66 Stirling Street, Airdrie, ML6 0AW
Tel: 01236 754571
Fax: 01236 765339
Email: general@mcwhinneyrichards.com
URGENT ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING THE CORONAVIRUS
During the current Coronavirus emergency we have had to make changes to our usual working practices. We cannot currently open our offices to the general public but we can continue to offer wills , powers of attorney and guardianship services without the need for face-to-face appointments . For all other business we are available to take appointments or offer advice by telephone and can be contacted by e-mail. Please in the first instance use our general email at general@mcwhinneyrichards.com . We aim to continue to offer our clients as full a service as possible during this difficult time. Please do not hesitate to contact us in relation to your legal business and we will do our very best to meet your needs.
McWhinney Richards is one of the oldest firms of Solicitors and Notaries in Airdrie. We offer advice regarding a wide variety of issues namely matrimonial, family, collaborative law, mediation, general civil, children's referrals, Adults with incapacity, criminal law including road traffic, wills & estate planning . We also offer a conveyancing service .
We are a medium sized firm. Our Principal Solicitor is Cheryl Brown who has over 25 years experience in family law cases. Mrs Brown is an accredited Family Law Mediator and trained collaborative lawyer. Mrs Brown also undertakes Wills, Executries and Powers of Attorney. McWhinney Richards is happy to arrange home and hospital visits if requested. Our team profiles can be found under the About us section of the website should you like some further information.
We are open from 9 a.m. until 5p.m. Monday - Thursday and from 9 a.m. until 4.30 p.m. on a Friday. Our offices are closed between 12.45 p.m. - 2 p.m. every day for lunch.
If you have any queries or are seeking some advice then please do not hesitate to contact us by telephone, e-mail or the contact us section of the website.
Our updated privacy policy can be found here -
McWhinney Richards Solicitors
Comprehensive Privacy Policy
- Who are we?
McWhinney Richards ("We") are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy.
This policy (together with our terms of use and any other documents referred to on it) sets out the basis on which any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us, whether via OUR website or otherwise, will be processed by us. Please read the following carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your personal data and how we will treat it.
For the purpose of UK and European data protection and e-privacy legislation (Data Protection Legislation) , the data controller is McWhinney Richards Solicitors, 66 Stirling Street, Airdrie, ML6 0AW.
- Information we collect from you
Where you provide us with information about other people, you must make sure that they have seen a copy of this privacy policy and are comfortable with you giving us their information.
We will collect and process the following data about you:
Information you give us.
- This is information about you that you give us by filling in forms on our website www.mcwhinneyrichards.com (our website) or by communicating with us by phone, e-mail or otherwise. It includes information you provide when you make an enquiry, request a quotation, engage us to provide services, during the course of a legal matter, participate in social media functions on our website, and when you report a problem with our website. The information you give us may include your name, position, company, contact details (such as address, e-mail address and phone number), your personal preferences, choices and requirements specific to particular requests or services, financial and credit card information, personal description and photograph.
- Where you are our client, for certain types of legal matters occasionally you may give us certain special categories of personal data. This includes information about your health, your racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, your sex life or sexual orientation, biometric information to uniquely identify you or your genetics (Special Categories of Data). You may give us information about criminal convictions or offences.
Information we collect about you.
With regard to each of your visits to our website we may automatically collect the following information:
- technical information, including the Internet protocol (IP) address used to connect your computer to the Internet, your login information, browser type and version, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform;
- information about your visit, including the full Uniform Resource Locators (URL), clickstream to, through and from our website (including date and time), products you viewed or searched for page response times, download errors, length of visits to certain pages, page interaction information (such as scrolling, clicks, and mouse-overs), methods used to browse away from the page and any phone number used to call our client service number.
Information we receive from other sources.
- This is information we receive about you from other sources. For example, we may obtain your name, address, telephone number or email address from publicly available information such as on the internet.
We are working closely with third parties (including, for example, business partners, accountants, sub-contractors in technical, payment and delivery services, advertising networks, analytics providers, search information providers, credit reference agencies) and may receive personal information about you from them.
Where you are our client, for certain types of legal matters occasionally such third parties, such as Counsel or medical professionals, may disclose Special Categories of Data to us or information about criminal convictions or offences.
Our clients or enquirers may give us personal data (including Special Categories of Data or information regarding criminal convictions or offences relating to you during the course of a matter or in the course of obtaining a fee estimate from us which we process in accordance with the strict obligations of confidentiality to which we are subject under the general law, regulations and professional requirements.
- Cookies
Our website may use cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and also allows us to improve our website.
