Privacy Policy

Privacy Notice

Forum Chambers is a barristers’ chambers in which all the members are self-employed barristers. This notice is provided on behalf of the members of Forum Chambers and Procuratio Services Limited, a service company set up to provide administrative support to members of Forum Chambers. References in this notice to “Forum Chambers”, “we” and “our” refer to the members of Forum Chambers and/or Procuratio Services Limited as appropriate.

Forum Chambers is committed to complying with all applicable data privacy and security law, including but not limited to the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

This notice explains how Forum Chambers processes personal data. In some situations, the individual Barrister will be the data controller, while in others it will be Procuratio Services Limited. This notice applies to both situations.

What personal data we process

Forum Chambers collects and processes a range of personal data, including:

1. Contact details– We may collect information about data subjects such as name and contact details, email, phone number, etc. in order to communicate and facilitate the provision of our services with our clients or potential clients. This may include contact details of individuals who work for or on behalf of the clients.
2. Services details– Personal data may be provided to us by clients to the extent required to perform our services. Forum Chambers may also acquire personal data from a third party at the direction of our client as required to perform some of our services.
3. Marketing information– Forum Chambers may collect information to respond to inquiries regarding our products and services or to provide you with information, reports, or updates.
4. Website visitor information– when you visit our website, we may collect information about your visit such as your IP address and the pages you visited and when you use our services we may collect information on how you use those services. Please see our Website Use and Cookies Policy for additional information.

Clients and other third parties who provide personal information to Forum Chambers must do so in compliance with applicable data privacy law.

The Forum Chambers’ website uses cookies, which are files containing identifiers that are sent by a web server to a web browser and are stored by the browser. An identifier is sent back to a server each time a browser requests a page from the server.

Cookies may be either ‘persistent’ or ‘session’ cookies. The former will be stored by a web browser and will remain valid until a set expiry date, unless deleted by the user before that date, and the latter will expire at the end of the user session when the browser is closed. Our website uses only session cookies.

Cookies can be disabled by changing the settings on your browser.

We may use Google Analytics to provide us with information about the use of Chambers’ website, including recognising a computer when a user visits the website, tracking users as they navigate the website, and analysingthe use of the website.

Why we process personal data

We collect personal data to offer and administer our services.

The data you provide to us will be processed in accordance with the purposes specified in this notice, namely:

1. To perform the services requested by clients pursuant to our instructions (where the processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests in conducting and managing the business of Forum Chambers).
2. To perform the services requested by clients using our website or web applications where the processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests in conducting, managing and developing the business of Forum Chambers.
3. For complying with legal and regulatory obligations.
4. For legitimate business purposes to advise you through e-mail, phone call, or post, in the framework of our ordinary commercial relationship, about other services or events that we think will be of interest to you where the processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests.
5. For operating and improving Forum Chambers’ website.
6. For security purposes. For example, we may use your data to protect Forum Chambers against security breaches and to prevent fraud.
7. For marketing purposes. Your details are stored in Forum Chambers’ client and contacts database. You will receive communications including updates, newsletters and event invitations, which we think are relevant to your interests.

Whenever we process your personal data for the legitimate interests of Forum Chambers, we make sure to consider and balance any potential impact on you and your rights under data protection law. Our legitimate business interests do not automatically override your interests – we will not use your personal data for activities where our interests are overridden by the impact on you unless we have your consent or are otherwise required or permitted to by law. You have the right to object to this processing if you wish (see below).

The legal bases for processing personal data

We may lawfully process your personal data:

1. For purposes to which you have expressly consented;
2. Where is it necessary to provide legal services that you have requested or to perform a contract with you or to otherwise perform a contract with you or take steps prior to entering into such a contract;
3. Where it is necessary in the public interest;
4. Where it is in order to comply with our legal obligations;
5. To protect your vital interests or those of another person; or
6. For the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

We may also lawfully process your information for the purposes of a legitimate interest of the person controlling your personal data, or another person, except where such interests are overridden by your fundamental rights and freedoms which require the protection of your personal information.

