Privacy Policy

1. Who’s This Policy For, And What Does It Cover?

Murphy & Evertz, LLP (“Murphy & Evertz” or “we”) takes privacy seriously and we’re committed to honoring yours. This Privacy Policy is for visitors to our website (www.murphyevertz.com), visitors to our offices, individuals who inquire about our services or engage us for legal services, referral sources, and other individuals we interact with for marketing or our other commercial purposes. The Policy describes how we collect, use, and share your Personal Information. It also explains related rights and choices you have.

This Policy doesn’t cover our processing of Personal Information on behalf of clients as part of legal services we provide to them, which is governed by the terms of our client agreements, our clients’ privacy policies or other conditions that may apply. If you have a relationship with an organization that you believe is our client or is otherwise involved in a legal matter we are handling, please consult that organization’s privacy policy.

You may be referred to this Policy or shown other privacy notices when you use our website or when we collect your Personal Information. The notices supplement this Policy. This Policy also contains a statement specific to California residents about additional rights they may have under California law. The statement supplements the rest of this Policy, but to the extent the statement differs from other parts of the Policy, the statement governs with respect to California residents.

2. What Is Personal Information?

When we say “Personal Information,” we mean information that can reasonably be linked to a particular individual or household. Generally speaking, your Personal Information includes your contact information and other identifiers (full name, phone number, email address, driver license number, etc.), plus information about your conditions, characteristics or behavior (age, geolocation, purchasing history, internet activity, etc.) that is associated with an identifier or could otherwise reasonably be linked to you. “Non-Personal Information,” on the other hand, is aggregated or de-identified information that cannot reasonably be linked to a particular individual.

3. Personal Information We Collect And How We Collect It

3.1 Categories Collected

We generally collect the following categories of Personal Information, depending on the nature of your interactions with us:

• Identifiers, such as first and last name, address, email address, phone number, social media address, user name, state bar number, IP address (in some contexts, and similar information.
• Customer Records Information, such as signature, physical characteristics or description, insurance policy number, bank account number or other financial information, and similar information, or as otherwise defined under applicable law.
• Demographic Information, such as age, gender and similar information. Demographic Information may include characteristics of legally protected classifications.
• Commercial Information, such as services purchased, obtained or considered.
• Biometric Information, such as body temperature reading if we are conducting health screenings to protect our workplace or personnel (but we do not retain this information).
• Internet or Other Network Activity, such as device or browser information, content posted to our site or shared with us via email, browsing activity, social media content, interactions with our website, and interactions with marketing communications sent on our behalf.
• Geolocation Data, such as your approximate location when you access our website (typically the name of the city or country you are in or near; we do not collect your precise geolocation).
• Audio, Visual, Sensory or Electronic Information, such as content you send us via email or upload to us, security camera images or video at our offices, or recordings of phone calls or video conferences (with your consent where required by applicable law)
• Professional or Employment Information, such as job title and business or employer name.
• Education Information
• Other Personal Information, as you may choose to provide or as disclosed to you by notice at the point of collection
• Inference Information, which is inferences drawn from other Personal Information reflecting your preferences, characteristics, behavior or attitudes

Unless disclosed above, or otherwise disclosed to you by specific notice, we generally do not collect your social security number, driver’s license number, health information, precise geolocation or other types of “sensitive” personal information that may be entitled to unique protections under applicable law.

3.2 Collection Sources

From You When You Provide It. We may collect Identifiers, Financial Information, Professional or Employment Information, and other types of information from you directly when you consult with us or engage us for legal services; pay us for services rendered; refer a legal matter to us; make inquiries; fill out a form on our website; visit one of our offices; sign up to receive one of our newsletters, client alerts or other publications; register for an event or webinar we are hosting; interact with one of our attorneys, staff or representatives; connect with us on LinkedIn or other social media; or contact us with questions or feedback.

From Your Device. Like most online services, our website passively collects some information from visitors’ devices in order to make site features function correctly, customize the user experience, understand how the site is being used, or measure the effectiveness of marketing efforts. Some of this data is collected through the use of browser cookies or similar online tracking tools, which are explained here. Whenever feasible, we limit this type of collection to Non-Personal Information. However, this data may include Personal Information such as online Identifiers and Internet Activity in some circumstances.

From Third Parties. We may obtain information about you from third party sources. For example, when we sponsor or participate in an event, we may receive attendees’ Identifiers and Professional or Employment Information from the host. Or we may collect Identifiers, Professional or Employment Information, or Internet or Other Network Activity that you have chosen to disclose on LinkedIn or other social media platforms.

We may combine information collected from other sources with information collected from you or your device. To the extent the information, alone or in combination, constitutes Personal Information, we will treat it as Personal Information as described in this Policy.

