Attorneys, like other professionals
who advise clients on personal financial matters, are required
pursuant to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, Public Law No. 106-102,
and rules issued by the Federal Trade Commission regarding the
privacy of consumer financial information, 16 Code of the Federal
Regulations, Part 313, to inform certain clients of their policies
regarding privacy of client information. The foregoing laws
and federal regulations apply to non-public personal information
of the individual clients who obtain financial services such
as tax preparation and planning services, real estate settlement
services, debt collection services, and financial advisory and
management services, which are to be used primarily for personal,
family, or household purposes. In the course of providing such
services to our clients, we collect non-public personal information
that is provided to us by our clients and, with our clients’
authorization, from third parties such as accountants, financial
advisors, insurance agents, real estate agents, banking institutions,
and other advisors. We do not disclose any non-public personal
information about our clients to anyone outside our law firm
except as agreed to by our clients or as permitted by law.
Attorneys have been, and continue to be, bound by stringent
professional standards of confidentiality embodied in state
law and our own professional ethics standards. Therefore,
we have always protected our clients’ right to privacy.
In circumstances where our professional standards governing
privacy are stricter than the new federal laws, we will continue
to adhere to the more stringent professional standards of
client confidentiality and the attorney-client privilege.
The purpose of this notice is to explain our privacy policy
with regard to personal information about our clients that
we obtain and how we keep that information secure.
We retain records relating to professional services that
we provide so that we are better able to assist with our clients’
professional needs and to comply with professional guidelines
or requirements of the law. In order to guard non-public personal
information, we maintain physical, electronic, and procedural
safeguards that comply with our professional standards.
We may amend this privacy notice at any time, and we will
notify our clients of any such changes as required by law.