BARNES & PARTNERS SOLICITORS

PRIVACY NOTICE

Last updated: June 2026

1. Introduction

Barnes & Partners Solicitors is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information lawfully, fairly and transparently.

This privacy notice explains:

• what personal information we collect;

• how and why we use it;

• the lawful bases on which we rely;

• who we may share it with;

• how long we retain it; and

• your rights in relation to your personal information.

This notice applies to clients, prospective clients, former clients, people involved in matters on which we act, visitors to our offices and website, suppliers, professional contacts, job applicants and other people who communicate with us.

2. Who we are

Barnes & Partners Solicitors is a partnership and a firm of solicitors practising in England and Wales.

Our principal office is:

90 Silver Street

Enfield

London

EN1 3EP

You can contact us:

Telephone: 0208 370 2800

Email: info@barnesandpartners.co.uk

For data protection enquiries, please contact the Practice Manager using the details above.

Barnes & Partners Solicitors is the controller of the personal information described in this notice unless we tell you otherwise.

3. Personal information we may collect

The personal information we collect will depend upon our relationship with you and the nature of the legal services or other dealings involved.

It may include:

• your name, address, date of birth and contact details;

• identification documents, photographs and identity verification information;

• financial information, bank details and information about the source of funds or wealth;

• information about your family, employment, business, property or financial affairs;

• correspondence, emails, telephone messages and attendance notes;

• recordings of incoming and outgoing telephone calls;

• information contained in legal documents, court papers, evidence and transaction documents;

• information about other people connected with your matter;

• information obtained from courts, public bodies, professional advisers, counterparties, witnesses and other third parties;

• information relating to complaints, claims, regulatory enquiries or legal proceedings;

• website usage information, IP addresses and cookie information;

• recruitment information, including applications, employment history and references; and

• any other information relevant to the services we provide or our relationship with you.

4. Special category and criminal offence information

Legal matters frequently involve information which is particularly sensitive. This may include information about:

• health and medical conditions;

• racial or ethnic origin;

• religious or philosophical beliefs;

• political opinions;

• trade union membership;

• genetic or biometric information;

• sex life or sexual orientation; and

• criminal allegations, convictions or offences.

We process this information only where it is necessary and lawful to do so. This may include processing which is necessary for:

• the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims;

• the provision of legal advice;

• compliance with legal and regulatory duties;

• safeguarding;

• the prevention or detection of crime; or

• circumstances where you have given explicit consent.

5. How we obtain personal information

We may obtain personal information:

• directly from you;

• from a person acting on your behalf;

• from another client or party involved in a matter;

• from solicitors, barristers, experts and other professional advisers;

• from courts, tribunals, government departments, regulators and public bodies;

• from banks, lenders, insurers, estate agents and property professionals;

• from identity verification, anti-money laundering and fraud prevention providers;

• from public registers, databases and publicly available sources;

• from your employer, former employer or referee;

• from our website, telephone system and information technology systems; and

• from other organisations where this is lawful and relevant to our work.

Where we obtain personal information from another source, we may not always be able to notify you directly. This may be because:

• you already have the relevant information;

• notification would involve disproportionate effort;

• the information must remain confidential; or

• another legal exemption applies.

6. Why we use personal information

We may use personal information to:

• respond to enquiries and determine whether we can act;

• carry out conflict checks;

• verify identity and undertake anti-money laundering, sanctions and fraud prevention checks;

• provide legal advice and legal services;

• communicate with clients and others involved in legal matters;

• carry out transactions and conduct litigation or other proceedings;

• manage client accounts, billing, payments and debt recovery;

• comply with court orders, legal duties and regulatory requirements;

• maintain complete and accurate records of instructions, advice and communications;

• investigate and respond to complaints, claims and disputes;

• prevent and detect crime, fraud, misuse of our services and security incidents;

• protect our clients, staff, partners, business and systems;

• maintain professional indemnity insurance and deal with insurers;

• monitor and improve the quality of our services;

• manage our offices, suppliers, systems and business operations;

• recruit and manage staff;

• provide limited information about our services to former clients where permitted;

• operate, secure and improve our website; and

• establish, exercise or defend legal rights and claims.

We will not use personal information for a materially different purpose without first considering whether that use is lawful and whether further privacy information should be provided.

7. Our lawful bases

The lawful basis we rely upon will depend upon the purpose for which the information is being used. We may rely upon one or more of the following lawful bases.

Contract

Processing may be necessary to:

• take steps at your request before entering into a contract;

• provide legal services under our retainer with you; or

• administer and enforce our contractual arrangements.

Legal obligation

Processing may be necessary to comply with legal, professional or regulatory obligations, including requirements relating to:

• anti-money laundering;

• sanctions;

• taxation;

• accounting;

• legal aid;

• court proceedings;

• professional conduct;

• complaints handling;

• fraud prevention; and

• the prevention and detection of crime.

Legitimate interests

We may process information where necessary for our legitimate interests or those of another person, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and interests.

Our legitimate interests include:

• providing and administering legal services;

• maintaining accurate records of instructions, advice and communications;

• protecting clients and the firm;

• managing and improving our services;

• investigating complaints and disputes;

• preventing fraud and misuse;

• securing our premises, systems and information;

• recovering fees and enforcing agreements;

• providing limited information about our services to former clients; and

• establishing, exercising or defending legal claims.

Consent

We may rely upon consent where it is appropriate to do so. Where processing is based upon consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal will not affect processing already carried out lawfully before consent was withdrawn.

Vital interests

In limited circumstances, we may process information where necessary to protect someone’s life or physical safety.

Recognised legitimate interests

Where permitted by data protection legislation, we may rely upon a recognised legitimate interest, including the prevention, detection or investigation of crime, safeguarding vulnerable individuals or responding to emergencies.

8. Telephone call recording

We record incoming and outgoing telephone calls.

We may record calls for the following purposes:

• maintaining an accurate record of conversations, instructions and advice;

• protecting clients, callers and members of staff;

• resolving misunderstandings, complaints and disputes;

• monitoring service quality and staff training;

• preventing and detecting abusive, threatening, fraudulent or unlawful conduct;

• complying with legal, professional and regulatory obligations; and

• establishing, exercising or defending legal claims.

The usual lawful basis for recording calls is our legitimate interest in maintaining reliable records, protecting our clients and staff, managing complaints and delivering legal services.

Recording may also be necessary for:

• the performance of our contract with a client;

• compliance with a legal obligation; or

• the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

Call recordings may contain special category information or information relating to criminal allegations or offences. Where they do, that information will be processed only where an additional lawful condition applies.

Call recordings are accessible only to authorised personnel and relevant service providers. They may be disclosed where appropriate to:

• a person exercising a legal right of access;

• our insurers and professional advisers;

• the Solicitors Regulation Authority, Legal Ombudsman, Legal Aid Agency or another regulator;

• courts, tribunals, law enforcement bodies or public authorities; or

• another person where disclosure is necessary for legal proceedings or the protection of legal rights.

Any disclosure will be subject to:

• legal professional privilege;

• confidentiality;

• third-party privacy rights; and

• any applicable statutory exemptions.

Call recordings are retained for a minimum period of three months.

A recording may be retained for longer where it is relevant to:

• a client matter;

• a complaint or dispute;

• a claim;

• a safeguarding issue;

• a regulatory investigation;

• legal proceedings; or

• the establishment, exercise or defence of legal rights.

9. Anti-money laundering and identity verification

We are required to carry out identity, anti-money laundering, sanctions and, where appropriate, source-of-funds and source-of-wealth checks.

We may use specialist electronic verification providers and may check information against:

• public registers;

• credit reference information;

• sanctions lists;

• politically exposed person databases; and

• fraud prevention databases.

These checks do not ordinarily involve a credit application and should not affect your credit rating.

