Terms of Use of this Website and DDS Services

1a. This website ‘Doctors Defence Service’ www.doctorsdefenceservice.com, doctorsdefenceservice.com or ‘DDS’ is a ‘medical defence organisation’ operated by Trident Barristers Chambers, England, (Tel: 0161 66 33 123), a commercial legal organisation consisting of independent barristers who are regulated by the Bar Standards Board of England and Wales, UK. We have represented many doctors over the years.

1b. As a ‘medical defence organisation’ we represent the interests of doctors who use our services. We also advise and represent other clinicians and lay people in matters relating to healthcare and health policy, regulation, employment, Managing High Professional Standards (MHPS) among the many areas of law that we cover.

1c. Each of our medico-legal advisors is a barrister in independent practice, each of them coming together under articles of association, within Trident Chambers. Doctors Defence Service is a practice division of Trident Chambers.

2. By using this site, you confirm your agreement to all terms, conditions and notices contained or referenced herein. If you do not agree with these terms, please do not use this site as we do not give you authority to use it in such circumstances. We reserve the right to, as determined in our discretion, to update or revise these terms of usage at any time, without notice. You should check them at the beginning of each visit.

COPYRIGHT

3. All content and functionality on the site, including text, concepts, graphics, logos, icons, and images and the selection and arrangement thereof, is the exclusive property of Trident Barristers Chambers, or its licensors and is protected by English and international copyright laws. All rights not expressly granted are reserved.

TRADEMARKS

4. The trademarks, service marks, designs, and logos (collectively, the “Trademarks”) displayed on the site are the registered and unregistered Trademarks of Trident Barristers Chambers. and its licensors. You agree that you will not refer to or attribute any information to Trident Barristers Chambers, or its licensors in any public medium (e.g., press release, Web sites, etc.) for advertising or promotion purposes, or for the purpose of informing or influencing any third party and that you will not use or reproduce any Trademark of, or imply any endorsement by or relationship with, Trident Barristers Chambers or its licensors.

PERSONAL INFORMATION / PRIVACY POLICY / DATA POLICY / COOKIES

5. Please note that any information or material transferred or sent to Doctors Defence Service / Trident Barristers Chambers will be deemed to be confidential (and be subject to the Data Protection Acts, EU Law (inc. GDPR law) and Safe Harbor laws and policies, insofar as they apply) unless information (in whatsoever form) transgresses any law or regulation governing the good conduct of lawyers in England and Wales or the laws of England and Wales generally. By sending Doctors Defence Service / Trident Chambers any information or material(s), you grant Trident Chambers permission to use, reproduce, display, perform, modify, transmit and distribute those material(s) or information to any lawyer or clerk or staff member operating with or under the umbrella of Trident Chambers (such as a Practice Group or Practice Division, or other lawyer, solicitor or para-legal that we work with, or sister chambers) so that we can provide you with appropriate legal or other services. Our data is held confidentially and maybe held within the EU or overseas within Safe Harbors, in accordance with EU law and Information Governance laws of England. You consent to this by giving us any personal information. However, you have certain rights under the laws of the UK and EU law. See the Information Commissioner’s GDPR Guidance for more details.

6. Our website uses cookies. We use cookies to understand what is of interest to visitors, whether it is information or details about our services that is being sought. We use third-party software to analyse visitor interest and trends. We do not use information beyond these purposes and we do not sell data to others. If you would prefer to have any visitor information relevant to your visit to our website deleted, please contact us. We comply with EU data protection directives and respect the privacy of visitors. You can delete the cookie from your cache at any time on your computer system. If you do not wish to have a cookie then please leave this website and delete it. We remove data from our databases when it becomes unnecessary to retain it further.

6B. PRIVACY NOTICE 25/5/18 (INCLUDING GDPR)

Please read the following information carefully. This privacy notice contains information about the information collected, stored and otherwise processed about you and the reasons for the processing. It also tells you who we share this information with, the security mechanisms we have put in place to protect your data and how to contact us in the event you need further information. The data officer is our Head of organisation and you can contact them via our email or online form.

Who Are We/Am I?
Members, pupils, mini pupils and staff at Doctors Defence Service collect, use and are responsible for personal information about you. When they do this they are the ‘controller’ of this information for the purposes of the GDPR and the Data Protection Act 1998.

This document sets out how any individual lawyer (and their staff) at Doctors Defence Service will use and retain your data.

If you need to contact Doctors Defence Service about your data or the processing carried out you can use the contact details at the end of this document.

What do I do with your information?

Information collected
When carrying on our business and practices, processing applications or providing references we may collect some or all of the following personal information that you provide:

a. personal details

b. family details

c. lifestyle and social circumstances

d. goods and services

e. financial details

f. education, training and employment details

g. physical or mental health details

h. racial or ethnic origin

i. political opinions

j. religious, philosophical or other beliefs

k. trade union membership

l. sex life or sexual orientation

m. genetic data

n. biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person

o. criminal proceedings, outcomes and sentences, and related security measures

p. other personal data relevant to instructions to provide legal services, including data specific to the instructions in question.

Information collected from other sources
The same categories of information may also be obtained from third parties, such as other legal professionals or experts, members of the public, your family and friends, witnesses, courts and other tribunals, investigators, government departments, regulators, and public records and registers.

How we use your personal information: Purposes
We may use your personal information for the following purposes:

i. to provide legal services, including the provision of legal advice and representation in courts, tribunals, arbitrations, and mediations;

ii. to keep accounting records and carry out office administration;

iii. to take or defend legal or regulatory proceedings or to exercise a lien;

iv. to respond to potential complaints or make complaints;

v. to check for potential conflicts of interest in relation to future potential cases;

vi. to promote and market our services, but where this is done you will be anonymised where appropriate;

vii. to carry out anti-money laundering and terrorist financing checks;

viii. to train other barristers and when providing work-shadowing opportunities;

ix. to respond to requests for references;

x. to publish legal judgments and decisions of courts and tribunals;

xi. as required or permitted by law.

Whether information has to be provided by you, and why

If we have been instructed by you or on your behalf on a case, your personal information has to be provided, to enable us to provide you with advice or representation, and to enable us to comply with our professional obligations, and to keep accounting records.

The legal basis for processing your personal information
We rely on the following as the lawful bases on which we collect and use your personal information:

If you have consented to the processing of your personal information, then we may process your information for the Purposes set out above to the extent to which you have consented to us doing so.

If you are a client, processing is necessary for the performance of a contract for legal services or in order to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract.

In relation to information which is in categories (g) to (o) above (these being categories which are considered to include particularly sensitive information and which include information about criminal convictions or proceedings) we rely on your consent for any processing for the purposes set out in purposes (ii), (iv), (vi), (viii) and (ix) above. We need your consent to carry out processing of this data for these purposes. However, if you do not consent to processing for purposes (iv) and (ix) (responding to potential complaints and providing a reference) we will be unable to take your case. This is because we need to be able to retain all the material about your case until there is no prospect of a complaint and to provide an informed and complete reference.
In relation to information in categories (g) to (o) above (these being categories which are considered to be particularly sensitive information and include information about criminal convictions or proceedings), we are entitled by law to process the information where the processing is necessary for legal proceedings, legal advice, or otherwise for establishing, exercising or defending legal rights.In relation to information which is not in categories (g) to (o) above, we rely on our legitimate interest and/or the legitimate interests of a third party in carrying out the processing for the Purposes set out above.

In certain circumstances processing may be necessary in order that we can comply with a legal obligation to which we are subject (including carrying out anti-money laundering or terrorist financing checks).
The processing is necessary to publish judgments or other decisions of courts or tribunals.

Who will I share your personal information with?
If you are a client, some of the information you provide will be protected by Legal Professional Privilege unless and until the information becomes public in the course of any proceedings or otherwise. As barristers, we have an obligation to keep your information confidential, except where it otherwise becomes public or is disclosed as part of the case or proceedings.

