Privacy Policy

York Hart & Lane LLP and its associated and affiliated entities (collectively, "York Hart & Lane," "YHL," the "Firm," "we," "us," or "our") are committed to protecting your privacy and to handling your personal information responsibly and transparently. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect personal information in connection with our website at www.yorkhart.com and any related digital properties (the "Website"), our business development and marketing activities, the legal services we provide to clients and prospective clients ("Client Services"), and our other online and offline interactions with you (collectively, the "Services").

This Privacy Policy does not apply to personal information that we collect from our personnel or from applicants and candidates for employment, which is addressed in separate notices. Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. If you do not agree with it, please do not use the Website or provide personal information to us. If you are a California resident, please also review the section "Additional Information for California Residents" below.

1. Definitions

"Personal information" means information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, to a particular individual or household. "Sensitive personal information" means personal information that reveals certain categories of information, such as government-issued identifiers, financial account details, or similar information, as defined under applicable law. "Process" means any operation performed on personal information, such as collection, use, storage, disclosure, or deletion.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information you provide to us

We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide, for example when you subscribe to our client alerts or newsletters, register for an event, seminar, or webinar, submit an inquiry through a contact form or by email, engage us or seek to engage us for Client Services, or otherwise communicate with us. Depending on the context, this information may include:

• identification and contact details, such as your name, title, employer, job position, postal and email addresses, and telephone number;
• the content of your inquiries, correspondence, and the subject matter on which you are seeking assistance;
• event-related information, such as registration details, dietary preferences or accessibility requirements (which may reveal information about your health or beliefs), and CLE bar numbers where applicable;
• information required for our conflict-of-interest checks, client onboarding, and "know your client" and anti-money-laundering obligations, which may include government-issued identification, date of birth, and beneficial-ownership information; and
• billing and payment details provided in connection with Client Services.

2.2 Information collected automatically

When you visit and interact with the Website, we and our service providers may use cookies and similar technologies to automatically collect certain information, including your Internet Protocol (IP) address and approximate location, device and browser type, operating system, language settings, referring and exit pages, and information about your activity on the Website, such as the pages you view, the links you click, and the dates, times, and duration of your visits. We may also use analytics and tracking tools (for example, Google Analytics) to understand how the Website is used and to measure the effectiveness of our communications, including whether you open an email or click a link within it. For more information and your choices, please see our Cookie Policy.

2.3 Information from other sources

We may receive personal information about you from third parties and other sources, including our clients and their representatives, our vendors and professional advisers, co-hosts or co-sponsors of events, referral sources, and publicly available sources and social media platforms (for example, LinkedIn). If you are employed by or associated with a current or prospective client, that client may provide us with personal information about you as part of our engagement. We may combine information we receive from these sources with information we collect directly from you and use the combined information as described in this Privacy Policy.

3. How We Use Personal Information

We use personal information for the following purposes:

• to operate, maintain, secure, and improve the Website and to personalize your experience;
• to provide and administer Client Services and to manage our relationships with clients, prospective clients, and vendors;
• to respond to your inquiries, requests, and communications;
• to send client alerts, newsletters, event invitations, and other marketing communications that may be of interest to you, subject to your choices and applicable law;
• to organize, host, and administer events, seminars, and webinars;
• to conduct research, analytics, and business development and to evaluate and improve the Services;
• to maintain the security of our systems and to detect, prevent, and investigate fraud, security incidents, and other unlawful or harmful activity;
• to comply with our legal, regulatory, and professional obligations, including conflict-of-interest checks, "know your client," and anti-money-laundering requirements, and to respond to lawful requests from authorities; and
• to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims and otherwise to protect the rights, property, and safety of the Firm and others.

4. Legal Bases for Processing

Where applicable law (such as in jurisdictions outside the United States) requires us to identify a legal basis for processing your personal information, we rely, as relevant, on the following: the performance of a contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract; our legitimate interests in operating and promoting our practice, provided these are not overridden by your rights; compliance with a legal or regulatory obligation; and your consent, where required (for example, for certain marketing or cookies), which you may withdraw at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.

5. How We Disclose Personal Information

We may disclose personal information to the following categories of recipients, subject to appropriate confidentiality and data-protection obligations:

• other YHL offices and affiliated entities, for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy;
• service providers and vendors that perform functions on our behalf, such as IT, hosting, cybersecurity, email delivery, analytics, payment processing, document management, translation, and event services;
• our professional advisers, such as auditors, accountants, insurers, and lawyers;
• co-sponsors and co-hosts of events, to administer those events;
• clients and other third parties in connection with Client Services, such as local or co-counsel, experts, courts, opposing parties and their counsel, and litigation-support providers;
• governmental, regulatory, or law-enforcement authorities, and other parties, where necessary to comply with applicable law or legal process, to enforce our terms, or to protect rights, property, or safety; and
• acquirers or successors in connection with a reorganization, merger, acquisition, or transfer of all or part of our business or assets.

6. We Do Not Sell Your Personal Information

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not "sell" or "share" personal information as those terms are defined under the California Consumer Privacy Act (see Section 13 below). We may de-identify, anonymize, or aggregate information so that it no longer identifies you and may use and disclose such information for any purpose permitted by law.