We may be unable to act or continue acting where:

• required information is not provided;

• we cannot satisfactorily verify identity;

• we cannot understand the source of funds or wealth; or

• continuing to act would breach a legal or regulatory obligation.

The law may prevent us from telling you about certain reports or enquiries relating to money laundering or other criminal activity.

10. Who we may share personal information with

Where it is necessary and lawful, we may share personal information with:

• solicitors, barristers, mediators, experts and other professional advisers;

• courts, tribunals and other dispute resolution bodies;

• parties to legal proceedings and their representatives;

• government departments, local authorities and public bodies;

• the Legal Aid Agency;

• the Solicitors Regulation Authority;

• the Legal Ombudsman;

• the Law Society;

• HM Revenue & Customs;

• HM Land Registry;

• Companies House;

• law enforcement and crime prevention bodies;

• banks, building societies, lenders and payment providers;

• estate agents, managing agents, landlords and property professionals;

• insurers, insurance brokers and claims handlers;

• auditors, accountants and tax advisers;

• identity verification, anti-money laundering and sanctions-screening providers;

• medical professionals, care organisations and safeguarding bodies;

• document storage, archiving, shredding and postal service providers;

• information technology, case management, telephone, cloud and cybersecurity providers;

• debt recovery agents and enforcement providers;

• recruitment agencies and referees; and

• other persons where you authorise us to make the disclosure or where disclosure is necessary for the conduct of your matter.

We do not sell personal information.

We do not require consent for every disclosure. Information may be shared where necessary to:

• provide legal services;

• comply with the law;

• fulfil our professional obligations;

• protect legitimate interests; or

• establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

Where another organisation processes personal information on our behalf, we require it to provide appropriate confidentiality, security and data protection safeguards.

11. Legal professional privilege and confidentiality

As solicitors, we owe duties of confidentiality to our clients.

Some information we hold may also be protected by legal professional privilege. This may restrict what information can be disclosed to a person making a data protection request, particularly where the information relates to:

• another client;

• legal advice;

• confidential legal proceedings; or

• communications protected by privilege.

We will consider confidentiality, privilege, third-party rights and relevant statutory exemptions before disclosing personal information.

12. International transfers

Some of our service providers may store or process information outside the United Kingdom.

Where personal information is transferred internationally, we will ensure that an appropriate legal mechanism and safeguards are in place. These may include:

• transfer to a country covered by UK adequacy regulations;

• the use of approved contractual safeguards;

• the UK International Data Transfer Agreement;

• the UK Addendum to approved standard contractual clauses; or

• another lawful exception permitted by data protection legislation.

You may contact us for further information about the safeguards applying to a particular transfer.

13. How long we retain personal information

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected and to comply with legal, professional, insurance and regulatory requirements.

The applicable period will depend upon:

• the nature of the legal matter;

• relevant limitation periods;

• professional indemnity insurance requirements;

• statutory and regulatory retention duties;

• whether children or protected parties are involved;

• whether money laundering records are concerned;

• whether the information relates to a complaint, claim or investigation; and

• whether there is an ongoing legal or business need to retain it.

Client files will usually be retained for the period stated in our client care documentation or file closure correspondence.

Some files may need to be retained for longer, including matters involving:

• children;

• trusts;

• wills;

• probate;

• property ownership;

• incapacity; or

• continuing obligations.

Information relating to complaints, claims or regulatory matters may be retained until the issue has concluded and any applicable limitation or review period has expired.

Call recordings are retained in accordance with section 8 of this notice.

We maintain internal retention arrangements for different categories of information and securely delete or destroy information when it is no longer required.

14. Information security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against:

• unauthorised or unlawful access;

• accidental loss;

• alteration;

• inappropriate disclosure;

• misuse; and

• destruction.

These measures include:

• access controls;

• staff training;

• secure systems;

• password protection;

• encryption where appropriate;

• backups;

• supplier due diligence; and

• incident management procedures.

No system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Where a personal data breach occurs, we will investigate it and notify affected individuals and the Information Commissioner’s Office where the law requires us to do so.

15. Your data protection rights

Depending upon the circumstances and the lawful basis being used, you may have the right to:

• be informed about how your personal information is used;

• request access to personal information held about you;

• request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information;

• request erasure of personal information;

• request restriction of processing;

• object to processing based upon legitimate interests;

• object to direct marketing;

• request transfer of information in a portable format;

• withdraw consent where processing is based upon consent; and

• challenge certain decisions made solely by automated means.

These rights are not absolute. They may be restricted where, for example:

• information is protected by legal professional privilege;

• disclosure would breach another person’s confidentiality or rights;

• retention is necessary to comply with a legal obligation;

• information is required for legal proceedings or claims;

• an applicable data protection exemption applies; or

• the request is manifestly unfounded or excessive.

We may ask you to provide information to verify your identity and clarify the scope of your request.

We will usually respond to a valid request within one month. That period may be extended where a request is particularly complex or numerous, in which case we will tell you.

16. Your right to object

You have the right to object to processing based upon legitimate interests.

Where you object, we will stop the relevant processing unless:

• we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds which override your interests, rights and freedoms; or

• the processing is required for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

You have an absolute right to object to the use of your personal information for direct marketing.

17. Automated decision-making

We do not ordinarily make decisions which have legal or similarly significant effects upon individuals solely by automated means.

We may use electronic systems to assist with:

• identity verification;

• sanctions screening;

• fraud prevention;

• risk assessment; and

• administrative processes.

Where a significant decision is made solely by automated means, we will provide the information and safeguards required by law.

18. Website and cookies

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to:

• enable the website to function;

• maintain security;

• remember preferences;

• understand how visitors use the website; and

• improve website performance.

Non-essential cookies will be used only where permitted and, where required, after consent has been obtained through our cookie controls.

You can amend your cookie preferences through the website’s cookie settings. You can also control cookies through your browser, although disabling necessary cookies may affect how the website functions.

Further information is available in our separate Cookie Notice.

19. Marketing to former clients

We may contact former clients on a limited basis with information about legal developments or services which we reasonably believe may be relevant to them.

We will carry out such marketing only where permitted by law and where:

• there is an appropriate lawful basis;

• the communication relates to services which may reasonably be relevant to the former client; and

• the individual’s rights and interests do not override our legitimate interests.

We do not ordinarily send marketing communications to people who have not previously been clients of the firm.

You may ask us to stop sending marketing communications at any time by:

• using the unsubscribe facility in the communication; or

• contacting us at info@barnesandpartners.co.uk.

An objection to marketing will not prevent us from contacting you about:

• an existing or former legal matter;

• payment or accounting issues;

• a complaint;

• a regulatory matter;

• legal obligations; or

• another non-marketing matter.

20. Providing information to us

Certain information may be required:

• to enter into or perform a contract with you;

• to verify your identity;

• to comply with anti-money laundering or sanctions obligations;

• to satisfy court, legal or regulatory requirements; or

• to enable us to provide legal services.

Where required information is not provided, we may be unable to:

• accept instructions;

• continue acting; or

• provide the requested service.

21. Complaints about the use of personal information

Please contact us first if you have concerns about how we have handled your personal information. We will investigate the matter and respond to you.

You can contact:

The Practice Manager

Barnes & Partners Solicitors

90 Silver Street

Enfield

London

EN1 3EP

Email: info@barnesandpartners.co.uk

Telephone: 0208 370 2800

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

Further information is available on the Information Commissioner’s Office website.

22. Changes to this notice

We may update this privacy notice to reflect changes in:

• the law;

• regulatory requirements;

• our services; or

• the way we process personal information.

The current version will be published on our website.

Where a change is significant, we may also notify affected individuals by another appropriate method.

If you are not happy with this notice or believe we have processed your data in an unfair or unjust

way or are non-compliant with the relevant data protection laws and you wish to raise a complaint,

please contact us and we will carefully consider your complaint and respond to you. You also have

the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority (the Information Commissioners

Office).

ICO

Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, Tel: 0303 123 1113