Privacy Policy

Effective Date: January 1, 2024

Pierson Ferdinand LLP (the “Firm”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting it through compliance with this Privacy Policy.  This Privacy Policy describes the types of information the Firm, as a data controller, may collect from you or that you may provide, and our practices for collecting, using, maintaining, protecting, and disclosing that information, including the following:

• Personal data we collect or process, including from our website www.pierferd.com (the “Site”);

• How we use the data;

• Legal grounds for the processing of your data;

• With whom we may share the personal data;

• Your privacy rights, choices and disclosures, including for Europe and California;

• Retention Periods and protection of your data;

• Children’s privacy;

• Information about international transfers;

• Links to other sites;

• Privacy Policy updates; and

• How you can contact us. 

Personal Data We Collect or Process

The Site captures some information about you automatically utilizing background local storage and session storage technologies (“Cookies”). Please see our Cookie Policy for more information about our use of Cookies. We may also collect information from publicly available sources. This Privacy Policy does not cover the use of Cookies by other websites, over which the Firm has no control.

The Site also collects information that you provide to us voluntarily.  The Firm collects the information that you provide to us when you sign up to receive newsletters, advisories, announcements and invitations, and contact us by email.  We use this information only to respond to your comments, requests, or questions.  If you inquire about a career at the Firm, you have the option of sending to us a resume containing personal data about you and which we will use solely for employment evaluation purposes.  Providing this information is completely voluntary. Please do not submit sensitive personal information to us.

We also act as a legal service provider for third parties.  In such capacity we may come into contact with personal data that is collected by others but which we process in order to perform our contractual and ethical obligations to the data controller who collected the data. 

How We Use the Data

We use the personal data we collect to respond to your inquiries, provide or enhance the services you request, perform our contractual and ethical obligations, inform you of new services or changes in services, administer the Site, to fill employment positions, to enter into contracts for services, to fulfill legal obligations we have to governmental authorities or other third parties, and for other legitimate business purposes.  The Firm distributes newsletters and other publications to clients and friends of The Firm from time to time.  If you wish to unsubscribe from any newsletter or promotional materials, then please contact us by email at info@pierferd.com.

Legal Grounds for Processing Your Personal Data

We rely on the following legal grounds to process your personal information:

Consent. We may use your personal data as described in this Privacy Policy subject to your consent.  To withdraw your consent, please contact us at info@pierferd.com.

Performance of a contract. We may need to collect and use your personal information to enter into an engagement or agreement with you or to perform an engagement or agreement that you have with us.  When we process personal data on behalf of third parties, we do so in performance of engagements or agreements with such third parties.

Legitimate Interests. We may use your personal information for our legitimate interests to provide our services and to improve our services and the content on our Site.  We process information on behalf of third parties who have legitimate interests in operating their businesses and pursuing and defending actions and claims as part of the legal process.  We may use technical information as described in this Privacy Policy and use personal information for our marketing purposes consistent with our legitimate interests and any choices that we offer or consents that may be required under applicable law.

Compliance with Legal Obligations. We may use your personal information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations.

With Whom We Share Personal Data

The Firm is a global provider of services headquartered in the United States, and as such may need to share information with internal personnel located in different geographic locations in order to fulfill our contractual, legal, and ethical obligations.  We may also share, as controller or as processor performing at the direction of our clients, your personal data to third parties (within or outside your country of residence) who perform services on our behalf, including, without limitation, our technology providers, administrative and support personnel and providers, professional advisors, and translators. 

We may disclose information (within or outside your country of residence) if we have a good faith belief that disclosure is necessary by law or the legal process, to protect and defend our or others’ interests or property, or to enforce agreements you or our clients enter into with us.  Your information may be transferred to another entity (within or outside your country of residence) in connection with a merger or reorganization or, when we are acting as a data processor at the direction of our client (data controller), at the request of the client.

The Firm may obtain your written consent from time to time in electronic form by using online agreements or other acknowledgements on the Site, including for any other contemplated uses of your personal data not addressed in this Privacy Policy.  Please read all online agreements carefully before accepting them.

Your Privacy Rights, Choice, and Disclosures - General

General. We are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring the security of your personal information. We will do our best to honor your request, which depending on the rights granted by the laws of your jurisdiction may include the right to request the correction, modification, or deletion of your personal information and the right to opt out of the sale or sharing of your personal information (as applicable). If you would like to make a request, please email us at info@pierferd.com. You may opt out of receiving any newsletter or promotional materials from the Firm by clicking on the “unsubscribe” link on the communication or contacting us by email at info@pierferd.com.

Depending on local law, you may have additional rights under the laws of your jurisdiction concerning your personal data, such as the right to complain to your local data protection authority and the right to appeal our decision regarding a data access request.

Your European Privacy Rights and Choices

If you are located in the European Union, the United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction that has adopted laws substantially similar to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, then the following privacy rights apply to you:

• Right to Transparency and Information, in which we explain how we use and share your information. If you have questions or need additional information, then you may contact us at any time.

• Right of access, restriction of processing, erasure. You may contact us to request information about the personal data we have collected from you and to request the correction, modification, or deletion of such personal information, which we will do our best to honor subject to any legal, ethical, and contractual obligations. To make a request or to ask us a question about our data practices, please contact us by email at info@pierferd.com.

• Right to withdraw your consent at any time. When we process your personal data based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw it at any time.

• Right to object at any time. You have the right to object at any time to receiving marketing or promotional materials from us by either following the opt-out instructions in commercial emails or by contacting us, as well as the right to object to any processing of your personal data based on your specific situation. In the latter case, we will assess your request and provide a reply in a timely manner, according to our legal, ethical, and contractual obligations. Some non-marketing communications are not subject to a general opt-out, such as communications about transactions and disclosures to comply with legal or ethical requirements.

• Right to data portability. You have the right to data portability of your own personal data by contacting us.

• Right not to be subject to an automated decision, including profiling. We do not make automated decisions using your personal data that may negatively impact you.

• Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. If you consider that the processing of your personal data infringes your privacy rights according to the European data protection laws and regulations (including GDPR), then you have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, in the member state of your habitual residence, place of work, or place of the alleged infringement.

California Rights and Disclosures

• California Consumer Privacy Act Disclosures. If you are a resident of California (or another state that has adopted laws substantially similar to the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (“CCPA”)), you have the right to request:

  • The categories of personal information (including sensitive personal information if applicable) we have collected about you;

  • The categories of sources from which the personal information is collected;

  • The business or commercial purpose of collecting, selling, or sharing personal information;

  • The categories of third parties with whom we share or sell personal information;

  • The categories of personal information about you that we have disclosed;

  • The specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you.

• Additionally, you have the right:

  • to know the length of time we retain your personal information;

  • to request deletion of your personal information;

  • to request the correction of any inaccurate data;

  • to opt out of the sale or sharing of your information (as applicable);

  • to limit the use of sensitive personal information (if applicable); and

  • to not be discriminated against for exercising any of your CCPA rights.  

We will do our best to honor your requests subject to any legal, ethical, and contractual obligations. CCPA defines “Personal Information” using the following categories:

• (A) Identifiers such as a real name, alias, postal address, unique personal identifier, online identifier, Internet Protocol address, email address, account name, social security number, driver’s license number, passport number, or other similar identifiers.

• (B) Any categories of personal information described in subdivision (e) of Section 1798.80.

• (C) Characteristics of protected classifications under California or U.S. federal law.

• (D) Commercial information, including records of personal property, products or services purchased, obtained, or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies.

• (E) Biometric information.

• (F) Internet or other electronic network activity information, including, but not limited to, browsing history, search history, and information regarding a consumer’s interaction with an Internet website, application, or advertisement.

• (G) Geolocation data.

• (H) Audio, electronic, visual, thermal, olfactory, or similar information.

