Effective Date: March 9, 2022
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP (“Willkie,” “we,” “our” or “us”) is committed to protecting your privacy and the data you share with us. This Privacy Policy describes how Willkie may collect, use and share information, particularly in association with the operation of our website (www.willkie.com), Willkie-operated pages on social media sites and any HTML-formatted emails or communications that link to this Privacy Policy (collectively, the “Willkie Digital Services”).
This Privacy Policy does not apply to information we collect, use or share in the course of our attorney-client relationships, or information which is protected by confidentiality, the attorney-client privilege, the attorney work product doctrine or any other, similar protections. If you have questions about the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and how it affects how Willkie handles personal data provided to us by our clients, please visit our GDPR Information Page.
What information do we collect?
We do not collect any personal information about you unless you affirmatively provide it to us. For example, certain portions of our website, such as the “Contact Us” page, allow you to provide certain personal information on a voluntary basis, including your name, e-mail address, company information and other contact information. Likewise, your contact information may be added to email lists for our client alert emails and other resources when you provide your contact information to one of our attorneys.
In addition, when you are visiting our website, Willkie and third parties with whom we work (e.g., service providers, business partners) may place, view and/or use “cookies” or similar technologies to collect certain information about your use of this website. This may include information about the IP address of your computer and mobile device, browser type, language, operating system, geo-location data, the state or country from which you accessed this website, the web pages visited, the date and the time of a visit and the websites you visited immediately before visiting this website.
Whose Personal Data is Covered?
The Personal Data covered by this Privacy Policy concerns the following categories of persons:
- Employees, associates and partners of Willkie;
- Willkie clients, as well as prospective and former clients and their affiliated entities (including their respective employees, agents, consultants, directors, officers, temporary, casual workers and direct and indirect shareholders, beneficial owners and the person(s) controlling them);
- Opponents, counterparties and prospective opponents and counterparties of clients and their affiliated entities (including their respective employees, agents, consultants, directors, officers, temporary, casual workers and direct and indirect shareholders, beneficial owners and the person(s) controlling them);
- Professional and personal contacts of Willkie partners, associates and other employees;
- Suppliers (including their employees, agents, consultants, directors, officers, temporary, casual workers and direct and indirect shareholders, beneficial owners and the person(s) controlling them);
- Advisors, consultants, witnesses, other professionals and professional experts (including their respective employees, agents, consultants, directors, officers, temporary, casual workers and direct and indirect shareholders, beneficial owners and the person(s) controlling them);
- Other persons involved in providing legal services; and
- Dependents, associates and correspondents of the above persons affected by the data transfer.
How will the information you provide be used?
We may use the information you provide us for a number of different purposes. Specifically, we may use the information to respond to any requests you have submitted. Likewise, we may use your contact information to send you Willkie memoranda, announcements, news, invitations or other information about Willkie events and services that we believe may be of interest to you.
Other potential uses of this data include:
- To comply with the law or in response to a subpoena, court order, law enforcement or government request or other legal process;
- To produce relevant documents or information in connection with litigation, arbitration, mediation, adjudication, government or internal investigation or other legal or administrative proceedings;
- To protect the interests, rights, safety or property of Willkie, our clients, users of this website or others;
- In connection with internal organizational matters;
- To combat fraud or other criminal activity;
- For any other purpose disclosed by us when you provide the information; and
- As otherwise required or permitted by law.
Any information collected by cookies will be done on an anonymous basis; Willkie does not link any personal information you provide with cookie data.
How may we share the information we collect?
Willkie is a global provider of legal and other services. Our offices share information with each other for business purposes such as internal administration, billing, informing you about our events and services and providing you or your organization with services. In order to provide the information and services described in this Privacy Policy, we may share your personal information and other information with our other offices or with carefully selected vendors that perform services on our behalf.
We do not sell your personal information.
What is our legal basis for processing your personal data?
We rely on the following legal grounds to process your personal information:
- Performance of a contract – To the extent you are a client of Willkie or wish to become one, we may need to collect and use your personal information to perform the services for which you have contracted with us. For example, we may use your personal information to respond to requests you make via our website and provide you with such services. For more information generally about GDPR and how it affects our efforts to keep your data private and secure, please visit our GDPR Information Page.