It may be necessary to share your information with the following:

data processors, such as IT support staff, email providers, data storage providers;
other legal professionals;
experts and other witnesses;
prosecution authorities;
courts and tribunals;
the staff in chambers;
trainee barristers including pupils and mini-pupils;
lay clients;
family and associates of the person whose personal information we are processing;
other members of chambers in order to discuss your case or ensure cover of hearings where the barrister managing your case is not available;
barristers and staff at other chambers, where a layer at  is not available to cover your case and a lawyer at another chambers/firm needs to be instructed;
in the event of complaints, the Head of Chambers, other members of Chambers who deal with complaints, the Bar Standards Board, and the Legal Ombudsman;
other regulatory authorities;
current, past or prospective employers;
education and examining bodies;
business associates, professional advisers and trade bodies, e.g. the Bar Council;
the intended recipient, where you have asked DDS to provide a reference.
the general public in relation to the publication of legal judgments and decisions of courts and tribunals.
We may be required to provide your information to regulators, such as the Bar Standards Board, the Financial Conduct Authority or the Information Commissioner’s Office. In the case of the Information Commissioner’s Office, there is a risk that your information may lawfully be disclosed by them for the purpose of any other civil or criminal proceedings, without our consent or yours, which includes privileged information.

We may also be required to disclose your information to the police or intelligence services, where required or permitted by law.

The personal information we obtain may include information which has been obtained from:

other legal professionals
experts and other witnesses
prosecution authorities
courts and tribunals
trainee barristers
lay clients
family and associates of the person whose personal information I am processing
in the event of complaints, the Head of Chambers, other members of Chambers who deal with complaints, the Bar Standards Board, and the Legal Ombudsman
other regulatory authorities
current, past or prospective employers
education and examining bodies
business associates, professional advisers and trade bodies, e.g. the Bar Council
the intended recipient, where you have asked me to provide a reference.
the general public in relation to the publication of legal judgments and decisions of courts and tribunals
data processors, such as IT support staff, email providers, data storage providers
public sources, such as the press, public registers and law reports.

Cloud data storage services based in the USA who have agreed to comply with the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, in order to enable storage of your data and/or backup copies of your data so that it can be accessed when required. The USA does not have the same data protection laws as the EU but the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield has been recognised by the European Commission as providing adequate protection. To obtain further details of that protection see https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection/data-transfers-outside-eu/eu-us-privacy-shield_en.

Cloud data storage services based in Switzerland, in order to enable storage of your data and/or backup copies of your data so that it can be accessed when required. Switzerland does not have the same data protection laws as the EU but has been recognised by the European Commission as providing adequate protection; see https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection/data-transfers-outside-eu/adequacy-protection-personal-data-non-eu-countries_en

If you would like any further information please use the contact details at the end of this document.

How long will Doctors Defence Service store your personal data?

We will normally store all your information:

Until at least 1 year after the expiry of any relevant limitation period (which will usually be 6 years, but may be 12 years, or longer where the case includes information relating to a minor), from the date of the last item of work carried out, the date of the last payment received or the date on which all outstanding payments are written off, whichever is the latest. At this point any further retention will be reviewed and the data will be marked for deletion or marked for retention for a further period. The latter retention period is likely to occur only where the information is likely to be needed for legal proceedings, regulatory matters or active complaints. Deletion will be carried out (without further notice to you) as soon as reasonably practicable after the data is marked for deletion.

Circumstances in which data is likely to be retained beyond 1 year after the expiry of the relevant limitation period include where a lengthy sentence has been imposed and an appeal against sentence or conviction, or a complaint, remain possible. In such a case your information will be retained until such an appeal or complaint is no longer a realistic possibility.

We will store some of your information for which we need to carry out conflict checks for the rest of a barrister’s career. However, this is likely to be limited to your name and contact details or the name of the case. This will not include any information within categories (g) to (o) above.

