Privacy

1. Introduction

This Privacy Notice contains important information how and why Cornerstone Barristers (Cornerstone Chambers Ltd) (“Chambers”, “Us, “Our” or “We”) processes personal information, your and the lay client’s rights in relation to that personal information and on how to contact us and the relevant supervisory authority in the event of a concern or complaint.

“Processing”, which is referred to throughout this Privacy Notice, includes doing almost anything with personal data, including collecting, storing, sharing, deleting or using it.

This Privacy Notice, which we ask you to read carefully, covers:

  1. information provided to us or otherwise processed by us as Chambers in the context of the provision of legal services by our members to clients, including lay clients
  2. how we process your data when you visit our website at www.cornerstonebarristers.com, including marketing and promotional emails, and how we process personal data other than in the context of facilitating the provision of legal services to you, e.g. job applications.

We have broken this Privacy Notice up into two different sections covering (a) and (b) for ease of reference.

2. About Us

Cornerstone Barristers is a set of individual self-employed barristers who share the expenses, but not the profits of their individual practices.

Cornerstone Chambers Limited manages the administrative, operational and support functions of Chambers and is a company incorporated in England and Wales (company number 12446922) with its registered office at 2-3 Gray’s Inn Square, London WC1R 5JH. Our main telephone number is 020 7242 4986.

When Chambers uses information in the way described in this Privacy Notice, it is acting as the “controller” of information for the purposes of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (“UK GDPR”) and the Data Protection Act 2018. Chambers also handles personal data as “processor” on behalf of individual members who are data controllers, some of whom have their own individual privacy policies in place.

Chambers holds a valid certificate from, and is registered with, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) as data controller, as required by the Data Protection (Charges and Information) Regulations 2018. Our registration number is ZA720869.

We are not required to appoint a Data Protection Officer, but you should contact our Chief Executive, Clare Bello, at cbello@cornerstonebarristers.com if you have any queries about our use of personal information or if you wish to exercise any of your data protection rights.

Each member of Chambers process personal data as part of their individual legal practices and is a controller in their own right. Each individual member of Chambers maintains their own privacy policy, which can be viewed on their website profile.

(a) Legal Services

This part of our Privacy Notice applies to our processing of personal data in the context of Chambers’ members providing legal services to you. It is complemented by the general sections at the end of this Notice, starting with “3. Keeping your and the lay client’s personal data secure: how your data is stored”, meaning those sections apply to this kind of processing.

Types of personal data processed

Depending on the area of law involved, Chambers may collect, store and otherwise process the following types of personal information, about you or the lay client, including:

  • Name
  • Date of birth
  • Personal contact information, including address, telephone number and email address
  • Gender
  • Personal information relevant to instructions to provide legal services, including copies of passport and identity information
  • CCTV footage when you enter our premises
  • Billing information, transaction and payment card information, and/or other financial details
  • Personal information relevant to the specific instructions.
  • Criminal proceedings, outcomes, sentences and security measures.

Third parties, including members of Chambers, experts, witnesses, courts and tribunals, members of the public, government departments, regulators and public records, and/or solicitors representing others involved in a legal matter may also provide this information.

Where we process special category personal data (to which additional protections apply under data protection law) we will also ensure we are permitted to do so under data protection laws, e.g.:

  • we have your explicit consent,
  • the processing is necessary to protect your (or someone else’s) vital interests where you are physically or legally incapable of giving consent, or
  • the processing is necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

How your data is used

Your and/or the lay client’s personal data will be used for different purposes, including:

  • The administration of the provision of legal services and the processing of information relating to the use of these services, including anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism checks and the enforcement of our terms and conditions and the operation of our complaints policy.
  • Enforcing the terms and conditions that apply to the services our members supply.
  • Responding to complaints and raising complaints.
  • In other ways as permitted or required by law.

We also process personal data in the context of receiving applications for vacancies, pupillage, mini-pupillage and other contexts not directly or primarily related to the provision of legal services.