How we process personal data

Personal data is processed both manually and electronically in accordance with the above-mentioned purposes and in compliance with current regulations. We permit only authorised barristers, Procuratio Services Limited, its employees and third-party processors to have access to your information. These processors are appropriately designated and trained to process data only according to the instructions you and we have provided to them.

Storage and security of personal data

Forum Chambers and its members will retain personal data for a reasonable period, taking into account legitimate business needs to capture and retain such information.

We take reasonable steps to ensure that your personal data is secure and is not lost, misused, altered or disclosed otherwise in accordance with this notice.

Disclosure/Sharing of personal data

Forum Chambers will only share your personal data with your consent or in accordance with this policy. We will not otherwise share, sell or distribute any of the information you provide to us except as described in this notice.

If you are jointly instructing us with other clients, you are consenting to sharing your personal data where we judge it is in your mutual interests to do so.

Your personal data will be shared internally between the barrister(s) you instruct and Procuratio Services Limited. Unless there is a conflict of interest or you have expressly requested that a barrister does not discuss a case or work on a case together with another barrister from Forum Chambers, we may share your personal data among barristers at Forum Chambers for the purposes set out in this notice.

Forum Chambers may share your information with external third parties, such as experts, consultants and other service providers who are performing certain services on your behalf or on behalf of Forum Chambers. Such third parties have access to personal data solely for the purposes of performing the services specified in the applicable instructions service contract, and not for any other purpose. Forum Chambers requires these third parties to undertake security measures consistent with the protections specified in this notice.

Forum Chambers may be required to disclose personal data in response to lawful requests by public authorities, including meeting national security, money laundering, or law enforcement requirements.

Your rights

As a Data Subject you have the following rights concerning your data processed by Forum Chambers:

1. You have the right to access personal information that Forum Chambers holds about you.
You have the right to ask us to rectify information that Forum Chambers holds about you if it is inaccurate or not complete.
2. You can request that Forum Chambers erases your personal data. We will keep basic data to identify you and retain it solely for preventing further unwanted processing and where required to comply with our legal obligations, including defending any claims relating to the services Forum Chambers has provided to you.
3. You have the right to ask Forum Chambers to restrict how we process your data. This means we are permitted to store the data but not further process it. We keep just enough data to make sure we respect your request in the future and where required to comply with our legal obligations, including defending any claims relating to the services Forum Chambers has provided to you.
4. Where processing is based on legitimate interests, you have the right to object to Forum Chambers processing your data. Forum Chambers will discontinue processing your data unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing. We will keep basic data toidentify you and retain it solely for preventing further unwanted processing.

Please contact clerks@forumchambers.com to request access, rectification, or erasure, or to restrict processing, to object to processing, to request data portability. For the avoidance of doubt, your rights can be exercised in respect of any processing in which a member of Forum Chambers and/or Procuration Services Limited act as data controller. If you are seeking to exercise any of these rights, please make it clear whether you are doing so against a member or Forum Chambers, Procuratio Services Limited, or both.

These rights are set out in detail in the GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018. It is important to note that we may not be able to give you access to your personal data if an exemption applies, such as where data is protected by legal professional privilege.

You have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner about the processing of your data by Forum Chambers, who can be contacted via the website www.ico.org.uk and/or on 0303 123 1113.

Providing information to Forum Chambers

If you choose not to provide certain personal information, it may be an impediment to the exchange of information necessary for the execution of your instructions or provision of services to you and we may not be able to provide you with some services and you may not be able to participate in some of the activities on our website(s).

Who you should contact

Any queries or concerns about how your data is processed by Forum Chambers (including any requests to exercise the rights set out above) should be made to clerks@forumchambers.com or David McIlroy, Head of Chambers, at dmcilroy@forumchambers.com. Alternatively, you can write to us at Forum Chambers, 1 Quality Court, Chancery Lane, London, WC2A 1HR

Date of last review: 14 August 2018 by David McIlroy

List of current members of Forum Chambers

David McIlroy

Paul O’Doherty

Philip Currie

Lloyd Maynard

Ruhi Sethi-Smith

Clyde Darrell

Jonathan Lester

Iain Shipley

Michael Phillis