This policy (which does not apply to our employees) was last updated on 12th October 2023.

Orbach and Chambers Limited (˜Chambers we, us, and our) take data protection very seriously and we are committed to protecting your personal information.

Most of the personal information we process is provided to us in the course of our research and other business activities from law firms and individual lawyers.

We may also obtain personal information from third parties (other individuals or organisations) or from publicly available sources.

We do not collect special category (also known as sensitive) personal information through our website.

Although you do not have to provide any of your personal information to us, if we ask you to do so and you refuse, we may be unable to provide you with the information or services you want from us.

We have appointed a Data Protection Officer (DPO) who can be contacted via [email protected]

What is personal information?

Personal information (also called personal data) is anything that enables an individual to be identified or identifiable.

The personal information that we typically collect in the course of our research and other business activities comprises:

  • Names
  • Email and postal addresses
  • Telephone numbers
  • Job titles
  • Qualifications
  • Career and educational history

What is processing?

We collectively refer to collecting, using, protecting, sharing, storing and destroying personal information as processing.

Collecting personal information

We collect personal information:

  • Through our independent research into the world’s leading lawyers, law firms and professional advisers to business clients.
  • By the receipt of business cards or other contact information
  • When asked to provide goods or services
  • By users searching/browsing our website
  • By individuals registering for or attending our events
  • From subscribers to our newsletter
  • Through recording of our independent research interviews and surveys
  • From publicly available sources, e.g. websites, business press

Using personal information

When personal information is provided to us, we may use it for any of the purposes described below, or as stated at the point we collect it from you (or as may obvious to you from the context of collection), including to:

  • Contact lawyers and their firms or organisations, other professional advisers and clients, to follow up on submissions made to us by law firms and to seek information from identified referees
  • Review and organise personal information relating to individual private practice lawyers, in-house counsel, legal professionals and other professional services providers
  • Interview private practice lawyers, in-house counsel, legal professionals and other third-party experts and professional advisers to provide an accurate assessment of the professional legal services market
  • Rank lawyers and their firms or organisations based on several factors and considerations
  • Send research participants a link to our website where the new Chambers Guide is available free of charge
  • Contact law firms and lawyers we have ranked, their business development professionals and others to explore marketing opportunities we think may be of interest to them
  • Contact law firms and lawyers we have researched and interviewed, their business development professionals and others to explore marketing opportunities we think may be of interest to them
  • Conduct our activities as researchers and analysts of Chambers Research, website and other publications
  • Provide users of publications and other customers with the services or information that they have requested from us
  • Promote, manage and administer our Research and other business activities
  • Deal with requests or enquiries we receive from individuals or organisations, firms and companies they work for
  • Provide information about us or our services when requested
  • Perform contracts and keep a record of any communications and agreements with individuals
  • For any other purpose in relation to an individual making contact with us
  • Administer and manage our website

And for any other purposes for which personal information has been provided to us, including any of the purposes given in the Collection of personal information section above.

We do not:

  • Collect personal information for sale to third parties
  • Process personal information using TikTok
  • Process personal information using WhatsApp

Legal grounds for processing personal information

We rely on one or more of the following processing conditions:

  • Perform our contractual obligations; and/or
  • Satisfy any legal and regulatory obligations to which we are subject; and/or
  • Satisfy our legitimate interests in the effective delivery of information and services and in the effective and lawful operation of our businesses; and/or
  • When we have consent to process personal information 

Security of personal information

We have implemented generally accepted standards of technology and operational security to protect personally identifiable information from loss, misuse, alteration or destruction.

Only authorised persons are provided access to personally identifiable information we have collected, and such individuals have agreed to maintain the confidentiality of this information. 

Although we use appropriate security measures once we have received your personal data, the transmission of data over the internet (including by e-mail) is never completely secure.

We endeavour to protect personal data, but we cannot guarantee the security of data transmitted to or by us.

Sharing personal information

We may share or disclose personal information we collect to third parties (other organisations or individuals) for:

  • The purpose(s) for which the personal information has been submitted to us
  • The purposes listed above under Using personal information

We also may share or disclose personal data to third parties who process personal information on our behalf and in accordance with our instructions ("data processors"). These include:

  • Technical support providers
  • Professional support providers

We have contracts in place with our data processors. This means that they cannot do anything with personal information unless we have instructed them to do it. They will not share personal information with any organisation apart from us. They will hold it securely and retain it for the period we instruct. 