7. Third-Party Websites and Services

The Website may contain links to third-party websites and services whose privacy practices differ from ours. This Privacy Policy does not apply to those third-party services, and we are not responsible for their content or privacy practices. We encourage you to review the privacy notice of any third-party service before providing your personal information to it.

8. Data Security

We maintain reasonable technical, administrative, and organizational measures designed to protect personal information under our control against unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures include, among others, access controls on a need-to-know basis, encryption where appropriate, network security, and contractual safeguards with our service providers. However, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. Email is not a secure medium; please do not transmit sensitive or confidential information to us by unsecured email.

9. Data Retention

We retain personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, including to provide the Services, and as required to satisfy our legal, regulatory, professional, accounting, and reporting obligations or to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims. To determine the appropriate retention period, we consider, among other factors: the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the information; the purposes for which we process it and whether those purposes can be achieved by other means; our contractual and professional obligations; and applicable legal and regulatory requirements. When personal information is no longer required, we will delete it or de-identify it.

10. International Transfers

YHL operates internationally, and your personal information may be transferred to, stored in, or accessed from the United States and other jurisdictions whose data-protection laws may differ from those of your country or region of residence, and where it may be subject to lawful access requests by courts or authorities. Where we transfer personal information across borders, we take steps designed to ensure that it receives an appropriate level of protection in accordance with applicable law, which may include the use of recognized safeguards such as standard contractual clauses.

11. Your Choices

We offer you choices regarding how we use your personal information:

• Marketing communications. You may opt out of receiving marketing communications at any time by following the unsubscribe instructions in any such communication or by contacting us at Corpfin@yorkhart.com. Even if you opt out, we may still send you non-marketing messages, such as those relating to ongoing matters or administrative notices.
• Cookies. You can manage cookies through your browser settings and, where available, through our cookie-preference tools, as described in our Cookie Policy.
• Access and updates. You may contact us to update or correct the contact information we hold about you.

12. Children's Privacy

The Services are intended for adults and are not directed to children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from individuals under the age of 18 (or under 16 where applicable under the CCPA). If you believe that a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us at Corpfin@yorkhart.com so that we can take appropriate action.

13. Additional Information for California Residents

This section supplements the information above and applies to California residents. It is provided under the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act and its implementing regulations (collectively, the "CCPA"). The following table summarizes the categories of personal information (as defined by the CCPA) that we have collected about California residents in the preceding twelve (12) months, the categories of sources from which we collected it, and the categories of recipients to whom we may disclose it for a business purpose.

Purposes and no sale or sharing

We collect and use these categories of personal information for the business and commercial purposes described in the "How We Use Personal Information" and "How We Disclose Personal Information" sections above. We do not "sell" or "share" (as those terms are defined in the CCPA) personal information, and we have not done so in the preceding twelve (12) months, including with respect to the personal information of consumers under 16 years of age. We use and disclose sensitive personal information only for the limited purposes permitted under the CCPA and do not use it to infer characteristics about you.

Your California privacy rights

Subject to certain exceptions, California residents have the right to: (i) know and access the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected, the categories of sources, the business or commercial purposes for collecting it, and the categories of third parties to whom we disclose it; (ii) request deletion of personal information we collected from you; (iii) correct inaccurate personal information we maintain about you; and (iv) not be subject to discrimination or retaliation for exercising these rights.

To exercise these rights, you may contact us at Corpfin@yorkhart.com or by mail at York Hart & Lane LLP, 418 Broadway, Ste N, Albany, NY 12207. We will verify your request by matching the information you provide with information we maintain; we may request additional information for verification purposes only. You may use an authorized agent to submit a request on your behalf, in which case we may require proof of the agent's authorization and verification of your identity. These rights are not absolute, and we may decline a request where a statutory or regulatory exemption applies, including where information is subject to legal professional privilege or our professional confidentiality obligations.

California "Shine the Light"

California's "Shine the Light" law permits California residents to request information about a business's disclosure of personal information to third parties for those third parties' own direct marketing purposes. We do not disclose personal information to third parties for their own direct marketing purposes.

14. Other U.S. State Privacy Rights

Residents of certain other U.S. states that have enacted comprehensive consumer privacy laws may have rights similar to those described above, such as the rights to access, correct, delete, and obtain a copy of their personal information, subject to the exceptions and conditions of the applicable state law. To exercise any such rights, please contact us using the details in the "Contact Us" section below, and we will respond as required by applicable law.

15. Do Not Track

Some web browsers offer a "Do Not Track" ("DNT") signal. Because no common industry or legal standard for recognizing or responding to DNT signals has been adopted, the Website does not currently respond to DNT browser signals. We will continue to monitor developments in this area and update our practices as appropriate.

16. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technologies, or applicable law. When we make changes, we will revise the "Last Updated" date above and, in the case of material changes, provide additional notice as required by applicable law. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about our practices.

17. Contact Us

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our handling of your personal information, or if you wish to exercise any of your rights, please contact:

York Hart & Lane LLP
418 Broadway, Ste N, Albany, NY 12207
Email: Corpfin@yorkhart.com