3. Information we collect, how we use it, and how long we keep it for
We will only collect information about you if we have a lawful reason (lawful basis) to do so. Lawful reasons we may use include the following.
- Contract – the processing is necessary for keeping to our contract (if you are our client)
- Legitimate interest – we need the information to make or defend a legal claim on behalf of us or a client, for regulatory or insurance purposes, to record your use of our website and systems for security reasons, or for another valid business purpose.
- Legal obligation – a law, regulation or court order requires us to share or process the information
- Consent – you have given your permission for us to use your personal information in a particular way (for example, marketing or training updates)
We only process special category data (personal information that is sensitive and needs more protection), such as health information, if we have at least one additional lawful reason specific to special category data. The additional lawful reasons we may use include the following.
- Explicit consent – you have given clear, specific permission to use the special category information
- Legal claims – we need the information to make or defend a legal claim on behalf of us or a client
- Vital interests – we need to use the information to protect your life or someone else’s life, and you are physically or legally unable to give us permission to use the data
- Substantial public interest – we need to use or share your information for regulatory reasons, to prevent unlawful acts, fraud or money laundering, or to protect you or others
If we collect your personal information, we will only keep it for as long as is necessary. How long we hold information for varies depending on legal and regulatory requirements and the purpose we collected it for. If you need any further details, please contact us using the details at the end of this notice.
We may collect personal information about you for the following reasons.
3.1 Providing legal services
We use information about you to provide legal services to our client (this, of course, may also be you). You may have given us this information, it may have been provided by someone else as part of their involvement in the matter, or it may come from an external source or database such as
HM Land Registry or Companies House.
The information that we hold and process about you will depend on the type of matter we are dealing with. It might simply be your name, address and email address, or may include other personal information such as your date of birth, sensitive personal information such as medical information (for example, if we are dealing with a personal-injury case) or financial details (for example, if we are dealing with a trust or will).
We may also have to ask for information about your personal and financial circumstances to assess your ability to pay amounts due which we are instructed to collect or unpaid bills owed to us. This may be necessary to meet our responsibilities under court rules, other regulations and legislation and best-practice guidance issued by industry or professional organisations, or to follow our clients’ policies or processes.
3.2 Conflicts of interest
We will use your information to check whether there is a conflict of interest (that is, if acting in our best interests would work against yours, or vice versa). If there is a conflict of interest, we cannot act for you or the other party.
3.3 Anti-money laundering
Regulations on money laundering and sanctions say that we have to collect proof of identity for you and certain other people related to you, and to check whether any sanctions mean we cannot work for you.
We may also have to check where funds you are using come from.
We use Smartsearch to carry out these checks. Smartsearch and their contractor, partner Daon (UK) Ltd, will process your personal information in order to carry out the checks.
Smartsearch’s checks use artificial intelligence (AI) to perform likeness checks (checks to make sure you are real and not AI-generated) and detect potentially fraudulent identities or documents. Smartsearch and Daon (UK) Ltd will not use your information for any purpose other than those checks, and will only keep your information for 30 days.
You can find more about how Smartsearch use your information in the privacy notice on their website at www.smartsearch.com. Or you can contact our Data Protection Officer at dataprotection@clarkewillmott.com
We will only use the proof of identity and other personal information you give us as part of these checks to prevent money laundering, to prevent financing terrorism, and to check your identity and address for VAT purposes, if you have told us that you have your main or only home overseas, unless you later agree to us using it in a different way.
We will normally hold this information for five years after your business relationship with us ends. However, we may hold the information for seven complete financial years after the date of our last invoice to you if you are not charged VAT because you have told us that you have your main or only home overseas.
3.4 Politically exposed persons (PEP) checks
Under regulations on money laundering we have to carry out ‘politically exposed persons checks’ to make sure that people with influence do not use their positions for private gain. The checks, carried out by Smartsearch on our behalf, scan global databases and watch lists for links to money laundering, fraud and terrorism.
We will only use the information we collect for these checks to prevent money laundering or financing terrorism, unless you later agree to us using it in a different way.
We will hold this information for five years after your business relationship with us ends.
3.5 Credit reference agencies
As part of our anti-money laundering checks we have to carry out credit checks through credit reference agencies. You can find more information about credit reference agencies and the information they keep in the Credit Reference Agency Information Notice on the website at www.equifax.co.uk
3.6 Client support
As part of our ongoing support to clients, if we have provided legal services to you we may use your information to update you on changes to the law that relate to the specific matter on which we advised you.
If you do not want to receive this information, please contact info@clarkewillmott.com or write to the Business Development Team at Blackbrook Gate, Blackbrook Park Avenue, Taunton, TA1 2PG.
3.7 Marketing
If you have given us permission or if we have a legitimate interest, we will send you information promoting us and our services. This includes keeping you up to date with news on topics.
We will not share your information for marketing purposes outside Clarke Willmott, unless you give us permission to share it.
You can decide not to receive marketing communications or change how we contact you at any time. If you want to do so, please contact info@clarkewillmott.com or write to our Business Development Team at Blackbrook Gate, Blackbrook Park Avenue, Taunton, TA1 2PG.
If you ask us to not send you marketing emails, we will continue to hold enough information about you to maintain a record of your preference not to receive emails.
We tell other clients and potential clients, in general terms (without revealing personal information), about the services we provide. Sometimes they ask for more details on specific examples. If we would like to give these people information specifically about you or the work we carry out for you, we will ask for your permission.
If you provided information by filling in the general enquiries form on our website, we will use that information to respond to your enquiry and to record and monitor enquiries.
3.8 Client feedback
We may ask you for feedback on our services from time to time. We may use an external service provider to help us deal with feedback. If we do, your contact details will be passed to them for that purpose. If our service provider contacts you for feedback, you will be provided with their privacy notice.
3.9 Automated decision-making and profiling
Automated decision-making is where a decision is made about you by a computer system without any human involvement. Profiling is the automated processing of personal information to assess certain things about you. We do not rely just on automated processing or profiling to make decisions about you.
3.10 Recruitment
We also use the information you give us for related purposes, such as:
- meeting our legal and regulatory obligations;
- keeping records;
- analysing operational and financial systems; and
- training and quality
3.11 Latitude Law
If we received your information when we took the matter over from Latitude Law Ltd, the following apply.
| Information type |
Lawful basis for processing |
| Files where you have given us permission to continue acting for you. |
If you are our client:
- Consent
- Contract
- Legitimate interest (if we have to keep information for regulatory purposes)
- Vital interests
Other parties:
- Legitimate interest
- Legal obligation
- Vital interests
|
| Marketing contacts (non-business contacts) |
Consent |
| Marketing or referral contacts (business clients) |
Legitimate interest |
cos
3.12 How long we keep it for
How long we keep your information for (the retention period) depends on what we collected and used it for and any relevant laws and regulations we need to keep to. Most information is kept in records we store electronically.
The table below sets out the retention periods for the main legal matters and enquiries. There may be exceptions to this if allowed by law. If you have any questions about how long we keep your information for, please contact us.
| Legal matter or enquiry |
Retention period |
| Wills, trusts, probate, estates, power of attorneys |
21 years |
| Matters on behalf of a child |
15 years (or 7 years from the date the child turns 18 if later) |
| Pre- and post-nuptial agreements |
102 years |
| Court of Protection |
102 years or 15 years after the deputyship ends, whichever is earlier |
| Construction work |
15 years |
| New client enquiries – clinical negligence |
2 years |
| New client enquiries – all other matters |
6 months for simple enquiries, 6 years for complex enquiries |
| Archived records for legal matters coming under our control (from Latitude Law Ltd) on 2 November 2026 |
6 years from the date the file was closed or until any date agreed with Latitude Law |
| All other electronic records |
15 years |
| All other paper records |
7 years |
If we hold original documents for you, our retention periods are as follows.
| Type of document |
Retention period |
| Wills |
102 years |
| Probate documents |
30 years |
| Trusts |
125 years after the trust is created |
| Property deeds and insurance indemnities |
20 years
After this period we will ask you if you want to hold the document yourself. If you do not respond, the documents will be destroyed. |
| Leases |
2 years from the date the lease ends (expires)
After this period we will ask you if you want to hold the document yourself. We will not keep hold of expired leases for more than four years. |
| Signed agreements |
As agreed with you |