These third-party providers may use their own third-party subcontractors that have access to personal data (sub-processors).  It is our policy to use only third-party providers that are bound to maintain appropriate levels of security and confidentiality, to process personal information only as instructed by us, and to flow those same obligations down to their sub-processors. 

We may also disclose personal information to third parties under the following circumstances:

  • When explicitly requested by you
  • When required to deliver goods or services requested by you
  • When required to facilitate our events which are hosted by a third party
  • If we are subject to a corporate sale, merger or acquisition, although we will ensure personal information is only ever used for the same purpose(s) for which it was originally collected by any acquirer

We may also disclose your personal information to law enforcement and other third parties, as required by and/or in accordance with applicable law or regulation.

International transfers of personal information

Your personal information will not be transferred by us outside the UK or the European Economic Area unless in connection with ECAL.

Where your personal information is transferred outside the UK. Any such transfer will be only:

  • To a recipient located in a country which provides an adequate level of protection for your personal information, (a level of protection comparable to UK levels of data protection); or
  • To a recipient under a contractual agreement which satisfies UK legal requirements for the transfer of personal information, to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your personal information in accordance with UK levels of data protection; or
  • When your personal information has first been anonymised; or
  • With your consent

No personal information is transferred to China.

Retention of personal information

We will retain personal information only for as long as we need it, given the purposes for which it was collected, or as required to do so by law.

Marketing

will only provide such marketing materials if we have been provided with consent for us to do so. 

Anyone can object to receive direct marketing from us at any time, by contacting us. Any emails or other electronic communications that we send for direct marketing purposes will also have an 'unsubscribe' facility. However, we may retain information sufficient to identify individuals so that we can honour their request. 

Rights in relation to your information

You have certain rights in relation to the personal information we hold about you. In particular, you have the right to:

  • Ask for a copy of personal information we hold about you: You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information. There are some exemptions, which means you may not always receive all the information we process
  • Ask that we update the personal information we hold about you or correct such personal information that you think is incorrect or incomplete
  • Ask that we erase (delete) personal information that we hold about you: Please note that this is not an absolute right and only applies in certain circumstances. This means that we must delete your personal information only in the following circumstances;
    • We no longer need your data for the original reason we collected or used it for; or
    • You initially consented to us using your data, but have now withdrawn your consent; or
    • We are relying on legitimate interests as our basis for processing and we have no overriding legitimate interest to continue this processing;
    • You object to the use of your data for direct marketing purposes; or
    • We have collected or used your data unlawfully; or
    • We have a legal obligation to erase your data
  • Ask that we restrict the way in which we use your personal information
  • Object to our processing of your personal information
  • Withdraw your consent to our processing of your personal information (to the extent such processing is based on consent and consent is the only permissible basis for processing)

If you would like to exercise these rights or understand if these rights apply to you, please contact us.

Automated decision making

We will not use your personal information for automated decision making or profiling.

Children

We understand the importance of protecting children's privacy and we never knowingly collect personal information about individuals under the age of 13. We adhere to laws regarding marketing to children.

Our website

Our website may link to third-party sites not controlled by us and which do not operate under our privacy practices. When you link to third-party sites, our privacy practices no longer apply. We encourage you to review each third-party site's privacy policy before disclosing any personally identifiable information.

Cookies

For information about the cookies we use please see the following:

Chambers cookie policy
Chambers Diversity cookie policy
Chambers GPG cookie policy
Chambers Student cookie policy
Chambers Associate cookie policy
Chambers BI cookie policy

Contact us

If you have any questions or complaints about the way your personal information is processed by us, or would like to exercise one of your rights set out above, please contact us by one of the following means:

  • Postal: Chambers and Partners, 165 Fleet Street, London, EC4A 2AE
  • Email: [email protected]

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection regulator, which in the UK is the Information Commissioner Office (ICO). The ICO can be contacted by the following means:

  • Form: www.ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/email/
  • Phone: 0303 123 1113. If you're calling from outside the UK, please call +44 1625 545 700.
  • Post: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF

We may update this Privacy notice at any time by publishing an updated version here. So that you know when we make changes to this, we will amend the revision date at the top of this page. The new modified or amended privacy policy (notice) will apply from that revision date. Therefore, we encourage you to review this periodically.