4. How We Use Personal Information

While we may disclose other uses to you at the point of collection, we generally use Personal Information:

• to respond to inquiries we receive
• to identify and communicate with prospective clients or referral sources
• to refer matters to other law firms or professional services providers
• to communicate with, or on behalf of, clients
• to bill for our services or process payments
• to provide continuing legal education (CLE)
• to send marketing communications or conduct business development
• to comply with our legal obligations and applicable rules of professional conduct
• to communicate material updates or changes to our terms of use or policies
• to maintain, improve and secure our website and other online services
• to secure our office locations and protect the health and well-being of our employees
• to detect, investigate or prevent activities that may violate our policies, threaten the security of our website or computer networks, or that may be fraudulent or illegal
• for other business purposes to the extent authorized under applicable law
• We may use Non-Personal Information for any purpose.

5. How We Share Personal Information

5.1 Vendors

We may share your information with vendors, service providers and contractors that perform services on our behalf, such as hosting our website, managing databases, performing analytics, conducting surveys, or sending communications and newsletters for us. For example, we may share email addresses or other Identifiers with vendors that deliver marketing communications on our behalf. Our agreements with vendors typically prohibit them from retaining, using or disclosing the Personal Information we share with them for any purpose other than providing services to us.

5.2 Industry Partners

We regularly host or sponsor events, or make presentations, in coordination with clients, other firms, industry groups and professional associations (collectively, “Industry Partners”). Under certain circumstances, we may share your information with Industry Partners. For example, if you register for an event that we are co-hosting with an Industry Partner, the co-host may receive your Identifiers, Professional or Employment Information, or other information you provide to us in order to register.

5.3 Mandatory Disclosures And Legal Proceedings

We may have a legal obligation to disclose Personal Information to government authorities or other third parties pursuant to a valid regulatory request, investigative demand, executive order, subpoena, discovery request or court order. We may also need to disclose and otherwise process your Personal Information in accordance with applicable law to defend our legitimate interests, for example, in civil or criminal legal proceedings.

5.4 Change In Control Or Merger

If we decide to sell, buy, merge or otherwise reorganize all or part of our business, this can involve us disclosing Personal Information to prospective or actual purchasers and their advisers.

5.5 With Your Consent

We will share your Personal Information with other third parties as you may direct, or if you otherwise consent.

6. Cookies And Online Tracking

A cookie is a small piece of data that a website stores in your device’s browser. It holds information that the site uses to function properly, remember your preferences, or personalize your experience. A typical cookie contains a cookie ID, which is a unique string of characters used to identify your browser during the browsing session, or in some cases, during subsequent browsing sessions. Cookies, cookie ID’s and similar pieces of data may be considered Personal Information (Identifiers or Internet Activity) in some contexts.

Our website uses the following types of cookies, some of which are third party cookies from our authorized service providers. While we limit related data collection to Non-Personal Information when feasible, collection may include some Personal Information:

• Essential: Essential cookies are necessary to secure our website and enable you to navigate it.
• Analytics: Analytics cookies allow us to analyze use of our website to evaluate and improve performance.

You can block, disable or delete some or all Cookies at any time by changing the settings in your browser. However, blocking, disabling, or deleting Cookies may limit your ability to view all the pages of our site or other sites.  You can find more information about cookies at www.cookiesandyou.com/ and www.youronlinechoices.com.

Your browser may offer a Do Not Track (DNT) setting.  If you turn that setting on, your browser sends a signal to websites indicating that you don’t want to be tracked over time or across third party sites.  We don’t currently respond to these signals because there is not yet a common understanding of how to process them or a consensus on what “tracking” means.

7. Your Rights And Choices

You can opt-out of receiving our marketing or promotional communications by using the unsubscribe link in the communication or by emailing your request to [email protected]. As described in Section 6, above, you can restrict Cookies by changing your browser settings. If you are a California resident, you may have additional rights and choices as described below.

8. Links To Third Party Sites

Our website may contain links to third-party websites, products or services. Information those companies collect when you click on their links is governed by their privacy policies, not ours. We encourage you to learn about the privacy practices of those third parties.

9. Children’s Privacy

Our services are not intended for children (individuals under the age of 18). We do not knowingly collect, maintain, or process Personal Information from children without consent, or if required by applicable law, parental consent.

10. California Residents (CCPA Statement)

This statement supplements our Privacy Policy with additional disclosures to California residents (i.e., “consumers”), and describes certain rights they may have, under California law.

The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, as amended (the “CCPA), applies to Personal Information of California residents (i.e., “consumers”). You can learn more about the CCPA here: https://oag.ca.gov/privacy/ccpa

This statement does not cover our processing of Personal Information relating to job applicants or employees.

10.1 Collection Of Personal Information

Section 3.1 of our Privacy Policy lists the categories of Personal Information that we collect.

10.2 Sale, Sharing Or Disclosure Of Personal Information

Under the CCPA, you can request to opt-out of the “Sale” of your Personal Information—which the CCPA defines broadly to include some transactions or arrangements that do not involve the exchange of data for money—and the “Sharing” of your personal information, which the CCPA defines as sharing with third parties for purposes of cross-site targeted advertising.  Within the past 12 months, we have not Sold or Shared consumers’ Personal Information.  We do not knowingly Sell or Share the Personal Information of consumers under the age of 16.

