Privacy Policy

Last Updated: June 2026

Akbik Law (or "we") is committed to protecting your personal information and handling it with care. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, protect, and retain personal information through our website, contact and intake forms, email, and by telephone.

As a law firm based in Ontario, we are governed by the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act ("PIPEDA") and by the Law Society of Ontario's ("LSO") Rules of Professional Conduct. PIPEDA ensures we respect your privacy in how we collect, use, and disclose your personal information in providing services to you. The LSO Rules impose a strict duty of confidentiality on lawyers to their clients, and provide for solicitor-client privilege.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or website operations.

Personal Information We Collect

We may collect personal information that you provide through our website, contact form, intake form, email, or other online communications with us.

This information may include:

• your name

• your email address

• your telephone number

• information about your legal issue or inquiry

• information needed for conflict checks

• information you upload or submit through a contact form or intake form

• any other information you choose to provide to us through the website

We may also collect certain technical information when you use our website, such as:

• your IP address

• browser and device information

• pages visited

• date and time of access

• website usage information collected through cookies, analytics, or similar tools

Why We Collect and Use Personal Information

We collect and use personal information for purposes related to operating our website and responding to potential and current clients.

These purposes may include:

• responding to your inquiry

• communicating with you

• conducting conflict checks

• assessing whether Akbik Law can assist you

• providing legal services if we are retained

• meeting legal, regulatory, insurance, accounting, and professional obligations

• managing billing and payment, where applicable

• operating, maintaining, and improving the website

• protecting the security of our website, systems, and users

We limit our collection of personal information to what is reasonably necessary for these purposes.

No Lawyer-Client Relationship

Sharing your information with Akbik Law through this website, a contact or intake form, or by email or telephone does not automatically create a lawyer-client relationship between yourself and the firm. Such a relationship will only arise after a formal Retainer Agreement is mutually agreed to.

Consent

By using our website or submitting personal information to us through the website, contact form, intake form, email, or telephone, you consent to our collection, use, and disclosure of that information for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.

You may withdraw your consent, subject to legal, professional, contractual, or practical restrictions. For example, if you withdraw consent, we may not be able to respond to your inquiry, assess your matter, or continue to provide services.

To withdraw consent, please contact us using the contact information below.

Disclosure of Personal Information

We will never sell your personal information.

We may disclose personal information where reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this policy, including to:

• service providers who help us operate our website or practice

• courts, tribunals, and administrative bodies

• opposing counsel or other parties involved in a matter

• government bodies or regulators

• payment, billing, bookkeeping, IT, hosting, cloud-storage, or practice-management providers

• other persons or organizations where disclosure is required or permitted by law or professional obligations

We take reasonable steps to ensure that service providers handling personal information on our behalf protect it appropriately.

Storage and Processing Outside Canada

Some of our service providers, including cloud-storage, hosting, and practice-management providers, may store or process personal information outside the Province of Ontario or outside Canada. Where this occurs, personal information may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which it is stored or processed, including lawful access by courts, law enforcement, and government authorities in that jurisdiction. We take reasonable steps to ensure that such service providers provide a comparable level of protection for personal information.

Confidentiality and Privilege

As lawyers, we have professional duties of confidentiality. Information you provide to us may also be protected by solicitor-client privilege or other legal protections where applicable.

However, electronic communications are not completely secure. Although we use reasonable safeguards, no method of transmitting or storing information online can be guaranteed to be fully secure.

For that reason, you should use caution when sharing sensitive or confidential information through the website, a contact form, an intake form, or by email or telephone.

Cookies, Analytics, and Third-Party Tools

Our website may use:

• cookies

• website analytics tools

• spam-filtering or security tools

• embedded content or other third-party website features

These tools may collect technical and usage information, such as IP address, browser type, device information, and website activity.

We use this information to:

• operate and secure the website

• understand how the website is used

• improve website performance and user experience

Third-party tools and linked websites may have their own privacy practices. We encourage you to review their privacy policies where relevant.

You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings, and you can usually set your browser to notify you when a cookie is being placed.

Safeguards

We use reasonable physical, organizational, and technological safeguards to protect personal information against loss, unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, misuse, or modification.

These safeguards may include:

• restricted access to information

• password protection

• secure systems and software

• confidentiality obligations for those handling information

• security measures for website and data storage systems

While we work to protect personal information, no security measure can eliminate all risk.

Responding to a Privacy Breach

If a breach of security safeguards involving your personal information occurs, we will assess the breach and, where it creates a real risk of significant harm, we will notify affected individuals and report to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada as required by law. We will also keep records of breaches as required and take reasonable steps to contain the breach and prevent recurrence.

Retention of Personal Information

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or as required or permitted by law, regulation, professional obligations, insurance requirements, or internal record-keeping practices.

If Akbik Law is not retained, we may still keep limited information for purposes such as:

• conflict checking

• risk management

• legal or professional compliance

• record keeping

When personal information is no longer required, we will take reasonable steps to securely destroy it or make it anonymous, where appropriate.

Accuracy of Personal Information

We take reasonable steps to ensure that personal information we use is accurate, complete, and up to date for the purposes for which it is to be used. You can help us keep your information accurate by notifying us of any changes to your personal information.

Access and Correction

You may request access to personal information we hold about you and ask that inaccurate or incomplete information be corrected.

In some cases, access may be limited by law or by our professional obligations, including where information is protected by privilege, relates to another person, or cannot be disclosed for other legal reasons.

Requests for access or correction should be made in writing to our privacy contact.

Privacy Contact

If you have questions, concerns, or requests about this Privacy Policy or our handling of personal information, please contact us in writing at connect@akbiklaw.ca .

We will review privacy questions and complaints and respond within a reasonable time.

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

If you have a concern about how we handle your personal information, you may also contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.