- Legal grounds for collection and use of your personal information
We will only collect, use and otherwise handle your personal information when:
- We have your consent for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes (see section 5) – please note that there are very limited circumstances where we rely on your consent as we usually have another lawful basis for processing; and/or
- it is necessary for our legitimate interests in connection with operating the website and our business, in particular:
- responding to your queries;
- carrying out marketing activities;
- providing services and/or information to you;
- transmitting personal information between ourselves and our associate solicitors for internal administrative purposes;
- keeping in touch with you and/or your business;
- hosting and maintaining our website;
- providing technical support to you;
- using in the investigation and/or defence of potential complaints,
- disciplinary proceedings and legal proceedings;
- preventing and detecting fraud and other criminal offences;
- ensuring network and information security;
as long as, in each case, these interests are in line with applicable law and your legal rights and freedoms; and/or
- where this is necessary for legal obligations which apply to us (for example, under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 and professional obligations to which we are subject as a member of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and other professional bodies); and/or
- where this is necessary for the performance of a contract we have with you (for example to provide our services to you, invoice you for our services and investigate and address any fee disputes that may arise) or that you have with a third party. This applies where we use Special Categories of Data or information about criminal convictions and offences in connection with a legal matter; and/or
- where this is necessary to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract
- Uses made of the information
We use information held about you in the following ways:
- Information you give to us. We will use this information:
- To fulfil your requests - to carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into between you and us, respond to your queries and to provide you with the information, products and services that you request from us.
- Marketing and updates -
- to provide you with information about other services we offer that are similar to those that you have already purchased or enquired about;
- where you have provided us with your contact details, to provide you with information about goods or services we feel may interest you. This may be by post, telephone or electronic means (e-mail or SMS).
If you are a client, Counsel, supplier or referrer, we will only contact you by electronic means (e-mail or SMS) with information about goods and services similar to those which were the subject of a previous legal matter where you instructed us or an enquiry made to us unless you specifically consent to other marketing emails. If you do not want us to use your data in this way, you can opt out. If you opt out of marketing communications, your visit to and use of the website, the response to your enquiry and your use of our legal services will not be affected.
Marketing Opt-Out – you are entitled to opt-out of marketing communications at any time and free of charge by emailing general@mcwhinneyrichards.com
Changes - to notify you about changes to our service;
Website content presentation - to ensure that content from our website is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your computer.
We may also use any personal information that you provide to us:
- where legally permitted for specific purposes made clear at the point of collection on particular pages of our website or in our dealings with you; and/or
- where we otherwise have legal grounds for collection and use of your personal information as explained in more detail in clause 4 above .
If you choose not to provide personal information requested by us, we may not be able to provide you with the information and/or services you have requested or otherwise fulfil the purpose(s) for which we have asked for the personal information. Aside from this, your visit to the website will remain unaffected.
Information we collect about you. We will use this information:
to administer our website and for internal operations, including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, research, statistical and survey purposes;
to improve our website to ensure that content is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your computer;
to allow you to participate in interactive features of our service, when you choose to do so;
as part of our efforts to keep our website safe and secure;
to measure or understand the effectiveness of advertising we serve to you and others, and to deliver relevant advertising to you;
to make suggestions and recommendations to you and other users of our website about goods or services that may interest you or them.
Information we receive from other sources. We will combine this information with information you give to us and information we collect about you. We will use this information and the combined information for the purposes set out above (depending on the types of information we receive), where those purposes are compatible.
- Disclosure of your information
Some services that we provide require the involvement of third parties. We have carefully selected these third parties and taken steps to ensure that your personal information is adequately protected.
You agree that we have the right to share your personal information with the following third parties:
i). Google Analytics
Our website may use Google Analytics, a web analysis service provided by Google Inc. ( "Google" ). Google Analytics works using cookies.
Google Analytics cookies collect your IP address, however because IP anonymisation is used on this website, your IP address will be shortened (and therefore anonymised) as soon as technically possible and before it is stored or otherwise used in connection with Google Analytics.
The anonymisation process takes place within the European Union or the European Economic Area, except in exceptional cases, where your full IP address may be sent to a Google server in the USA and shortened there.
We use the information collected by Google Analytics cookies to find out about how visitors use our website.
The IP address sent by your browser in connection with Google Analytics will not be combined by Google, with other data.
You can prevent Google Analytics cookies from being stored by setting your browser software accordingly. However, please note that you may not then be able to make full use of all the website's functions.
You can also opt-out of Google Analytics by downloading and installing the browser plug-in available at the following link: http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en.
ii) Sharing with our associate solicitors
The personal information you provide on the website is collected by McWhinney Richards Solicitors. However where you ask or indicate that we should do so (e.g. in an online form) or where we are otherwise legally permitted to do so in accordance with this privacy policy, we may transfer your personal information between and to our associated solicitors.
iii) Sharing with our service providers
We may share your personal information with our third party service providers based in the UK or the European Economic Area (“EEA”) who we engage to process the information that we collect from you on the website or otherwise, and/or to host and maintain our website, content or services, on our behalf and in accordance with this privacy policy.
We will let you know if we need to transfer your personal information to any third party service providers located outside of the EEA.