Bases for processing your data

When we use your or the lay client’s personal information we are required to have a legal basis for doing so. There are various different legal bases on which we may rely, depending on what personal information we process and why.

The legal bases we may rely on include:

  • consent: where you have given us clear consent for us to process your personal information for a specific purpose
  • legal obligation: where our use of your personal information is necessary for us to comply with the law (not including contractual obligations), for example anti-money laundering
  • to perform our contractual obligations to you or to enable our members to carry out their obligations to you.
  • legitimate interests: where our use of your personal information is necessary for our legitimate interests. A legitimate interest arises when we have a business or commercial reason to use your personal data, so long as this is not overridden by your or the lay client’s own rights and interests.

There is no hierarchy in the order of this list. Which lawful basis applies depends on individual circumstances. Should you wish to learn more about the basis for the processing of your or the lay client’s personal data for a particular purpose, please contact Chambers.

Information sharing

We will not sell or distribute personal details to any third-party unless required by law or as described in this Notice.

We may share your and/or the lay client’s information:

  • With service providers who assist us to administer our diary management, accountancy and banking services, fees chasing services, fees collection services, IT support services, data storage and back up services and email security services. We have ensured that our third-party processors are subject to security and confidentiality obligations. They may only process your personal information in accordance with our instructions and for those specific purposes:
  • To protect the vital interests of a person
  • To enforce our terms and conditions or in relation to defending or exercising the rights of our staff, members and clients
  • If there is a complaint, with the Bar Standards Board, the Head of Chambers, members of Chambers dealing with the complaint and the Legal Ombudsman
  • If necessary, with our professional advisers, insurers, auditors and lawyers

How long personal data will be retained

Chambers will not keep your personal data for longer than we need it for the purpose for which it is used subject to any applicable legal and/or regulatory requirements. As a general rule, this will be for a period of up to 10 years from the date of our last interaction with you/the lay client for the purpose of dealing with resultant litigation, complaints, management of conflicts of interests and general record-keeping.

(b) Data processed outside of the facilitation of legal services

This part of our Privacy Notice applies to our processing of personal data outside the facilitation of provision of legal services by our members. It is complemented by the general sections at the end of this Notice, starting with “3. Keeping your and the lay client’s personal data secure: how your data is stored”, meaning those sections apply to this kind of processing.

Please not that we have no control over external websites linked from our website. Please refer to their privacy policies and exercise caution.

Also kindly note that we grant permission for downloading and temporary storage of our website pages for viewing only. We prohibit reproduction, permanent storage, or retransmission of the website contents without prior written consent.

Types of personal data processed

When using our website, applying to our various schemes or job vacancies, or when you contact Chambers with a query or to share information, we may collect, store and otherwise process the following types of personal information about you.

TRIGGER/EVENT DATA PROCESSED
You sign up to a Cornerstone Barristers event via our website. This may include your name, email address, job title, the organization you work for, and any information you wish to provide us with via the Questions & Comments section or similar.
You sign up to our newsletter via our website. This may include your name, company name, job title, email address, and your area of specialism.
You contacts us via the website contact form. This may include your name, email address, telephone number, your organisation or company and any other personal data you may choose to share with us as part of your enquiry.
You complete our mini-pupillage application form and (if you so choose) our Equal Opportunities Monitoring Questionnaire.

 

This information is provided by you via email, once you have downloaded relevant application form(s), not via our website itself.

This may include your name, address, email address, telephone numbers. Information you provide in answering the questions on the form, your education and qualifications, your signature
You apply to a job vacancy or other role in Chambers.

 

Personal data as part of an application will normally be provided by you via email.

This may include your name, address, email address and telephone number.  Education and career history and any information you provide in your CV and covering letter.
LinkedIn Any personal data you may share with us as part of a direct message.
Twitter Any personal data you may share with us as part of a direct message.
You contact chambers via email through one of our staff members or clerks to promote or speak about an event. Any personal data you wish to share or share upon request.