• (I) Professional or employment-related information.

• (J) Education information, defined as information that is not publicly available personally identifiable information as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. section 1232g, 34 C.F.R. Part 99).

• (K) Inferences drawn from any of the information identified in this subdivision to create a profile about a consumer reflecting the consumer’s preferences, characteristics, psychological trends, predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, and aptitudes.

The Firm may collect or receive from our clients and from third parties in connection with our representations of our clients, information about California consumers in each of the foregoing categories and disclose the information to our clients in connection with our representation and/or our service providers for business purposes. Any sensitive information we receive is used only for a business purpose and not for the purposes of inferring any characteristics of a consumer. Please see the sections above titled “Personal Data We Collect or Process,” “How We Use the Data” and “With Whom We Share Personal Data” for more information.

Our contact information is listed at the bottom of this policy. You may also submit a request on our Site by going to pierferd.com/contact and selecting gc@pierferd.com. If your name and email address are insufficient to verify your identity and assess your request, we may need to ask for additional information. You may also designate an authorized agent to make a CCPA data subject request.

• California “Shine the Light” Information-Sharing Disclosure: California residents may request a list of all third parties with respect to which we have disclosed any information about you for direct marketing purposes and the categories of information disclosed. If you are a California resident and want such a list, then please send us a written request by email to info@pierferd.com with “California Shine the Light Privacy Rights” in the subject line.

• California Do Not Track Disclosure: Depending on the browser you are using, you may be able to choose to block third-party cookies or browse in a private browsing mode. Our Site is accessible even when private browsing is turned on. The information we collect is governed by this Privacy Policy.

Retention Periods and Protection of Your Personal Data

We retain the personal data we collect for so long as reasonably necessary to fulfill the purposes for which the data was collected, to perform our contractual, legal and ethical obligations, and for any applicable statute of limitations periods.

We take reasonable administrative, physical, and technical precautions to protect your personal data and communications between us. This includes, when required or as we deem appropriate and feasible under the circumstances, written commitments from third parties that may have access to your data that they will protect the data with safeguards that are substantially equivalent to those used by the Firm. No Internet or email transmission is ever fully secure or error free, however. We therefore cannot guarantee absolute security of your data, and we are not responsible for processes and networks that we do not control and for unauthorized access to information by those who have gained access through illegal means.

Children’s Privacy

Our Site is a general audience site and does not offer services directed to children. Should an individual whom we know to be a child under age 18 send personal information to us, we will delete or destroy such information as soon as reasonably possible.

Information about International Transfers

If you are visiting our Site from outside the United States, please be aware that your information will be transferred to and stored and processed in the United States where our servers are located and our central database is operated. The data protection and other laws of the United States and other countries might not be as comprehensive as those in your country. By visiting our Site or using our services, you understand that your information will be transferred to our facilities and those third parties with whom we share it as described in this Privacy Policy.

Links to Other Sites

Occasionally the Firm may include links to third-party sites on its Site. The inclusion of any link does not imply that we endorse the products, services, or views offered at such linked site. These third-party sites have separate and independent privacy policies which we encourage you to review. We therefore have no responsibility or liability for the content and activities of these linked sites.

Privacy Policy Updates

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time in our sole discretion to reflect changes in our information practices. If we modify or update this Privacy Policy, we will post changes and updates on this Site so that you will always be aware of what information we collect, use and disclose. Your continued use of our Site after any changes to our Privacy Policy indicates your agreement with the terms of the revised Privacy Policy. Please review this Privacy Policy periodically and especially before you provide personal data to us. The date of the last update of the Privacy Policy is the Effective Date specified at the top of this Privacy Policy.

How you can contact us

To make a request or to ask us a question about our data practices, please contact us via email at info@pierferd.com.

In addition, you may contact us at:

Pierson Ferdinand LLP
Rockefeller Center
1270 Avenue of the Americas
7th Floor—1050
New York, NY 10020
+1.866.559.1811