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Privacy policy

Privacy policy

S&L Advocates 

Your privacy is important to us. This Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”) explains how we handle and treat your data when you engage with us to use the products or services that S&L Advocates provides (our “Services”). It also includes information about individuals whose personal information we may process in connection with or as a result of providing the Services to third parties.

1. Purpose of this Privacy Policy           
2. Who are we and what do we do           
3. How to contact us     
4. What personal information do we collect
5. Purpose and legal bases for using your personal information   
6. Sharing your personal information    
7. Where we transfer your personal information to         
8. Retention of personal information
9. Confidentiality and security of your personal information
10. How to access your information and your other rights
11. Changes to this Privacy Policy

1. Purpose of this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains our approach to any personal information that we collect from you or which we have obtained about you from a third party and the purposes for which we process your personal information. It also sets out your rights in respect of our processing of your personal information. 

This Privacy Policy will inform you of the nature of your personal information that is processed by us and how you can request that we delete, update, transfer and/or provide you with access to it. 

This Privacy Policy is intended to assist you in making informed decisions when using our Services and/or to understand how your personal information may be processed by us in connection with or as a result of providing the Services. Please take a moment to read and understand it. 

Please also note that this Privacy Policy only applies to the use of your personal information obtained by us.

2. Who are we and what do we do?

S&L Advocates (“S&L”) is a law firm registered in Uganda (registration number 49326, registered on 18 December 1980), which provides services from its place of business at 14 MacKinnon Road, Nakasero, PO Box 2255, Kampala, Uganda. We are a full-service business law firm. 

S&L is a member of DLA Piper Africa, a Swiss Verein whose members are independent law firms in Africa working with DLA Piper. S&L is licensed and regulated by the Law Council of Uganda under the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.

3. How to contact us 

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or want to exercise your rights set out in this Privacy Policy, please contact us at [email protected].

4. What personal information do we collect 

We may collect personal information in the course of our business, when you contact us or request information from us, when you engage our Services or as a result of your relationship with one or more of our staff and clients. When we require personal information from you in order to fulfil a statutory or contractual requirement, or where such information is necessary to enter into a contract or is otherwise an obligation, we will inform you and indicate the consequences of failing to do so.

Client matters 

From individuals who are clients or prospective clients, or are representatives of clients or prospective clients, we may collect the following personal information:

  • Your name, the named S&L client, the name of the entity you work for (if different) and your job title.
  • Contact information for you, the named S&L client, and the entity you work for (if different), including physical address, telephone number and email address.
  • Payment information (including bank account and wire details), billing instructions and preferences (including to whom to direct invoices).
  • Relevant information so that we can perform conflicts of interest checks.
  • Relevant information as required by regulatory authorities under the law including Know Your Client and/or Anti Money Laundering regulations and as part of our client onboarding procedures. This may possibly include evidence of source of funds, at the outset of and possibly from time to time throughout our relationship with clients, which we may request and/or obtain from third party sources. The sources for such verification may include documentation, which we request from the client or prospective client or through the use of online or public sources or both.
  • Information you provide to us for the purposes of attending meetings and events, including dietary requirements, which may reveal information about your health or religious beliefs.
  • Information that you provide to us as part of the provision of Services to you, which depends on the nature of your engagement with S&L.
  • Other information relevant to the provision of Services.

Related parties and client representatives 

S&L is primarily engaged by corporate entities and clients (i.e., legal entities), and those legal entities are not data subjects (i.e., natural persons to whom personal information relates). However, as part of our engagement with these clients, we may receive personal information about individuals. For example, we may receive names, contact details and other information relating to:

  • Officers, representatives and/or personnel of our corporate clients or prospective clients, as well as their affiliated and related entities.
  • Adverse parties in a matter or potential matter, such as claimants, plaintiffs, defendants and other adverse parties.
  • Related parties in a matter or potential matter.
  • Vendors and suppliers of our corporate clients or prospective clients.
  • Current and former legal advisors, consultants and other professional advisors of our corporate clients or prospective clients.
  • Government and/or law enforcement entities and their representatives.

If you are an individual whose personal information is processed by us as a result of providing the Services to others (including individual clients and corporate clients), we will process a variety of personal information depending on the Services provided. For example, if we are representing a client in a cross-border acquisition, we may receive and then process (among other information) details of the key managers of the target company. 

We might also need to process personal information in relation to other third parties instructed either by our own clients or other persons or entities involved in providing the Services to our client (e.g. other law firms, experts etc.). 

These examples are non-exhaustive, which is reflective of the varied nature of the personal information we process as part of a law firm providing legal services.

Mailing lists 

For clients and prospective clients, we also collect information to enable us to market our Services, which may be of interest to you. For this purpose, we collect:

  • Name and contact details.
  • Other business information, such as job title and the company you work for.
  • Areas or topics that interest you.
  • Additional information, such as events you attend and if you provide it to us, dietary preferences which may indicate data about your health or religious beliefs.

5. Purpose and legal bases for our use of your personal information 

Our processing of personal information is justified by a “legal basis”, that is, a specific condition. We may use personal information for the following purposes, in each case as justified by a legal basis:

Fulfilment of services 

We use personal information to enable us to perform the Services, respond to your requests and deliver our Services, to provide legal advice and related Services for which you have engaged us, verify your identity, and carry out requests made by you in relation to our Services.

What is our legal basis? 

This processing is necessary for our compliance with legal obligations (including our professional and ethical duties as lawyers). It is in our legitimate interest or a third party's legitimate interest to use your personal information in such a way to ensure that we provide the very best client service we can to you or others and comply with our professional and ethical duties as lawyers, consistent with applicable law. In some cases, this processing is necessary to perform a contract to which you are a party.

Client services 

We use personal information to provide the Services, to communicate with you about your use of the Services, to respond to your inquiries, to provide troubleshooting, to fulfil your requests, to bill you for our Services, to collect payments, to respond to complaints and inquiries, to provide technical support, and to provide other client services and support.

What is our legal basis? 

This processing is necessary to establish, exercise or defend our legal claims and rights. It is in our legitimate interest or a third party's legitimate interest to use your personal information in such a way to ensure that we provide the very best client service we can to you or others and comply with our professional and ethical duties as lawyers, consistent with applicable law. In some cases, this processing is necessary to perform a contract to which you are a party.

Business administration and legal compliance 

We use personal information for the following business administration and legal compliance purposes:

  • To perform and maintain information for the purposes of performing conflicts of interest searches.

  • To comply with our legal obligations (including Know Your Client, Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-corruption, tax, conflicts or similar obligations including, but without limitation, maintaining necessary insurance).

  • To enforce our legal rights.

  • To investigate and/or settle inquiries or disputes.

  • To comply with any applicable law, court order, other judicial process, law enforcement requests or the requirements of a regulator or a law enforcement agency.

  • To enforce our agreements with you.

  • To protect the rights, property or safety of us or third parties, including our other clients and users of our Services.

  • To maintain our records.

  • To process business transaction data, such as in connection with a merger, or a restructuring, or sale.

  • To use as otherwise required or permitted by law, consistent with these purposes.

What is our legal basis? 

It is necessary to enforce, establish or defend our legal rights, or to protect the rights of third parties. This processing is necessary to comply with data protection and privacy laws applicable to us. It is in our legitimate interest or a third party's legitimate interest to use your personal information to comply with other legal obligations. In some cases, this processing will be necessary to perform a contract to which you are a party.

Marketing and promotions 

We may use personal information for marketing and promotional purposes, such as to send you news and newsletters, or to otherwise contact you about products or information we think may interest you, by email and direct (postal) mail. We may also use it to develop new Services and determine how to market our Services.

What is our legal basis? 

It is in our legitimate interest to use your personal information for marketing purposes in order to develop and grow our business and Services and promote the reputation of our firm. We will, where required by applicable law, obtain your consent to send such communications.

Client development 

We may use personal information in order to respond to Requests for Proposals ("RFPs"), prepare for and present pitches and other proposals, and identify potential business opportunities. Largely, this involves our collection and use of non-personal business information about current, former and prospective corporate clients. However, we may also process limited personal information about individuals (name, current and former company, current and former title, contact information and similar information).