Information related to anti-money laundering checks will be retained until five years after the completion of the transaction or the end of the business relationship, whichever is the later;
Names and contact details held for marketing purposes will be stored indefinitely or until we become aware or are informed that the individual has ceased to be a potential client.

Consent
As explained above, we are relying on your explicit consent to process your information in categories (g) to (o) above. You provided this consent when you agreed that a barrister at DDS would provide legal services.

You have the right to withdraw this consent at any time, but this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing activity we have carried out prior to you withdrawing your consent. However, where we also rely on other bases for processing your information, you may not be able to prevent processing of your data. For example, if you have asked a barrister to work for you and the barrister has spent time on your case, we may owe you money which you will be entitled to claim. The withdrawal of your consent will also not affect the lawful retention of your information for the purposes of a potential complaint or appeal, in accordance with our retention policy.

If there is an issue with the processing of your information, please contact DDS using the contact details below.

Your Rights
Under the GDPR, you have a number of rights that you can exercise in certain circumstances. These are free of charge. In summary, you may have the right to:

Ask for access to your personal information and other supplementary information;
Ask for correction of mistakes in your data or to complete missing information held on you;
Ask for your personal information to be erased, in certain circumstances;
Receive a copy of the personal information you have provided to us or have this information sent to a third party. This will be provided to you or the third party in a structured, commonly used and machine readable format, e.g. a Word file;
Object at any time to processing of your personal information for direct marketing;
Object in certain other situations to the continued processing of your personal information;
Restrict processing of your personal information in certain circumstances;
Request not to be the subject to automated decision-making which produces legal effects that concern you or affects you in a significant way.
If you want more information about your rights under the GDPR please see the Guidance from the Information Commissioners Office on Individual’s rights under the GDPR.

If you want to exercise any of these rights, please:

Use the contact details at the end of this document;
Provide sufficient information so that you can be identified;
Provide a contact address so that you can be contacted to request further information to verify your identity;
Provide proof of your identity and address;
State the right or rights that you wish to exercise.
We will respond to you within one month from when we receive your request.

Marketing Emails
Please note if you wish to unsubscribe from any marketing emails that you have signed up for, you can do so by emailing us. It may take 5 working days for this to become effective. We generally do not send marketing emails.

How to make a complaint?
The GDPR also gives you the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioners’ Office if you are in the UK, or with the supervisory authority of the Member State where you work, normally live or where the alleged infringement of data protection laws occurred. The Information Commissioner’s Office can be contacted at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/.

Future Processing

Doctors Defence Service does not intend to process your personal information except for the reasons stated within this privacy notice. If this changes, this privacy notice will be amended and placed on the website.

Changes to this privacy notice

This privacy notice was published on 25th May 2018 and last updated on that date.

We continually review our privacy practices and may change this policy from time to time. When we do it will be placed on the website.

DISCLAIMERS

7. Doctors Defence Service / Trident Barristers Chambers provides this web site and the information contained herein on an “as is” basis, without warranties or conditions of any kind, either express or implied, including, without limitation, any warranties or conditions of title, non-infringement, merchantability, or fitness for a particular purpose. You agree that you are solely responsible for determining the appropriateness of using the information provided on this web site and assume any risks associated with doing so. We cannot vouch for the accuracy of any words, concept or legal matter and users of this website should not rely on any commentary of article or other document or download without formally consulting a an appropriately qualified lawyer to advise. We cannot vouch that our website is virus-free or has not been hacked.

8. Doctors Defence Service / Trident Barristers Chambers provides links to third party web sites as a convenience, and it neither endorses nor accepts responsibility for the content of any such sites. If you choose to go to sites linked to the web site, you do so at your own risk. If you are a linked web page and would prefer us to remove the link then please contact us.