- Consent – Some of the personal information collected by Willkie is provided by you voluntarily, for example when you sign up to join a mailing list or register for an event, and is therefore collected and used with your permission. To withdraw your consent to such use, you can contact us at privacy@willkie.com.
- Legitimate interests – We may use your personal information for our legitimate interests, such as to improve our products and services, and the content on the Willkie Digital Services. We may also use your contact information to keep you and others who have provided us with their contact information up-to-date on recent legal developments of interest. If you wish us to stop using your contact information in this manner, you can contact us at privacy@willkie.com.
Is your data transferred to third countries and how is it protected?
The information we collect from and about you through this website, including your personal information, may be transferred to countries other than the one in which you reside. Any information transferred to a third country will be secured in the same manner as it would be in your own and will be done pursuant to all applicable laws. In cases of transfers from the European Union, Switzerland and the United Kingdom (“U.K.”) to the United States, information is transferred, stored and processed pursuant to standard contractual clauses approved by the European Commission for the transfer of personal data to third countries or the International Data Transfer Agreement , when finalized by the U.K.’s Information Commissioner’s Office. You can access the standard contractual clauses here.
How do we secure your information?
We use reasonable administrative, technical and physical security measures to protect your personal information from unauthorized access and use. This may include, when required or appropriate and feasible, obtaining written assurances from third parties that may access your data that they will protect the data with safeguards designed to provide a level of protection equivalent to that adopted by Willkie.
However, no system of transmission or storage of data can be 100% secure. As such, we cannot guarantee the absolute security of your information. Moreover, we are not responsible for the security of information you transmit to us over networks that we do not control, including the Internet.
How long do we hold your information?
We retain the information we collect no longer than as reasonably necessary to fulfill the purposes for which we collect the information and to comply with our legal obligations.
What are your rights?
If you no longer wish to receive communications from us – such as about events being promoted or hosted by Willkie or insight from Willkie attorneys on recent legal developments – you can let us know by contacting us at privacy@willkie.com.
European Union Rights
If you are a resident of the European Union, you may have certain rights regarding information that we have collected and that is related to you. In particular, you may have the right to:
- Access and correct the personal information Willkie has about you;
- Object to the processing of your personal information; or
- Request that your personal data be erased.
- If you wish to exercise those rights, please contact us at privacy@willkie.com.
Likewise, if you are a resident of the European Union, you have the right to complain to a Data Protection Authority if you believe that your personal information has been collected or used in violation of relevant privacy requirements. You may file such complaint with the Data Protection Authority in the country in which you are located. Alternatively, you may contact the Data Protection Authority (GBA) of Belgium online at https://www.dataprotectionauthority.be/citizen, by telephone at +32 (0)2 274 48 00, or at their physical address: Rue de la Presse 35, 1000 Brussels.
If you are located in the UK, you may contact the Office of the Information Commissioner in the United Kingdom at www.ico.org.uk, by telephone on +44 (0)303 123 1113 or by writing to this address: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF United Kingdom.
California Privacy Rights
If you are a resident of California, you have the following rights:
- Right to Know: You have the right to request that we disclose to you the Personal Information we collect, use or disclose, and information about our data practices;
- Right to Request Deletion: You have the right to request that we delete your Personal Information that we have collected from you;
- Right to Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights.
To exercise your “right to know” or your “right to request deletion,” please contact us at privacy@willkie.com.
Please note that to protect your information and the integrity of our services, we may need to verify your identity before processing your request. In some cases we may need to collect additional information to verify your identity, such as a government issued ID. We are also prohibited by California law from disclosing certain information we may have under any circumstances. To the extent Willkie is a “service provider” with respect to any information that may be covered by your request, we will forward your request to the business on whose behalf we are working.
Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you may exercise these rights yourself or you may designate an authorized agent to make these requests on your behalf.
Who is the data controller?
The data controller for the Willkie Digital Services is:
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP
787 Seventh Avenue
New York, NY 10019, United States