Where we process special category personal data (to which additional protections apply under data protection law) we will also ensure we are permitted to do so under data protection laws, e.g.:

  • we have your explicit consent,
  • the processing is necessary to protect your (or someone else’s) vital interests where you are physically or legally incapable of giving consent, or
  • the processing is necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

Purpose, legal basis for processing and storage periods

This table sets out why we process your data, what our legal basis is for doing so, and how long we retain your data for.

TRIGGER/EVENT PURPOSE BASIS STORAGE
You sign up to a Cornerstone Barristers event via our website. To facilitate you being able to join the event and for us to know who (what area of law etc.) is interested in our events. Your consent and our legitimate business interests 3 years
You sign up to our newsletter via our website. To facilitate you receiving our newsletter and for us to know who (what area of law etc.) is interested in our updates. Your consent and our legitimate business interests 3 years
You contact us via the website contact form. To process your enquiry. Your consent and our legitimate business interests 3 years
You complete our mini-pupillage application form and (if you so choose) our Equal Opportunities Monitoring Questionnaire. To assess your application and for us to monitor our Equality and Diversity statistics.

 

Your consent and our legitimate business interests 3 years
You apply to a job vacancy or other role in Chambers. To assess your application and for us to monitor our Equality and Diversity statistics. Your consent and our legitimate business interests 1 year
LinkedIn We only process personal data if you decide to share it with us. There is no specific purpose, as we receive this data passively. Your consent and our legitimate business interests 3 years
Twitter We only process personal data if you decide to share it with us. There is no specific purpose, as we receive this data passively. Your consent and our legitimate business interests 3 years
You contact chambers via email through one of our staff members or clerks to promote or speak about an event. To respond to your enquiry. Your consent and our legitimate business interests 3 years

Cookies and other tracking technologies

We use cookies on our website. Please refer to our designated cookie policy, available on our website, for further information.

3. Keeping your and the lay client’s personal data secure: how your data is stored

We store personal information in hard copy and electronically. We have appropriate security measures in place to prevent personal information from being accidentally lost, or used or accessed in an unauthorised way.

We store your data in electronic form in a secure Chambers IT system, which consists of secure local servers protected by antivirus software, encryption and an enterprise level firewall. Access to the system locally is via a cabled connection and only with network level authentication. Access to the system remotely is via a secure, network authenticated VPN.

Any personal data that Chambers holds in hard copy in a relevant filing system is stored securely in Chambers.

When we do transfer data to third parties as set out in this Notice, they must agree to put in place adequate procedures.

4. Your rights

Under the UK GDPR you have a number of important rights free of charge. Specifically, unless exemptions apply, you have the following rights:

  1. Right of access: You have the right to ask us whether we are using or storing your personal information. You can also ask us for copies of your personal information, verbally or in writing. his right always applies. There are some exemptions, which means you may not always receive all the information we process. Click on this link for further information.
  2. Right to rectification: You have the right to ask us to rectify information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete. This right always applies. Click on this link for further information.
  3. Right to erasure: You have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances. Click on this link for further information.
  4. Right to restriction on processing: You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your information in certain circumstances. Click on this link for further information.
  5. Right to object to processing: You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your information in certain circumstances. Click on this link for further information.
  6. Right to data portability: This only applies to information you have given us. You have the right to ask that we transfer the information you gave us from one organisation to another, or give it to you. The right only applies in certain circumstances. Click on this link for further information

If you would like to exercise any of those rights, please contact us in Chambers, via Clare Bello’s email address, which you can find in the “About us” section at the beginning of this Privacy Notice.

Please note that, under data protection laws, we may be entitled to refuse requests.

If you/the lay client have given consent for the processing of your personal data, you may withdraw that consent at any time by emailing cbello@cornerstonebarristers.com.

5. How to complain

We hope that Chambers can resolve any query or concern you raise about our use of your or the lay client’s personal data.

If you have a concern about the way we have handled your and/or the lay client’s personal data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, either online, or via telephone:  0303 123 1113.

6. Changes to this Privacy Notice

This website privacy policy was published on 15 July 2022.

We may change this website privacy policy from time to time, and will publish an announcement on our website if we do so.