What is our legal basis? 

This processing is also in our legitimate interest to use your personal information in order to develop and grow our business and Services and promote the reputation of our firm. We also may process this information to respond to an RFP or a specific request in anticipation of a contract with you (i.e., engagement for Services).

Client insight and analytics 

We use personal information to better understand how you and others use our Services, so that we can improve our Services, develop new features, tools, offerings, services and the like, and for other research and analytical purposes. We may use this information and the insights we have derived for marketing purposes (see the marketing section above for further details), or to make decisions about events, news and information that may be of interest to clients and prospective clients.

What is our legal basis? 

It is in our legitimate interest to use your personal information in such a way to ensure that we provide the very best Services to our clients and others in order to develop and grow our business and Services and promote the reputation of our firm.

Industry benchmarking and rankings 

We participate in industry surveys and reports (such as Chambers Global and IFLR 1000), which clients use to assess law firms and the legal industry. Largely, this involves our collection and use of non-personal business information about clients and matters. However, we may also review and share limited personal information about individuals (such as referee name, title and contact).

What is our legal basis? 

It is in our legitimate interest to use your personal information in order to develop and grow our business and Services and promote the reputation of our firm. Where required, we will obtain your consent.

Prevent misconduct, abuse and misuse 

Subject to our professional and ethical duties, we use personal information where we believe it necessary to investigate, prevent or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the safety of any person, or violations of our terms of engagement.

What is our legal basis? 

This processing is necessary to comply with data protection and privacy laws applicable to us. It is necessary to enforce, establish or defend our legal rights, or to protect the rights of third parties. It is in our legitimate interest or a third party's legitimate interest to use your personal information to comply with other legal obligations. In some cases, this processing will be necessary to perform a contract to which you are a party.

6. Sharing your personal information 

We may appoint sub-contractor data processors as required to deliver the Services, such as, without limitation, document processing and translation services, confidential waste disposal, IT systems or software providers, IT Support service providers, and document and information storage providers, who will process personal information on our behalf and at our direction. We conduct an appropriate level of due diligence and put in place contractual documentation in relation to any sub-contractor to ensure that they process personal information appropriately and according to our legal and regulatory obligations. 

Further, we may appoint external data controllers where necessary to deliver the Services (for example, but without limitation, accountants, attorneys, consultants and other third party experts including, but without limitation, other DLA Piper practicing entities and/or DLA Piper Africa member firms as well as other law firms). When doing so, we will comply with our legal and regulatory obligations in relation to the personal information including, but without limitation, putting appropriate safeguards in place. 

We may also share personal information with a variety of the following categories of third parties as necessary:

  • Our professional advisers, such as lawyers and accountants.
  • Government and/or regulatory authorities.
  • Professional indemnity insurers.
  • Regulators, tax authorities and/or corporate registries.
  • Third parties to whom we outsource certain services, such as, without limitation, document processing and translation services, confidential waste disposal, IT systems or software providers, IT Support service providers, and document and information storage providers.
  • Third parties engaged in connection with our Services, such as counsel, arbitrators, mediators, clerks, witnesses, court, opposing party and their lawyers, document review platforms, data rooms and experts, such as tax advisors.
  • Third party service providers to assist us with client insight analytics, such as Google Analytics.
  • Third party postal or courier providers who assist us in delivering our postal marketing campaigns to you, or delivering documents related to a matter.

7. Where we transfer your personal information to 

S&L is located in Uganda; when you submit personal information to us, or when others provide personal information to us, we will receive it and process it in Uganda, if you are located within the European Economic Area (“EEA”) this will mean a data transfer to a country outside of the EEA. In order to provide the Services, we also may need to transfer your personal information to locations in other jurisdictions. This may include transfers to external processors, as well as to DLA Piper offices and relationship firms. Where necessary, appropriate safeguards will be established to ensure compliance with all relevant legal and regulatory obligations that are at least equivalent to the protections provided for by the data protection and privacy laws in Uganda. As far as the processing of EEA data is concerned, S&L will comply with applicable EU law. 