9. In no event and under no legal theory, whether in tort (including negligence), contract, or otherwise, unless required by applicable law (such as deliberate and grossly negligent acts) or agreed to in writing, shall Doctors Defence Service / Trident Barristers Chambers / or any person connected be liable for damages, including any direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages of any character arising as a result of the use of or inability to use this web site or the information contained herein (including but not limited to damages for loss of goodwill, work stoppage, computer failure or malfunction, or any and all other commercial damages or losses), even if such Doctors Defence Service / Trident Barristers Chambers or another has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

10. No reliance should be placed on any guidance or ‘advice’, answers to questions posted, or text within this website. Independent legal advice should always be obtained.

11. DDS legal services, Urgent Legal Advice Service Scheme, and other services provision is not guaranteed and may be subject to availability. Doctors Defence Service, Trident Barristers Chambers, and any other organisation or person working with us, whether lawyers or otherwise, reserve the right to decline to take on a case at their/our discretion. Prior to the provision of services we may require a client care letter or other contract to be signed, and certain ID documents to be produced. Fees may be payable on account before any work is undertaken, for work that we know needs to be done.

12. Calls to DDS or any affiliated organisation may be charged by your telecoms provider. ‘Freephone’ is usually available free from BT landlines in the UK. Other networks may vary and charge for the call.

13. By using this website, you agree that the sole location and forum for any dispute resolution will be the courts of England and Wales, UK.

14. Calling our 0800 10 88 739 telephone number may be free of charge from some UK landlines but some telecommunications companies, especially mobile phone companies, may charge. There is on occasions aconenction charge and a per minute charge to call us when the freephone service is incompatible with your telecoms organisation.

15. We do not give permission to advertisers to use our online form to contact us. This is deemed to be spam by us and we do not want such use of online forms as it is disruptive. We deny the right of anyone to send spam or commercial advertising to us via our online form. We consider this to be an act of abuse of our website, which is dedicated to clients who seek legal services. Bots or people that send advertising messages via our contact form are strictly prohibited from using our contact form.

Contracts

16. When instructing one of our lawyers (or external) consultants you are instructing them directly, rather than Doctors Defence Service. Doctors Defence Service is a brand of Trident Chambers. Where solicitors instruct us, The Bar Standard Terms will apply.

Complaints

17. See our complaints policy information for more details, on another page.

Equality Data

18. See out equality data on another page.

Pricing

19. See our fee structures on another page.

Client Money

20. We do not handle client money, except where our fees are paid, or we ask for monies on account for work that we know needs to be done. In some instances, we shall ask you to reimburse us for expenses or disbursements that we have had to meet. We might also ask you to pay court fees and other monies direct to other parties or legal representatives. When you make payment do not merely rely on the email or text or letter. Do your own due diligence before sending anyone money. There are a lot of scammers out there.

Membership

21a. In some circumstances, we might allow our clients to adopt ‘member’ status but only with our express, written permission. Terms apply. Separate terms of membership (from the terms set out in this website) would also apply.

21b. The status of ‘member’ does not entitle our clients to any particular service, asset, benefit, status, right, compensation, or legal costs, indemnity, contribution or reward.

21c. Any relationship will be governed by the terms set out in our client care letters (or formally signed terms of membership should we implement them), which will often be bespoke to each client.

21d. ‘Membership’ of DDS is at our sole discretion and would be by formal agreement outwith this website’s terms. We may cease membership status or cancel membership at any time. Non-Members may also be able to use our services in some instances, at our sole discretion:  Terms Apply.

21e. A client care letter does not grant membership. Our membership arrangements are in development at the moment. All instructions at this time will be in the form of direct public access under BSB regulation, or via solicitor instruction.

22f. Our intention is for DDS to in time become a BSB regulated entity, but at this time we have not taken that step, and therefore remain a division of a barristers chambers.

Queries

23. If you have any queries, please contact us.

Jurisdiction

24. All disputes and claims relating to this website, its contents, images, guidance or advice, and any of our services, are reserved to the courts of England and Wales as the forum for resolution.

Service of Legal Documents

25. We only accept service via post, at our London address. 

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Doctors Defence Service is as division of Trident Barristers Chambers, part of the Chambers of Lee Gledhill, based at 13 Halstead Road, Wanstead, London, E11 2AY