Privacy Policy

Introduction

Trilby Misso Lawyers Pty Ltd (“we”, “our”, “us”) is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains, in clear and simple terms, how we collect, use, share and protect personal information when you visit our website, make an enquiry, or become a client.

We comply with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).

What personal information we collect

Depending on how you deal with us, we may collect:

• Your name, contact details and identification information
• Information you provide in enquiries, online forms, emails and phone calls
• Information needed to run your legal matter, such as details about your accident or injury, employment, finances and insurance
• Website usage information, such as IP address, browser type, pages visited and time on site

We only collect personal information that is reasonably necessary to operate our website, respond to enquiries, or provide legal services.

Sensitive information

Because we are a personal injury law firm, providing legal services usually involves sensitive information. We may collect and hold health and medical information, including medical records, injury and treatment reports, psychological assessments and insurer documentation, where reasonably necessary to assess, manage and progress your claim. Sensitive information is handled with additional care and only used for the purposes of your matter or as otherwise permitted by law.

How we collect personal information

Wherever practical, we collect personal information directly from you. Where reasonably necessary to provide legal services or manage your enquiry, we may also collect personal information from third parties, including:

• Medical and allied health professionals, hospitals and treatment providers
• Insurers and claims managers
• Employers, accountants and financial advisers
• Barristers and other legal representatives
• Referral partners, government agencies and public registers

Where information is collected from third parties, we take reasonable steps to ensure it is handled in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable privacy laws. If you provide personal information about another person, you confirm you are authorised to do so.

We may record and securely store telephone calls as part of client care and quality processes, and calls may be transcribed using secure technology to assist with note taking. You will be told when a call is recorded, and you can ask not to be recorded; the call will still go ahead.

If you contact us through social media messaging or our website chat, those services are operated by companies based overseas and their own privacy policies also apply to what you share there. We recommend not sharing details of your injury or situation through these channels; our team will move your enquiry to a phone call or secure channel quickly.

Why we collect and use personal information

We collect and use personal information to:

• Respond to enquiries and communicate with you
• Assess whether we can act for you, and provide legal services and advice
• Manage your matter, including dealing with insurers, courts and other parties on your behalf
• Operate, maintain and improve our website and our business
• Meet our legal, regulatory and professional obligations

Marketing and communications

We may use your contact details to send you information about our services, legal updates, news or events that may be relevant to you, by email, phone, SMS or other digital channels. You can opt out at any time using the unsubscribe link in our communications or by contacting us directly, and we will not send direct marketing where prohibited by law.

Use of artificial intelligence (AI)

We use secure, enterprise AI tools to help our people work efficiently and deliver legal services. This can include AI-assisted drafting, summarising, research and transcription of recorded calls, used only for the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy.

These tools operate inside secure business environments: your information stays within our approved systems, is not entered into public or open AI platforms, and is not used to train public AI models. AI assists our people; it does not make decisions about you. If that ever changes for decisions that significantly affect you, we will update this policy and you will be able to ask for a person to review the decision. A qualified lawyer remains responsible for all legal work.

Who we may share personal information with

We disclose personal information only where reasonably necessary to provide legal services, respond to enquiries, operate our business, or meet legal obligations. Depending on your matter, this may include:

• Barristers and legal counsel
• Medical experts and treatment providers
• Insurers and claims managers
• Litigation or disbursement funders
• Courts, tribunals and regulatory bodies
• Financial institutions
• Technology providers and service providers who support our administration, communications, analytics and operations

We only disclose personal information where necessary, authorised by you, or otherwise required or permitted by law. Information provided to courts and tribunals may become part of the public record. We take reasonable steps to ensure third parties who handle personal information maintain appropriate privacy and security protections. We do not sell personal information.

Website analytics and cookies

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to help us understand how visitors use the site and to improve functionality and performance. This may include IP address, device and browser information, pages visited and referral sources. We may use third-party analytics services; analytics data is used in aggregated form and is kept separate from client legal matter information. You can manage or disable cookies in your browser settings, though this may affect website functionality.

Overseas processing

Client matter information is handled separately from website data. Your matter information is stored in Australia and handled within secure enterprise systems, and we do not send it overseas in the ordinary course of running your matter. If your matter ever genuinely requires an overseas disclosure (for example, to an expert or witness located overseas), we will only do so in a way consistent with the Australian Privacy Principles.

Some website-related services, such as analytics, website chat, social media messaging and embedded content, are provided by companies based overseas (for example, in the United States). These services hold only the limited details needed for that purpose, such as your name, contact details and the messages you send us through those channels, and never your matter information, which is kept separate from website and marketing systems.

Data security and data breaches

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. Our measures include secure systems, access controls, multi-factor authentication and regular review of our information handling practices.

If a data breach occurs that is likely to result in serious harm, we will notify affected individuals and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) in accordance with the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.

How long we keep information

We keep personal information for as long as needed for the purposes it was collected and to meet our legal and professional obligations. Legal files are generally retained for at least seven years after a matter closes, and some matters are kept longer where the law requires. When information is no longer required, it is securely destroyed or de-identified.

Anonymity

You can make a general enquiry without identifying yourself. However, once we act for you, we need to collect personal information (including, in personal injury matters, health information) to deal with insurers, courts and other parties on your behalf, so dealing with us anonymously is not practicable for a legal matter.

Access and correction

You may ask for access to the personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct it if it is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date, or ask us to delete information we hold about you. Our Privacy Officer manages all privacy requests: we will delete information we are not required to keep, and explain where a legal or professional retention obligation prevents deletion. In some circumstances access may be limited as permitted by law.

Complaints

If you have concerns about how we handle personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer using the details below. We will investigate and respond within a reasonable timeframe. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at www.oaic.gov.au (enquiries: 1300 363 992).

Contact us

Trilby Misso Lawyers Pty Ltd
Email: privacyofficer@trilbymisso.com.au
Privacy Officer hours: 9:00am to 4:00pm (AEST), Monday to Friday

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The current version will always be available on our website.