Where we employ third party companies or individuals to process personal information provided by us (and not collected by them), they only use this personal information on our behalf and in line with our instructions and this privacy policy.
iv) Sharing with other selected third parties
We may share your personal information with selected third parties including:
- business partners and other professionals for the performance of any contract we enter into with you, for example (but not limited to) barristers, medical professionals, other solicitors, care providers and courts;
- business partners with whom we organise a joint event, for joint or our marketing purposes. Where we do this for joint events, we do it for the purpose of removing duplicates from our invitation list and for event communication management. We may do this when we hand over the organisation of a regular event to another organisation and we or the new organiser will contact you at that time to let you know. We will never share your confidential matter or enquiry details with such business partners;
- analytics and search engine providers that assist us in the improvement and optimisation of our website;
- credit reference agencies for the purpose of assessing your credit score where this is a condition of us entering into a contract with you;
- our website offers the possibility to share content on social media channels, e.g., Facebook. The respective social media provider will directly gather personal information only after you click on the corresponding sharing button. Please refer to the privacy policy of the social media providers to learn more about what personal information is collected and used.
We will disclose your personal information to third parties:
- In the event that we sell or buy any business or assets, in which case we will disclose your personal data to the prospective seller or buyer of such business or assets.
- If McWhinney Richards Solicitors or substantially all of its assets are acquired by a third party, in which case personal data held by it about its clients will be one of the transferred assets. If a change happens to our business, then the new owners may use your personal data in the same way as set out in this privacy policy.
- If we are under a duty to disclose or share your personal data in order to comply with any legal obligation, or in order to enforce or apply our terms of use or our terms of business and other agreements; or to protect the rights, property, or safety of McWhinney Richards Solicitors, our clients, or others. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organisations, regulators and law enforcement agencies for the purposes of preventing and detecting fraud, other criminal offence, credit risk reduction and/or to ensure network and information security.
- How long do we store personal information?
It is our policy to retain your personal information for the length of time required for the specific purpose or purposes for which it was collected. Such purposes are set out in this privacy policy.
Where you are a client:
- the period the hardcopy file for your matter (including your personal data) will be retained is set out in our terms of business which you were sent with our letter of engagement – please contact general@mcwhinneyrichards.com for a copy if you have mislaid yours. However, on occasion we may be obliged to store some data for a longer time, for example, where a longer time period is required by applicable laws.
- We will keep your will and any other original documents or deeds until such time as we are informed that you have died or revoke your will (in the case of a will) or you ask for the deeds or documents to be returned to you or destroyed, provided we are not under a legal or professional obligation to retain such a document.
Where we keep personal data for a longer period than is set out in our terms of business, we will ensure that your personal data will continue to be treated in accordance with this privacy policy.
- Where we store your personal data
All information you provide to us is stored in our offices or off-site secure storage or on our secure servers. Any payment transactions will be processed securely by Worldpay. Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password which enables you to access certain parts of our website, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share a password with anyone.
Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to our website; any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorised access.
- Confidentiality
We acknowledge that the information you provide may be confidential. We will maintain the confidentiality of and protect your confidential information in accordance with all applicable laws.
- Your rights
You have the right to ask us not to process your personal data for marketing purposes. We will usually inform you (when we collect your data) if we intend to use your data for such purposes. You can exercise your right to prevent such processing by letting us know when we collect your information. You can also exercise the right at any time by contacting us at general@mcwhinneyrichards.com
Our website may, from time to time, contain links to and from the websites of our partner networks, advertisers and affiliates. If you follow a link to any of these websites, please note that these websites have their own privacy policies and that we do not accept any responsibility or liability for these policies. Please check these policies before you submit any personal data to these websites.
If you wish to:
- Access, confirm, correct, rectify, update, supplement, anonymise, block, restrict or delete your personal information;
- Object to our use of your personal information;
- Withdraw your consent;
- If you have any questions about our processing of your personal information; or
- If you would like to transfer your personal information from us to another person or business,
Where you request access to your personal information, we will fulfil your request by sending your copy electronically, unless the request expressly specifies a different method. For any subsequent access request, we may charge you an administrative fee. In order to comply with your request, we may ask you to verify your identity.
We will provide you with all rights in relation to your personal information to which you are entitled under applicable law. If you are unhappy with the way that we have handled your personal information, you can make a complaint to the authority responsible for data protection in the country that you are based. Contact details are typically available online, or alternatively you may ask us for assistance at general@mcwhinneyrichards.com . In the UK the data protection authority is the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), tel 0303 123 1113, website www.ico.org.uk. We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO so please contact us in the first instance.
- Changes to our privacy policy
Any changes we make to our privacy policy in the future will be posted on our website and, where appropriate, notified to you by e-mail. Please check back frequently to see any updates or changes to our privacy policy.
- Contact
Questions, comments and requests regarding this privacy policy are welcomed and should be addressed to general@mcwhinneyrichards.com
Issue date: 20 May 2018
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