access is required or authorized by law;
• When the information is prohibitively costly to provide;
• When the personal information requested relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings against you;
• When granting you access would have an unreasonable impact on another person’s or other people’s privacy;
• When granting you access would prejudice negotiations with you;
• For legal, security or commercial propriety reasons and to protect Keyser Mason Ball’s rights and property;
• Where the request for access is frivolous or vexatious.

If Keyser Mason Ball denies your request for access to your personal information, or denies your request to correct your personal information, Keyser Mason Ball will shall provide reasons.

Keyser Mason Ball does not use Social Insurance Numbers as a way of identifying or organizing the personal information we hold.

Can I request anonymity?

Whenever it is legal and practicable, we may offer the opportunity to deal with general inquiries without providing your name, for example, by accessing general information on our web-site. The Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act requires us to confirm the identity of all new clients. It may also require us to disclose information to FINTRAC in relation to certain large cash transactions.

Credit bureaus

To help make credit decisions about clients, prevent fraud, check the identity of new clients and prevent money-laundering, we may, on occasion, request information about you from the files of consumer reporting agencies.

Electronic communication

You should be aware that e-mail is not a 100% secure medium, regardless of the steps taken to secure it. You should be aware of this when you are contacting Keyser Mason Ball using e-mail and when you are sending confidential and personal information to Keyser Mason Ball using e-mail.

Challenging compliance

If you have any questions, or if you wish to access your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer. Full contact information required, including name of individual(s) within the firm appointed Privacy Officer(s).

All complaints will be investigated by our Privacy Officer or by any other individual or individuals to whom the Privacy Officer has delegated this responsibility. We will respond to your request or inquiry within a reasonable time and at minimal or no cost to you. Appropriate measures will be taken where the complaint is justified, including amendments to this Privacy Policy.

We will record the substance of any challenges that are not resolved to your satisfaction. If you are not satisfied with the response from Keyser Mason Ball, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada can be reached at .

Changes to this privacy policy

Keyser Mason Ball regularly reviews all of its policies and procedures and reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time.

Employment inquiries

If you apply to Keyser Mason Ball for a job, your personal information is required as part of our review process. We normally retain information, including personal information, from our candidates after a decision has been made for one (1) year, unless you ask us not to retain the information. If we offer you a job, which you accept, your information, including your personal information, will be retained in accordance with our privacy procedures for employee records. Information, including personal information, regarding our employees is securely retained on site. Appraisals based on this information take place yearly and are delivered to employees yearly.

Web-site

Our web-site may contain links to other sites which are not governed by this Privacy Policy. Our web-site monitors traffic patterns, site usage, and related site information in order to optimize our web service. We may provide aggregated information to third parties, but these statistics do not include any identifiable personal information.

Interpretation of this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy includes examples but is not intended to be restricted in its application to such examples, therefore, where the word ‘including’ is used, it shall mean ‘including without limitation’.

This Privacy Policy is governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein. This Privacy Policy does not create or confer upon any individual any rights or impose upon Keyser Mason Ball any rights or obligations outside of, or in addition to, any rights or obligations imposed by Canada’s federal and provincial privacy laws, as applicable. Should there be, in a specific case, any inconsistency between this Privacy Policy and Canada’s federal and provincial privacy laws, as applicable, this Privacy Policy shall be interpreted, in respect of that case, to give effect to and comply with such privacy laws.

Requests for Information Access and/or Corrections

If you have any questions, or wish to access your Personal Information, please write to our Privacy Contact at:

Mr. John J. Ball
Four Robert Speck Parkway,
Suite 1600 Mississauga, Ontario ON L4Z 1S1
Tel:905.276.9111 Fax: (905) 276-2298
E-mail johnball@kmblaw.com

If you are not satisfied with our response, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada can be reached at:

112 Kent Street
Ottawa Ontario, K1A 1H3
1-800-282-1376.

Web Site

Our website may contain links to other sites, which are not governed by this privacy policy.

On our website, like most other commercial websites, we may monitor traffic patterns, site usage and related site information in order to optimize our web service. We may provide aggregated information to third parties, but these statistics do not include any identifiable Personal Information.

Thank you for taking the time to review our Privacy Policy.