Privacy Policy

This is the Privacy Policy of SZA Services Pty Ltd (ABN 18 677 750 828, ACN 677 750 828) trading as Ashford Legal ("we", "us", "our").

We are dedicated to safeguarding the privacy of our contacts, customers, suppliers and employees and to complying with the Australian Privacy Principles under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

In this policy, we describe how we manage your personal information.

1. Type of personal information we collect

This may include:

• i)contact information such as your name, job title or position, postal address, email address, mobile number, landline number, and fax number;
• ii)details about your personal or business circumstances that are relevant to the matters for which we act;
• iii)information concerning your legal interests, needs, and any legal services you may seek to obtain;
• iv)records of our communications with you, as well as your participation in seminars and promotional events we conduct;
• v)if you are a current or prospective supplier, information about your business capabilities, services, products, and pricing.

2. How we collect personal information

This may include:

• i)you contact us with a question or request for information;
• ii)you attend a seminar or event that we host or at which we present;
• iii)you engage us to act on your behalf, at which time we open a file and carry out a conflict check;
• iv)our clients provide us with information about related or opposing parties in connection with the advice or services we are delivering;
• v)we conduct searches or investigations; or
• vi)you access or use our website.
• vii)Wherever possible, we collect your personal information directly from you. In some cases, however, we may obtain information about you from third parties, such as our clients, external information providers, the courts, or individuals who respond to our requests or enquiries.
• viii)Under the Solicitors Rules made pursuant to the Legal Profession Act 2004 (NSW), we are required to collect our clients' full names and addresses. Accurate name and address details are also necessary to meet trust account record-keeping obligations under the Legal Profession Regulation 2005 (NSW) and to fulfil our duties to the courts.
• ix)If accurate personal information is not provided, we may be unable to carry out your instructions or fulfil the intended purpose.

3. The reasons for which we collect, store, use, and disclose personal information

This may include:

• i)to respond to your questions or requests;
• ii)to deliver legal services;
• iii)to recruit and maintain skilled and reliable staff;
• iv)to assess, manage, and improve our legal services and client satisfaction; and
• v)to inform you about legal updates, our areas of expertise, and services that may be relevant or of interest to you.
• vi)to fulfil our clients' instructions; and
• vii)subject to our confidentiality obligations, when engaging service providers that support our legal practice.

4. Disclosure of your personal information

In accordance with our confidentiality obligations, we may disclose certain personal information to:

• i)parties involved in a matter you have with us, government agencies, and service providers, as reasonably necessary to carry out your instructions;
• ii)third-party service providers who assist us with record-keeping, auditing, accounting, legal, business consulting, website, or technology services.
• iii)We may also disclose your information when required by law or as allowed under the Privacy Act—for instance, if we have reasonable grounds to suspect serious unlawful activity related to our work, or in response to a subpoena, court order, or legal discovery request.

5. Security

We implement reasonable physical, technical, and administrative measures to protect your personal information from misuse, loss, interference, or unauthorized access, alteration, or disclosure. For instance, we keep our files in secure offices and restrict access to personal information to only those who need it.

6. Access or Correction of Personal information

You may contact us to access, correct, or update your personal information. Unless we are bound by confidentiality or other legal restrictions, and where the Privacy Act allows us to refuse access, we will aim to provide your information within 30 days. Situations where we might refuse access include:

• i)Providing access would be against the law;
• ii)We reasonably believe that giving access could seriously threaten the life, health, or safety of someone, or public health or safety;
• iii)Providing access would unreasonably affect the privacy of other people;
• iv)The information could disclose a party's intentions during negotiations;
• v)Giving access could hinder proper action against unlawful activity.

7. Notification of changes

If we update our Privacy Policy, we will provide you with the revised version or make it available on our website.

8. Complaints

If you think we have violated the Australian Privacy Principles or have concerns about how your personal information has been handled, please reach out to us using the contact details below. Include details of the incident so that we can investigate it properly.

We will handle your complaint confidentially, investigate it, and strive to resolve it promptly and effectively. We will reach out if we need more information and will inform you in writing of the results of our investigation.

9. Contact us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us: