How Avion Law collects, uses, and protects your personal information — in compliance with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act and the firm's separate professional obligations to clients.
Avion Law is subject to two overlapping privacy regimes. The first is the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), the federal statute that governs the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information by private-sector organizations in Canada. The second is the separate and stricter duty of confidentiality that every Ontario lawyer owes to every client — a professional duty that in many cases goes well beyond what PIPEDA requires.
This policy describes our practices for personal information collected through this website and in the ordinary course of a general legal practice. Where information is collected in the context of a retainer, the lawyer's duty of confidentiality and the protections of solicitor-client privilege apply in addition to this policy and, where they conflict, the more protective standard governs.
Avion Law collects personal information in the following circumstances:
When you submit the intake form on the Contact page, we collect your name, email address, telephone number (if provided), the practice area of interest, timing, any opposing party you identify for conflict-check purposes, and the brief description of your matter. Submission of the form is voluntary; you control what you share.
When you visit this website without submitting the form, our hosting provider may automatically log technical information such as your IP address, browser type, and the pages you viewed. This information is used for security monitoring and for basic analytics about how the site is used. It is not linked to your identity unless you subsequently submit the form or correspond with us.
Once you retain Avion Law, we collect the information reasonably necessary to provide the legal services you have engaged us to perform. The specific information collected depends on the nature of the matter — a real estate closing requires different information than an estate administration or a wrongful dismissal claim — and is described in the retainer letter or discussed at intake.
Personal information is collected and used only for purposes a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the circumstances. Specifically:
We do not sell or trade personal information. We do not use personal information collected in the course of a legal engagement for marketing purposes.
Submitting the intake form or otherwise communicating with Avion Law constitutes your consent to the collection, use, and disclosure of the personal information you provide, for the purposes described in this policy. Where we later propose to use personal information for a new purpose not reasonably related to the original purpose, we will obtain your fresh consent before doing so.
You may withdraw your consent at any time, subject to legal and contractual restrictions and on reasonable notice. Withdrawal of consent may prevent us from continuing to provide services to you. Withdrawal does not apply to records we are required by law or by professional obligation to retain.
Avion Law does not disclose personal information to third parties except:
Personal information is protected by safeguards appropriate to its sensitivity. Our safeguards include physical measures (secured premises and locked file storage), organizational measures (limited access on a need-to-know basis, confidentiality obligations binding all personnel), and technical measures (encrypted communications where available, secure hosting, and access controls on electronic files).
No system of safeguards is perfect. In the unlikely event of a privacy breach that creates a real risk of significant harm, Avion Law will notify affected individuals and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada as required by PIPEDA, and will take the steps reasonably necessary to mitigate the harm and prevent recurrence.
Information submitted through the intake form that does not result in a retainer is retained for a reasonable period to address the inquiry and conduct conflict-checks, then disposed of. Information collected in the course of a retainer is retained for the period required by professional record-retention obligations, after which it is securely destroyed.
You have the right, subject to certain exceptions, to:
Exceptions to the right of access include information subject to solicitor-client privilege, information that would reveal personal information about another individual, and information that cannot be disclosed for other reasons permitted by PIPEDA.
Privacy inquiries, access requests, correction requests, and complaints about our privacy practices should be directed in writing to the Privacy Officer:
We will respond to your request within thirty days. If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (priv.gc.ca) or, where applicable, to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario.
We may update this policy from time to time. The most current version will always be posted at this URL, with the effective date noted at the top. Material changes will be communicated to existing clients by email or as part of a regular communication where practicable.