For more information on how we protect your information please contact us on [email protected].

8. Retention of personal information 

We will retain your files and documents in compliance with our obligations under applicable legislation for at least six years after your matter has been closed by us, or for longer if we are required to do so according to legal or regulatory obligations. We may then destroy such files without further notice or liability to you. If you request your files and documents, we may charge you for the costs of copying a duplicate. If you require us to maintain your documents in an archive or safe custody, a separate charge will apply.

9. Confidentiality and security of your personal information 

We are committed to keeping personal information secure and we have implemented appropriate information security policies, rules and technical measures to protect the personal information that we have under our control from unauthorized access, improper use or disclosure, unauthorized modification and unlawful destruction or accidental loss. Please note that no transmission over the Internet is completely secure or error-free, and that the information security policies, rules and technical measures utilized and maintained by us may be subject to compromise. 

All of our partners, employees, consultants, workers and data processors (i.e., those who process your personal information on our behalf, for the purposes listed above), who have access to, and are associated with the processing of personal information, are obliged to respect the confidentiality of such personal information.

10. How to access your information and your other rights 

You have the following rights in relation to the personal information we hold about you:

Your right of access 

If you ask us, we will confirm whether we are processing your personal information and, if necessary, provide you with a copy of that personal information (along with certain other details). If you require additional copies, we may need to charge a reasonable fee.

Your right to correction (rectification) 

If the personal information we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete, you are entitled to request to have it corrected. If you are entitled to have information corrected and if we have shared your personal information with others, we will let them know about the rectification where possible. If you ask us, we will also tell you, where possible and lawful to do so, with whom we have shared your personal information so that you can contact them directly.

Your right to erasure 

You can ask us to delete or remove your personal information in some circumstances, such as where we no longer need it or if you withdraw your consent (where applicable). If you are entitled to erasure and if we have shared your personal information with others, we will let them know about the erasure where possible. If you ask us, we will also tell you, where it is possible and lawful for us to do so, with whom we have shared your personal information with so that you can contact them directly.

Your right to restrict (block) processing 

You can ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances, such as where you contest the accuracy of that personal information or you object to us. If you are entitled to restriction and if we have shared your personal information with others, we will let them know about the restriction where it is possible for us to do so. If you ask us, we will also tell you, where it is possible and lawful for us to do so, with whom we have shared your personal information so that you can contact them directly.

Your right to prevent processing of personal data for direct marketing 

You can ask us to stop processing your data for purposes of direct marketing and promptly after receipt of the notice, we shall inform you in writing how we have complied or intend comply with your request.

Your right to data portability 

In relation to persons sending data from the EU, you have the right, in certain circumstances, to receive a copy of your personal information we've obtained from you in a structured, commonly used and machine readable format, and to reuse it elsewhere or to ask us to transfer this to a third party of your choice.

Your rights in relation to automated decision-making and profiling 

You have the right not to be subject to a decision when it's based on automatic processing, including profiling, if it produces a legal effect or similarly significantly affects you, unless such profiling is necessary for entering into, or the performance of, a contract between you and us.

Your right to withdraw consent 

If we rely on your consent (or explicit consent) as our legal basis for processing your personal information, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time.

Your right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority 

If you have a concern about any aspect of our privacy practices, including the way we've handled your personal information, you can report it to the relevant supervisory authority in Uganda. 

Please note that some of these rights may be limited where we have an overriding legitimate interest or legal obligation to continue to process the personal information, or where the personal information may be exempt from disclosure due to applicable law, the applicable rules of professional conduct, advocate-client privilege, legal professional privilege, other applicable privileges or protections, or professional secrecy obligations.

11. Changes to this Privacy Policy 

We may make changes to this Privacy Policy from time to time, to reflect changes in our practices. We may also make changes as required to comply with changes in applicable law or regulatory requirements. Where we materially change this Privacy Policy, we will take steps to notify you (such as by posting a notice on the firm’s website or via email), and where required by applicable law to obtain your consent.