Within the past 12 months, we disclosed for a business purpose the following categories of Personal Information (to the categories of recipients indicated):

• Identifiers (to vendors and Industry Partners)
• Financial Information (to vendors)
• Professional or Employment Information (to vendors and Industry Partners)
• Internet Activity (to vendors)

10.3 Your Rights As A Californian

Consumers have the right to make the following requests to covered businesses. The requests may be made by a consumer, by a consumer on behalf of the consumer’s minor child, or by a person authorized by the consumer to act on the consumer’s behalf:

Right To Request Information About Collection, Disclosure, Sale or Sharing

You have the right to request that a business disclose to you: (i) the categories and specific pieces of Personal Information the business has collected about you within the past 12 months, (ii) the categories of sources from which the Personal Information is collected, (iii) the business or commercial purposes for collecting, Selling or Sharing Personal Information, and (iv) the categories of third parties to whom the business discloses Personal Information.

If a business Sells or Shares Personal Information, or discloses it for a business purpose, you also have the right to request that the business disclose the following with respect to the 12-month period preceding your request: (i) the categories of Personal Information that the business Sold or Shared about you and the categories of third parties to whom the Personal Information was Sold or Shared, and (ii) the categories of Personal Information that the business disclosed about you for a business purpose.

This type of request may be referred to as a “Request to Know.” Before we can honor a Request to Know, we need to verify that the person making it is the consumer whose Personal Information we have. Our method for verifying any particular request weighs information we receive as part of the request, the sensitivity of the consumer information at issue, and the risk of harm to the consumer from unauthorized disclosure.

Right to Request Deletion

You have the right to request that a business delete any Personal Information that the business has collected from you. This type of request may be referred to as a “Request to Delete.”

Before we can honor a Request to Delete, we need to verify that the person making the request is the consumer whose Personal Information we have. Our method for verifying any particular request weighs information we receive as part of the request, the sensitivity of the consumer information at issue, and the risk of harm to the consumer from unauthorized deletion.

We are not required to delete Personal Information if we still need it in order to complete the transaction for which the information was collected, perform a contract with you, comply with a legal obligation, or accomplish any other objective recognized as an exception to the right to deletion under applicable law.

Right to Request Correction

You have the right to request that we correct inaccurate Personal Information about you.  This Type of request may be referred to as a “Request to Correct.”

Right to Opt-Out of Sale or Sharing

You have the right to direct a business that Sells or Shares Personal Information about you to third parties not to Sell or Share your Personal Information. This type of request may be referred to as a “Request to Opt-Out.”

We don’t Sell or Share Personal Information, so we don’t offer a mechanism to opt-out.

Right to Non-Discrimination

You have the right not to receive discriminatory treatment by a business for the exercise of your privacy rights under the CCPA.

10.4 How to Submit Requests to “Know” or “Delete”

You may submit a request to [email protected]. Requests must state “CCPA Request” and include:

• your first and last name;
• an email address at which you can be reached for purposes of the request;
• the California county in which you reside;
• for a Request to Know, the disclosure(s) you are requesting;
• for a Request to Delete, a clear statement that you want us to delete your Personal Information; and
• the reason(s) you believe we have collected or disclosed your Personal Information, specifically, within the past 12 months (for example, you are a former client or received a newsletter from us)

If you are submitting a request on behalf of a job applicant as their authorized representative, you must include the foregoing information about the consumer and provide proof of permission from the consumer to make the request. After confirming receipt of your request, we’ll contact you if we need more information in order to process or verify it. If we can’t verify a request, we may deny it.

11. Data Subjects In The E.E.A. And Elsewhere Outside The U.S.

Murphy & Evertz is a limited liability partnership headquartered in Costa Mesa, California that does not have an office, employees or other establishment in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any other country outside the United States (collectively, with EEA countries, the “Other Countries”). While some of our clients are organizations that do business in Other Countries, Murphy & Evertz’ services are not targeted to natural persons in Other Countries. If you visit our website or contact us, your Personal Information will be processed in the United States—which has not received a finding of “adequacy” from the European Commission as referenced in Article 25 of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)—and will be handled in accordance with this Policy and applicable U.S. law, unless we have agreed otherwise in writing with you or with a client, vendor or third party you are affiliated with. Some of the data that we process on behalf of clients in connection with our legal services may include Personal Information relating to natural persons who are in Other Countries. Our processing of such information is governed by our agreements with those clients or conditions that may be imposed by courts, regulatory bodies, or the controllers of such information.

12. Changes To This Policy

We will update this Policy as necessary to reflect any material changes in applicable law or how we collect, use and share personal information. If we have your contact information, we will send you notice of material changes, and you should periodically review this Policy to remain aware of our current practices.

13. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Policy or our practices, please contact us by email at [email protected], or at the following address:

Murphy & Evertz, LLP
Attn: Data Privacy
650 Town Center Drive
Suite 550
Costa Mesa, CA 92626

We partner with Thomson Reuters, who might also collect data as part of our marketing efforts. To learn more about the Thomson Reuters privacy policy and the data that might be collected, please visit: Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement.