Use of this Website is subject to the terms and conditions (Terms) set forth below. Access to this Website is an acknowledgement that these Terms, as amended from time to time, have been read and accepted. To aid in navigation of these Terms, they have been divided into several sections. To access a section, please click on the appropriate link below:
General
Location of Website Host
Materials on this Website
No Assurances
Malicious Code
Third Party Information and Links to Other Entities
Contacting K&L Gates
No Lawyer-Client Relationship
Privacy
Limitation of Liability
IRS Circular 230 Disclosure
Indemnification
Miscellaneous
General
K&L Gates comprises multiple affiliated entities: a limited liability partnership named K&L Gates LLP qualified in Delaware and maintaining offices in certain states throughout the United States, and in Beijing (K&L Gates LLP Beijing Representative Office), Berlin, Doha, Dubai, Frankfurt, Munich, Seoul, and Shanghai (K&L Gates LLP Shanghai Representative Office); a Delaware general partnership (K&L Gates GP) maintaining an office in Brussels; a limited liability partnership established under the laws of Ireland (K&L Gates (Ireland) LLP) maintaining an office in Dublin; a limited liability partnership (also named K&L Gates LLP) incorporated in England and Wales and maintaining offices in London and Paris; a multi-disciplinary partnership under the laws of the Commonwealth of Australia (K&L Gates) maintaining offices in Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney; a Hong Kong general partnership (K&L Gates, Solicitors) maintaining an office in Hong Kong; a Luxembourg private limited liability company (K&L Gates Volckrick S.à r.l.) maintaining an office in Luxembourg; a professional association established and organized under the laws of Italy (Studio Legale Associato) maintaining an office in Milan; a general partnership organized under the laws of Brazil (K&L Gates LLP – Consultores em Direito Estrangeiro/Direito Norte-Americano) maintaining an office in São Paulo; a Singapore limited liability company (K&L Gates Straits Law LLC) maintaining an office in Singapore; a Taiwan general partnership (K&L Gates) maintaining an office in Taipei; a joint enterprise formed in accordance with Japanese regulations (K&L Gates Gaikokuho Joint Enterprise) maintaining an office in Tokyo.
K&L Gates maintains appropriate registrations in the jurisdictions in which its offices are located. The Firm is therefore subject to the rules of various jurisdictions and professional bodies depending on where each office is located. The Firm's lawyers are subject to the rules of the regulatory bodies to which they are admitted and are admitted to practice in the jurisdictions listed on their individual resumes. A list of the partners in each entity is available for inspection at any K&L Gates office.
Location of Website Host
The host server for this Website is located in Hilliard, Ohio, United States of America.
Materials on this Website
The materials on this Website are for general information purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice, legal opinion or any other advice on any specific facts or circumstances. Readers should not act or refrain from acting upon this information without seeking professional advice. Transmission of information on or by use of this Website is not intended to create, and receipt does not constitute, a lawyer-client relationship between the sender and receiver. Such communications will not be treated as confidential. Photographs and other graphics may be for dramatization purposes only and may include models. Likenesses do not necessarily imply current client, partnership or employee status.
No Assurances
The information on this Website is subject to change without notice. Although we try to keep our Website current and accurate, you should not rely on this information or its applicability to any specific circumstances without first seeking professional advice. The information on this Website should in no way be taken as an indication of future developments or results. K&L Gates makes no warranties, representations, or claims of any kind concerning the information available from, or the operation of, this Website. K&L Gates and contributing authors expressly disclaim all liability to any person in respect of the consequences of anything done or omitted to be done wholly or partly in reliance upon the use or contents of this Website.
Malicious Code
The Firm has procedures in place to check whether the operation of this Website, including materials posted to it, might have been compromised by malicious code. However, we cannot guarantee that such operation is free of malicious code and we do not accept any responsibility for any damage or loss caused by any such code.
Third Party Information and Links to Other Entities
This Website may provide links to a variety of other Internet resources and may provide access to third-party information. However, K&L Gates is not responsible for any third party content, products or services that may be accessed through the Website and the availability of links on this Website to such third party content, products or services should not be construed as referrals to, or endorsements of, the linked entities or the content, products or services that they make available. K&L Gates will remove any link from this Website upon request from the linked entity. Without our prior written consent, you may not link material on this Website with another website, or associate or frame material on this Website with another webpage or materials of any other entity.
Contacting K&L Gates
Persons contacting K&L Gates through the Internet e-mail facility provided through this Website should not send confidential, privileged or sensitive information. If you have a specific legal question, please provide details in the e-mail of how we can contact you and the general nature of your inquiry, without providing any confidential specifics. We will then endeavour to pass on your e-mail enquiry to one of our qualified lawyers. If the matter is very time-sensitive, please telephone a lawyer at any of our offices. Your use of the Internet e-mail facility on this Website does not give rise to a lawyer-client relationship. We will endeavour to respond to any question submitted through the Website’s e-mail facility but accept no liability for failure to do so.
No Lawyer-Client Relationship
This Website is not intended to be an offer to represent any person. Your use of the Internet e-mail facility on this Website does not give rise to a lawyer-client relationship. Please do not consider there to be any lawyer-client relationship between you and the Firm or any of its lawyers unless or until: (i) you have sought to retain us; (ii) we have had an opportunity to check and clear any conflicts; and (iii) you have received a letter from us confirming the retention and its scope.
Privacy Policy
We recognize that privacy and data security are important issues, and so have taken steps to safeguard the information that you may provide to us through this Website. Please click here to view our Privacy Policy.
Limitation of Liability
In no event shall K&L Gates, its partners officers, employees, agents or contributors to this Website be liable for any loss or injury, or any damages, whether direct, special, indirect, punitive, incidental, exemplary, consequential, or otherwise, whether based on breach of contract, tort (including negligence), product liability or otherwise, resulting from or occasioned by your access to or use of this Website.
IRS Circular 230 Disclosure
To ensure compliance with certain IRS requirements, we inform you that any tax advice contained on this website is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing, or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed on this website.
Indemnification
You agree that you will not use this Website for any unlawful purpose or for any purpose prohibited by these Terms. You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless K&L Gates, its partners and contributors from any liability, loss, claim and expense (including attorneys’ reasonable fees) related to your violation of these Terms.
Miscellaneous
If any of these Terms is or becomes illegal, invalid or unenforceable in any jurisdiction, that shall not affect: (a) the legality, validity or enforceability in that jurisdiction of any other Term or (b) the legality, validity or enforceability in other jurisdictions of that Term or any other Term.
We reserve the right to vary or amend these terms and conditions from time to time. Any changes shall take effect upon posting to this Website.
Disclaimer
This website is intended to provide a general summary only and should not be relied on as a substitute for specific legal advice. K&L Gates complies with the Spam and Privacy Acts. If your contact details are incorrect, or if you do not wish to receive any electronic or other communications from K&L Gates, please contact our Database Administrator by email at database@klgates.com.
Code of Conduct
To view the Migration Agents Registration Authority Code of Conduct, please click here.
BRUSSELS OFFICE LEGAL SERVICES PRIVACY POLICY AS AT 1ST MARCH 2023
K&L Gates is a global legal services provider and we are committed to respecting your data privacy. We act in accordance with applicable data privacy laws when collecting and using personal information provided to us, or which we have obtained during the course of providing our services.
This Privacy Policy explains our information practices in relation to personal information. If you are a client of K&L Gates, you should read this Policy together with our terms of engagement.
When This Policy Applies
This Privacy Policy explains how we manage personal information that we obtain:
- In the course of carrying out business intake procedures;
- From or about individuals who are our clients;
- From or about individuals in the course of providing legal services to our clients;
- From or about individuals in the course of operating our business generally, including marketing data and data from digital initiatives.
How We Collect Personal Information and the Types of Personal Information
The personal information we may directly collect from you will depend on the nature of your interactions with K&L Gates and whether you:
- Have engaged our legal services;
- Are a recipient of our marketing communications or attend events;
- Have interacted with K&L Gates’ websites, similar technologies or your interactions involve the use of relationship insight tools;
- Have a connection to a member of our personnel;
- Or have a vendor relationship or similar with K&L Gates.
In addition, we may collect personal information about you from third parties. Third parties may include but are not limited to instructing clients (where your information forms part of a client matter) and providers of verification services for client onboarding. We may monitor your use and interactions with our websites, marketing we send and communications between you and K&L Gates.
Depending on the circumstances, the types of personal information collected by K&L Gates may include:
- Basic details such as your name, contact details, job title and the name of your employer,
- Financial information such as billing addresses, bank accounts and payment information,
- Identification, background verification information, evidence of ownership or source of funds or source of wealth collected for business acceptance purposes and anti-money laundering requirements,
- Special categories of data such as race, ethnicity, trade union membership, information about health or information about your political, religious or philosophical beliefs,
- Information that relates to criminal matters,
- Information that relates to children (although K&L Gates does not target children when offering legal services),
- Photographic, audio and video content (which can include CCTV footage if you visit our premises),
- Information that you have provided in relation to marketing preferences, registering for events and meetings (which may include access and dietary requirements);
- Information relating to your website usage and technical data that is collected through tracking technologies and relationship insight tools; and
- Any other information relating to you that you or others may provide.
Purposes for Which we Use Your Personal Information
We will only use your personal information when the law allows us to do so. Most commonly we will use your personal information in the following circumstances, where permitted:
- When we need to perform a contract we are about to or have entered into with you;
- When we need to do so to comply with a legal obligation;
- Where permitted by law, when it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests;
- When it is necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims;
- If you have already made the information public; or
- If you have given your consent.
We may rely on more than one circumstance for a particular category of personal information.
To the extent permitted by law, the particular legitimate interests upon which we rely in processing your personal information include the following:
For the Purposes of Carrying Out Business Intake Procedures
This will include using and/or obtaining information for the purposes of carrying out anti-money laundering, conflict and other business intake searches.
For Providing Legal Advice to Our Clients
The information may include contact data, data concerning your employment or business activities and any other data relevant to the transaction, litigation or other matter upon which we are advising. Where necessary (such as in employment work) and, permitted by law, that data may include ‘special categories’ of personal information such as that relating to health.
For the Purposes of Marketing Our Services
We may use information about you for the purposes of promoting our business, if you request information about our services or indicate that you have an interest in receiving communications on legal topics, respond to invitations to events, or comment on our blogs or social networks. Based on that information, we may also identify further products, services, legal topics and events about which you may wish to know more.
You have the right to ask us not to process your personal information for marketing purposes. You can exercise your right to prevent such processing by checking the appropriate boxes on the forms we use to collect your data. You can also exercise that right at any time by contacting us as set out below.
For the Functioning of Our Business and Its Operations
We may use your personal information in the course of operating our business, including the management of our relationships with third party suppliers, dealing with our insurance arrangements, facilitating a business sale, acquisition or restructuring or for seeking external legal advice.
Change of Purpose
We will only use your personal information for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If we need to use your personal information for an unrelated purpose, we will only do so if legally permitted to do so and with appropriate notice (or consent, if required by law).
If you wish to understand more about the basis upon we are using your data please contact us.
Transferring Your Information
K&L Gates is a global law firm. Your personal information is stored on servers located in different countries, and your personal information may be processed by K&L Gates worldwide for business or administrative purposes. Information held in hard copy is stored onsite or at secure locations. The types of personal information involved and uses include those detailed above where appropriate.
Within K&L Gates, we may transfer personal information outside of the United Kingdom (UK), European Economic Area (EEA) or outside of a jurisdiction where you are located. When we transfer personal information from our offices in the UK and EEA or the jurisdiction where you are located, we do so under a Personal Data Transfer Agreement that conforms to UK and European data privacy law, using Standard Contractual Clauses, or to applicable law in the jurisdiction where you are to our offices outside of the UK and the EEA.
We may provide personal information to third parties that perform operational services for us solely for our use and benefit or professional advisors (such as barristers and local counsel) and service providers (such as document review platforms) in order for them to perform services on behalf of a client with their consent. We will only transfer your personal information in these circumstances where we are satisfied that it will be subject to an appropriate level of protection and in accordance with any safeguards that may be legally required. On occasion, K&L Gates may be required by law to disclose personal information by a regulator, court or authority. Where necessary and with appropriate safeguards, K&L Gates may also need to disclose information to its professional advisors (e.g. legal and financial advisors), bankers, auditors, insurers and insurance brokers.
WHEN WE DISCLOSE INFORMATION
As a fully integrated global law firm, K&L Gates may engage third-party contractors and vendors to help us accomplish our business objectives and services. There are other circumstances where we are required by law to disclose personal information to third-parties, such as public bodies or judicial authorities.
K&L Gates Affiliates
We may disclose your personal information within our K&L Gates affiliates to provide legal and other services. Contact details of K&L Gates affiliated entities are available here and a list of our offices are available here.
Third-Party Contractors and Vendors
We use third-party contractors and vendors for the purposes listed above and to perform operational services for us solely for our use and benefit and service providers (such as document review platforms) in order for them to perform services on behalf of a client with their consent. We require these third-parties to treat personal information consistent with this Privacy Policy and each of them is required to enter into a legally binding agreement with K&L Gates.
Third Parties Engaged in the Context of the Provision of Legal and Other Services to Clients
These third parties include regulators, corporate registries, public authorities, courts/tribunals, lawyers, private investigators, arbitrators, financial organizations, advisors and other professionals.
Law Enforcement, Judicial Authorities, and Third-Parties
Applicable law may require us and our service providers to disclose your information if it is necessary to comply with laws, court orders or government requests or when it is necessary for the prevention of illegal activity or other wrongdoing. In other circumstances, we may share your personal information to protect our legal rights or those of other parties, or for the establishment, exercise or defence of a legal claim.
Third-Parties in the Context of a Business Transfer
We may transfer your personal information if we are involved, whether in whole or in part, in a merger, sale, acquisition, restructuring, dissolution, bankruptcy or other change of ownership or control. If a transfer occurs, we will require that the transferee use personal information in a manner that is consistent with this Privacy Policy and inform you, as the case may be, in accordance with applicable law.
Associations and Professional Bodies
This includes, but is not limited to education, training and examining bodies.
Other Third-Parties Based on Your Consent
We may ask for your consent to share your information with other third parties. In any such case, we will make it clear why and how we want to share the information.
UK AND EU DATA PROTECTION
Certain Data Protection Rights
If we process any of the above personal data through our UK and European offices (or otherwise benefit from such rights by application of the UK and/or EU General Data Protection Regulation), you have the following rights:
Request Access to Your Personal Information (Commonly Known as a "Data Subject Access Request")
This enables you to receive a copy of the personal information we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it, subject to the conditions set forth in the Law of 30 July 2018 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data.
Request Correction of the Personal Information That We Hold About You
This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate information we hold about you corrected, though we may need to verify the accuracy of the new information you provide to us.
Request Erasure of Your Personal Information
This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal information where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it
You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal information where you have successfully exercised your right to object to processing (see below), where we may have processed your information unlawfully or where we are required to erase your personal information to comply with local law.
Object to Processing of Your Personal Information Where We Are Relying on a Legitimate Interest (or That of a Third Party) and There is Something About Your Particular Situation Which Makes You Want to Object to Processing on This Ground as You Feel It Impacts on Your Fundamental Rights and Freedoms
You also have the right to object at any time where we are processing your personal information for direct marketing purposes.
Request Restriction of Processing of Your Personal Information
This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of your personal information in the following scenarios (a) if you want us to establish the information's accuracy; (b) where our use of the information is unlawful but you do not want us to erase it; (c) where you need us to hold the information even if we no longer require it as you need it to establish, exercise or defend legal claims; or (d) you have objected to our use of your information but we need to verify whether we have overriding legitimate grounds to use it.
Request the Transfer of Your Personal Information to You or to a Third Party (Commonly Known as a "Right to Portability")
We will provide to you, or a third party you have chosen, your personal information in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format. Note that this right only applies to information which you initially provided to us based on (i) your consent or (ii) the performance of a contract with you and where such information is being processed through automated means.
Withdraw Consent at Any Time Where We Are Relying on Consent to Process Your Personal Information
However, this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdraw your consent. If you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide certain products or services to you. We will advise you if this is the case at the time you withdraw your consent.
If you would like to exercise your data protection rights, or to discuss any of the above rights, please contact us at privacy@klgates.com.
We will make reasonable efforts to comply with the aforementioned requests, unless such requests are prohibited by law, or there is a legitimate purpose to retain your personal data, in which case we will inform you without undue delay and in any case within 30 (thirty) days from the receipt of your request. We reserve the right to verify your identity before any request relating to your personal data processed by us.
If you are not satisfied with our answer or the way we process your personal data pursuant to this Privacy Policy, for UK residents, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office or for EU residents, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a Data Protection Authority by clicking here or with the Data Protection Authority in your Member State.
Information Retention
We will retain your personal information for the period necessary to fulfil the purposes for which you provided it to us, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.
The criteria used to determine our retention periods include:
- The length of time we have an ongoing relationship with you and provide services to you (for example, for as long as you are our client);
- Whether there is a legal obligation to which we are subject (for example, certain laws require us to keep client records for a certain period of time before we can delete them);
- Whether retention is advisable considering our legal position and for recordkeeping purposes (such as, for statutes of limitations, litigation or regulatory investigations).
Data Controller
For the purposes of UK and EU data protection law K&L Gates GP is the data controller responsible for the personal information processed through our Brussels Office and has appointed the London office of K&L Gates LLP (UK) as a representative in the UK.
Please direct inquiries regarding UK or EU data protection to privacy@klgates.com or:
K&L Gates LLP
Attention: Information Security
K&L Gates Center
210 Sixth Avenue
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
For any individual whose personal data may be processed through one of our German offices, you can also direct your inquiries to:
K&L Gates LLP
Datenschutzbeauftragter
Markgrafenstr.42
10117 Berlin
datenschutz@klgates.com
Security
K&L Gates takes precautions intended to help protect information that we process, but no system or electronic data transmission is completely secure. Any transmission of your personal information is at your own risk and we expect that you will use appropriate security measures to protect your personal information.
K&L Gates has earned ISO/IEC 27001 certification from the International Organization for Standardization, an independent, non-governmental international organization. ISO/IEC 27001 is a rigorous framework for information security management systems that is designed to ensure the accessibility, confidentiality and integrity of information.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy from time to time. The "Effective Date" at the beginning of this Policy indicates when this Privacy Policy was last revised. If we modify this Privacy Policy, we will post the revised version on the Website, with an updated revision date at least thirty days prior to such changes being effective. Where such changes are substantial, we will also notify you by other means prior to the changes taking effect, such as by sending you an email notification. By continuing to use the Website thirty days after such revisions are in effect, you will be deemed to accept and agree to the revisions and to abide by them. If you would like a copy of the prior version, please contact us at privacy@klgates.com.
How to Contact Us
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about how we handle your personal information, then you may contact us at privacy@klgates.com or write to us at:
K&L Gates LLP
Attention: Information Security
K&L Gates Center
210 Sixth Avenue
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
For any individual whose personal data may be processed through one of our German offices, you can also direct your inquiries to:
K&L Gates LLP
Datenschutzbeauftragter
Markgrafenstr.42
10117 Berlin
datenschutz@klgates.com
K&L Gates LLP is a Limited Liability Partnership organized under the laws of the State of Delaware, USA. Only the partnership entity is responsible for the liabilities of the partnership.
Information in accordance with § 5 Telemedia Act (TMG)
1. Summary contact information:
Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich Offices
Dr. Rüdiger von Hülst
Markgrafenstraße 42
10117 Berlin
T +49.(0)30.220.029.0
F +49.(0)30.220.029.499OpernTurm
Bockenheimer Landstraße 2-4
60306 Frankfurt
T +49.(0)69.945.196.0
F +49.(0)69.945.196.499Karolinen Karree
Karlstraße 12
80333 Munich
T +49.(0)89.321.215.0
F +49.(0)89.321.215.499Partners (Berlin):
Dr. Martin Berg, Dr. Friederike Gräfin von Brühl, M.A. (2), Dr. Georg Foerstner, Felix Greuner, Tobias Gries, LL.M. (Lund), Dr. Wilhelm Hartung, Dr. Christian Hullmann, Dr. Rüdiger von Hülst, Dr. Christof Hupe (7), Alexander Kollmorgen (7), Dr. Thomas Lappe, Christoph Mank (1)(5), Andreas Menge, Dr. Annette Mutschler-Siebert, M.Jur. (Oxon), Nils Neumann, LL.M., Dr. Thomas Nietsch, Dr. Anja Rösch, Dr. Ramona Ruf (7), Klaus Schubert, Dr. Thilo WinkelerCounsel (Berlin):
Susanne Albrecht-Roggenstroh, Dipl.-Kffr., Marion Baumann (14), Dr. Olaf Fiss (2), Dr. Julia Goetz (11), Dr. Patricia Prelinger, René Wölfer (7)Of Counsel: Christiane Schweizer (6)
Associates (Berlin):
Leonie Abendroth, LL.M. (London), Kamran Ghane, Judith Hirnstein, Nadine Hitschke, Jenny Kirschey, Dr. Ruth Lecher, Patrick Marré, Andreas Müller, Dr. Gabriella Piras, Charlotte Riesenhuber, Alexander Rospert, Janis Schulz, LL.M., Jan Sommer, Irina Trauptmann, Lara WengenmayrPartners (Frankfurt):
Dr. Georg Bernsau, Dr. Bastian Bongertz, Dr. Christian Büche (7), Dr. Daniel Flore, Volker Gattringer, Dipl.-Kfm., Dr. Matthias Grund, LL.M. (London) (3), Kerstin Hanke, LL.M. (7), Boris Kläsener, Dr. Johann von Pachelbel, Nadja Raiß, Rainer Schmitt, Karsten Seidel (8)(10), Dr. Jens Steger, M.A. (London), Dr. Frank Thomas (4), Dr. Thorsten Vormann, LL.M. (McGill), Dr. Simone WernickeCounsel (Frankfurt):
Dr. Angelika Bartholomäi, Hans Beyer, Dr. Ulrike Elteste, Natalie FerdinandAssociates (Frankfurt):
Marlena Bitner, Sebastian F. Herbst, Dr. Isabel Kainer-Pfuhl, LL.M. (University of Auckland), Nicolas Quindeau, LL.M., Lilly Reichwein, Dr. Daniel SchumannPartners (Munich):
Dr. Michael Kreft (8), Dr. Hilger von Livonius, Dr. Nicolas Mähner, Dr. Martina Isabella Ortner, Dr. Philipp Riedl (4), Dr. Franz Schaefer, LL.M., Philipp TurnwaldCounsel (Munich):
Counsel: Dr. Andrew Stanka, Jennifer Hock, Dominik SailerOf Counsel: Dr. Benjamin Fechner, Christiane Schweizer
Associates (Munich):
Marcel Andersen, LL.M., Patrick Glück, Johannes Michel, Richard W. Resch, Anne Thümmel-Barz, Dr. Judy Witten, LL.M. (Manchester), Karl DemochSenior Transaction Lawyer (Munich):
Michael Harris, Nicole VilzmannTransaction Lawyer (Munich):
Anna Katharina Hartmann, Deborah Shelton(1) Specialist Lawyer for Construction and Architecture Law (Fachanwalt für Bau- und Architektenrecht)
(2) Specialist Lawyer for Copyright and Media Law (Fachanwalt für Urheber- und Medienrecht)
(3) Specialist Lawyer for Commercial and Corporate Law (Fachanwalt für Handels- und Gesellschaftsrecht)
(4) Specialist Lawyer for Tax Law (Fachanwalt für Steuerrecht)
(5) Specialist Lawyer for Tenancy and Condominium Law (Fachanwalt für Miet- und Wohnungseigentumsrecht)
(6) German Patent Attorney (Patentanwalt/Patentanwältin)
(7) Notary (Notar)
(8) Tax advisor (Steuerberater/-in)
(9) Specialist Lawyer for Information Technology Law (Fachanwalt für Informationstechnologierecht)
(10) Specialist Lawyer for Administrative Law (Fachanwalt für Verwaltungsrecht)
(11) Specialist Lawyer for Intellectual Property Law (Fachanwältin für gewerblichen Rechtsschutz)
(12) Specialist Lawyer for Banking and Capital Markets Law (Fachanwalt für Bank- und Kapitalmarktrecht)
(13) Specialist Lawyer for Labor and Employment Law (Fachanwalt für Arbeitsrecht)
(14) Specialist Lawyer for Public Procurement Law (Fachanwältin für Vergaberecht)
2. Accreditation:
Except as otherwise indicated, all German lawyers of K&L Gates LLP are accredited lawyers in the Federal Republic of Germany and are members of the Bar Association in their respective locations:
- Berlin: Rechtsanwaltskammer Berlin, Geschäftsstelle der Rechtsanwaltskammer Berlin, Littenstraße 9, 10179 Berlin
- Frankfurt: Rechtsanwaltskammer Frankfurt, Bockenheimer Anlage 36, 60322 Frankfurt am Main
- Munich: Rechtsanwaltskammer München, Tal 33, 80331 München
Lawyers also acting as notaries (Notare) or tax advisors (Steuerberater) are admitted within the Federal Republic of Germany to practice as notaries or tax advisors and are members of the relevant Bars (Notarkammer/Steuerberaterkammer) for their respective offices. Patent attorneys are admitted as patent attorneys in the Federal Republic of Germany and are members of the German Chamber of Patent Attorneys:
- Berlin: Notarkammer Berlin, Littenstraße 10, 10179 Berlin
- Berlin: Steuerberaterkammer Berlin, Wichmannstraße 6, 10787 Berlin
- Frankfurt/Main: Notarkammer Frankfurt am Main, Bockenheimer Anlage 36, 60322 Frankfurt am Main
- Munich: Steuerberaterkammer München, Nederlinger Straße 9, 80638 München
- Berlin, Munich: Patentanwaltskammer, Tal 29, 80331 München
3. Supervisory authority
Lawyers:
- Berlin: Vorstand der Rechtsanwaltskammer Berlin, Littenstraße 9, 10179 Berlin, www.rak-berlin.de
- Frankfurt: Vorstand der Rechtsanwaltskammer Frankfurt, Bockenheimer Anlage 36, 60322 Frankfurt am Main, www.rakffm.de
- Munich: Vorstand der Rechtsanwaltskammer München, Tal 33, 80331 München, www.rak-m.de
Notaries:
- Die Präsidentin / der Präsident des Landgerichts Berlin II (Dienststelle Littenstraße), Littenstraße 12-17, 10179 Berlin
- Die Präsidentin / der Präsident des Kammergerichts, Elßholzstraße 30-33, 10781 Berlin
- Senatsverwaltung für Justiz und Verbraucherschutz, Salzburger Straße 21-25, 10825 Berlin
- Frankfurt/Main: Die Präsidentin / der Präsident des Landgerichts Frankfurt am Main, Gerichtsstraße 2, 60313 Frankfurt am Main
- Die Präsidentin / der Präsident des Oberlandesgerichts Frankfurt am Main, Zeil 42, 60313 Frankfurt am Main
- Hessisches Ministerium der Justiz, Luisenstraße 13, 65185 Wiesbanden
Tax advisors:
- Berlin: Steuerberaterkammer Berlin, Wichmannstraße 6, 10787 Berlin
- Frankfurt/Main: Steuerberaterkammer Hessen, Gutleutstraße 175, 60327 Frankfurt am Main
- München: Steuerberaterkammer München, Nederlinger Straße 9, 80638 München
Patent Attorneys:
- Patentanwaltskammer, Tal 29, 80331 München
4. Professional regulations:
Lawyers:
- BRAO – Bundesrechtsanwaltsordnung (Federal Lawyers' Act)
- BORA – Berufsordnung für Rechtsanwälte (Professional Rules for Attorneys (at Law))
- FAO – Fachanwaltsordnung (Specialist Lawyers' Act)
- RVG – Gesetz über die Vergütung der Rechtsanwältinnen und Rechtsanwälte (Law regarding the Remuneration of Lawyers)
- Berufsregeln der Rechtsanwälte der Europäischen Gemeinschaft (CCBE) (Professional rules for Lawyers of the European Community)
- Gesetz über die Tätigkeit europäischer Rechtsanwälte in Deutschland (EuRAG) v. 9.3.2000 (BGBI. I S. 182) (Law Implementing the Directives of the European Community pertaining to the professional law regulating the legal profession)
The above-referenced professional regulations are found, among other places, on the website of the Federal Bar Association www.brak.de under the heading "Berufsrecht" and may be directly accessed, respectively, at this Link.
Notaries:
- Bundesnotarordnung (Federal Notaries' Act)
- Beurkundungsgesetz (Authentification Law)
- Richtlinien der Notarkammern (Guidelines for Notaries' Associations)
- Dienstordnung für Notarinnen und Notare (Official Regulations for Notaries)
- Gerichts- und Notarkostengesetz (Law on costs of voluntary jurisdiction for courts and notaries)
- Europäischer Kodex des notariellen Standesrechts (European Code of Notaries' Professional Law)
- Verordnung über die Führung notarieller Akten und Verzeichnisse (NotAktVV) (Ordinance on the Maintenance of Files and Directories of the Notary Public)
The relevant professional regulations can be viewed on the website of the Bundesnotarkammer www.bnotk.de under the heading "Der Notar/Berufsrecht”
The above-referenced professional regulations are found, among other places, on the website of the German Civil Law Notaries www.bnotk.de under the heading "Der Notar/Berufsrecht" and may be directly accessed, respectively, at this link.
Tax Advisors:
- StBerG - Steuerberatungsgesetz
- DVStB - Durchführungsverordnung zum Steuerberatungsgesetz
- BOStB - Berufsordnung der Bundessteuerberatungskammer
- StBGebV – Steuerberatergebührenverordnung
The above-referenced professional regulations are found, among other places, on the website of the German Federal Chamber of Tax Advisors (Bundessteuerberaterkammer) www.bstbk.de/de/bstbk/ under the heading "Der Steuerberater/Weiterführende Links" and may be directly accessed, respectively, at this Link.
5. VAT Identification Number:
DE 814834925
6. Information on Liability Insurance
HDI-Gerling Industrie Versicherung AG, Krausenstraße 9-10, 10117 Berlin, Germany
Geographic scope: within the EU and EEA countries
7. Information according to § 36 VSBG – Consumer Arbitration (Verbraucherstreitbeilegung)
K&L Gates LLP is neither willing nor obliged to take part in dispute settlement proceedings before a consumer arbitration board (Verbraucherschlichtungsstelle).
With regard to expressions not specifically defined in this section, please refer to the definitions contained in the Terms and Conditions of Use at the following link: https://www.klgates.com/it-it/legal-notices.
K&L Gates - Studio Legale Associato, VAT No.: 07680900961, is an Italian law firm, part of the K&L Gates global network, with registered office in Milan, Passaggio Centrale 7, 20123, Italy.
For information on the Firm's services, on the expertise of its professionals and to obtain an estimate of the related fees, please contact the telephone number: +39 02 3030291, or the e-mail address: infomilano@klgates.com or the contact details of the single professional of interest, indicated on the website www.klgates.com.
The Firm's professionals are subject to the rules of the Italian legal profession’s law, as set forth in Law 247/2012 (available at the following link: https://www.consiglionazionaleforense.it/web/cnf/legge-professionale1) and its implementing regulations, as well as to the rules of the legal profession’s Code of Ethics (approved by Consiglio Nazionale Forense in its meeting of 31 January 2014 and published in the Official Gazette General Series no. 241 of 16 October 2014, available at the following link: https://www.consiglionazionaleforense.it/codice-deontologico-forense). In addition, they are subject to the supervision of the single Circumscription Orders to which they belong.
Last modified: 19 January 2024
REGULATORY INFORMATION IN RELATION TO K&L GATES LLP, THE LIMITED LIABILITY PARTNERSHIP OF THAT NAME REGISTERED IN ENGLAND AND WALES WITH NUMBER OC309508, AUTHORISED AND REGULATED BY THE SOLICITORS REGULATION AUTHORITY (THE SRA) WITH NUMBER 408245
Contact Details for the London Office of the Firm
K&L Gates LLP
One New Change
London EC4M 9AF
Tel: +44 (0)20 7648 9000
Fax: +44 (0)20 7648 9001
Our Address for Service
Our address for service is at K&L Gates LLP, One New Change, London EC4M 9AF.
Value Added Tax
Our Value Added Tax Number is GB244 0466 80.
Regulatory and Representative Bodies
We are authorised and regulated by the SRA. The SRA is an independent regulatory body and redress systems are provided through the SRA and the Legal Ombudsman. Our members are solicitors, registered foreign lawyers or otherwise approved managers regulated by the SRA in England & Wales. Some members may be solely or additionally authorised to practise law in jurisdictions other than England & Wales.
Our Professional Standards and Regulations
Our professional standards and regulations may be accessed at www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/standards-regulations.
Handling of Clients' Funds
We only accept client funds where they arise from or are in relation to an underlying transaction on which we have been engaged by you as the client.
If, after a reasonable period of due diligence (generally five working days), we cannot identify funds we have received as arising from a transaction on which we are engaged we will either retain the funds pending further investigation or may at our discretion return them to the originator bank.
We maintain separately identified client accounts with a bank or banks of our choosing. These are presently held with Lloyds Bank plc in London. Separate accounts are maintained for our clients' principal operating currencies, presently Pounds Sterling, Euros and United States Dollars.
You use our client accounts at your own risk. We accept no liability for loss or damage you suffer if our bank collapses or for reasons outside our control our bank is otherwise unable to transact business or transfer funds in a timely manner or at all.
All client funds will be held in instant access general client accounts unless we and you as the client agree otherwise. In relation to interest on amounts in our client accounts, our client account interest payment policy is available here.
Anti-Money Laundering
In common with other law firms and professionals in the UK, we are bound to comply with the requirements of UK anti-money laundering law. This involves our taking positive steps in relation to our dealings with clients and matters on which we are working.
UK Money Laundering Regulations require us (except in certain limited circumstances) to carry out due diligence on all our clients. This involves, among other things, identifying and verifying the identity of our clients and, where applicable, their ultimate beneficial owners.
You should also be aware that the UK's anti-money laundering legislation, especially the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, may require us to report matters (including known or suspected money laundering) to the relevant authorities in circumstances where we may be precluded from informing you that we have done so. This may affect what we can do and how we do it, and it may also have an effect on timescales.
If we engage others (including another K&L Gates entity) to act on your behalf then additional due diligence may be required and or the results of our own due diligence shared with them.
We may from time to time use online information sources, including electronic verification, to meet our client due diligence obligations pursuant to anti money laundering legislation.
Compulsory Professional Indemnity Insurance
We maintain compulsory professional indemnity insurance of at least £3 million, each and every claim. The name of our insurer for the current policy period (1 October 2023 to 30 September 2024) is Liberty Mutual Insurance Europe Limited. The registered office of the insurer is at Third Floor, Minster Court, Mincing Lane, London EC3R 7YE. Our policy number is APPUK2300569. Details of the minimum terms for the compulsory insurance, including territorial coverage, can be found at the SRA website.
Complaints Procedure
If at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service that we have provided, and you would like to make a complaint, then please contact the partner responsible for your matter or your relationship partner who will be happy to discuss the matter with you. If you wish to make a complaint, including in relation to a bill or the level of our costs, then you should address it in writing to us for the attention of Paul Callegari, who is our designated Complaints Partner. You can read our full complaints handling procedure here.
We will try to resolve any problem or complaint quickly, in accordance with our complaints procedure. If you are not satisfied by our response, you may be entitled to ask the Legal Ombudsman to consider the complaint.
The Legal Ombudsman’s service is open to all individual members of the public and very small businesses, charities, clubs and trusts. If in doubt whether you fall into one of those categories, you should contact the Legal Ombudsman. If you are entitled to make a complaint then, normally, the Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within one year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within one year of you realising there was a concern. You will also need to refer it to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of receiving a final written response from us about your complaint.
As noted above, you have a right to object to our bill by raising the issue with us, and, if you are not satisfied by our response, you may be entitled to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman. Alternatively, you may have a right to apply to the Court for an assessment of our bill under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974.
If the services we have provided related to proceedings in a Court or tribunal, you may additionally be entitled to have the amount of our fees checked or assessed under rules of Court or regulations applying to the particular proceedings, or under the inherent jurisdiction of the Court or tribunal before which the proceedings are taking, or have taken, place.
If you exercise a right to have our costs assessed by the Court, you cannot refer the issue to the Legal Ombudsman. If all our any part of our bill remains unpaid whilst you dispute it, the firm may be entitled to charge interest. The contact details for the office of the Legal Ombudsman are to be found at its website.
The SRA can help if you are concerned about our professional conduct. The contact details for reporting an individual or a firm to the SRA are to be found at its website.
Lawyer Experience
Experience described on some lawyer biographies on this website may date from before an individual lawyer joined K&L Gates. Experience represented on this website does not imply current client status and prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Statement Concerning Criminal Justice Act 2017
K&L Gates operates in full compliance with all applicable laws and regulations in the countries where it practices law. We have in place practical policies and procedures to ensure that its employees and associated persons do not criminally facilitate tax evasion.
Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement (Modern Slavery Act 2015)
This statement is made pursuant to s.54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (the Act) and has been approved by the Managing Partner of K&L Gates LLP on behalf of its members. References in this statement to "K&L Gates LLP" are to the limited liability partnership of that name registered in England Wales under number OC309508.
Our Organisational Structure
K&L Gates LLP is part of K&L Gates, a global law firm operating through a number of separately constituted and regulated legal entities which provide legal and other client services in accordance with the relevant laws of the jurisdictions in which they respectively operate. References in this statement to "the Firm" and "K&L Gates" are to the K&L Gates global law firm.
Overview
K&L Gates is committed to the highest standards of professionalism, ethical behaviour and integrity in everything we do and to contributing to the wellbeing of communities around the world. In this we are committed to opposing modern slavery in all its forms, and do not tolerate it either within our law practice or within our supply chain.
We are committed to acting in an ethical manner, with integrity and transparency in all business dealings and to creating effective systems and controls to safeguard against any form of modern slavery taking place within our law practice or our supply chain.
K&L Gates LLP is a professional services provider that predominantly employs professionally qualified and highly skilled people. We consider the risk of modern slavery occurring within our law practice to be low.
This statement sets out the steps that K&L Gates LLP and the Firm have undertaken - and are continuing to take - to ensure that modern slavery or human trafficking is not taking place within our law practice or our supply chain.
Our Policies
We have adopted or are working to adopt a number of internal policies to ensure that we are conducting business in an ethical and transparent manner. These include:
- Anti-slavery and human trafficking policy, which sets out the Firm's stance on modern slavery and explains how employees can identify any instances of this and where they can go for help.
- Whistleblowing policy, which ensures all employees know they can raise concerns about how colleagues are being treated, or practices within our law practice or supply chain, without fear of reprisals.
- Supplier code of conduct, which sets out the standards required of the Firm's suppliers.
Our Suppliers
As K&L Gates is a global enterprise, it hires suppliers in many locations and performs a reasonable level of due diligence before engaging any supplier.
This due diligence includes an online search at the outset of any engagement to ensure that the particular organisation has never been convicted of offences relating to modern slavery.
It is the Firm's intent that our anti-slavery policy forms part of our contract with all suppliers and they are requested to confirm that no part of their business operations contradicts this policy.
In addition to the above, as part of our contract with suppliers, we request that they confirm to us that:
- They have taken steps to eradicate modern slavery within their business
- They hold their own suppliers to account over modern slavery
- (For UK-based suppliers) They pay their employees at least the national minimum wage/national living wage (as appropriate)
- (For international suppliers) They pay their employees any prevailing minimum wage applicable within their country of operations
- We may terminate the contract at any time should any instances of modern slavery come to light.
Training
Our intent is to regularly conduct modern slavery training for our procurement teams/staff/employees/contractors so that they are aware of the issues surrounding modern slavery and know what to do if they suspect that it is taking place within our supply chain.
Our Performance Indicators
We will routinely monitor our law practice and supply chain to identify any parts that carry a potential risk of modern slavery, and we will take steps to assess and manage those risks.
We intend to implement a programme of regular meetings with our key suppliers to identify and manage any risks of modern slavery. The frequency of these meetings will be dictated by a number of factors, including consideration of the risks posed by involvement in modern slavery. Our standard contract terms contain a contractual right to audit our suppliers.
Signed by Paul Callegari, a Designated Member of K&L Gates LLP on 3 January 2024
Investment Services AND Insurance Distribution
We are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). However, we can provide certain limited services in relation to investments where these are closely linked to the legal work we are doing for you, since we are members of the Law Society of England and Wales which is a designated professional body for the purposes of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA 2000). In cases where you require investment services outside the scope of what we can provide, we may refer you to a person who is authorised by the FCA.
The scope of our engagement does not and will not include giving you advice on the merits of entering into any transaction in investments. When providing our services, we will assume that you have decided, or will decide, to negotiate and enter into any such transaction solely on the basis of your own evaluation of the same, and any advice which you may receive from a person authorised under FSMA 2000. We will not communicate, either to you or on your behalf to any other person, any invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity, and nothing we write or say should be construed as any such invitation or inducement.
We are included on the register maintained by the FCA so that we can carry on insurance distribution activity, which is broadly the advising on, selling and administration of insurance contracts. The register can be accessed via the FCA website.
This part of our business, including arrangements for complaints or redress if something goes wrong, is regulated by the SRA and the Legal Ombudsman. Complaints and redress systems are provided through the SRA and the Legal Ombudsman. The contact details and timescale for referring a complaint to the office of the Legal Ombudsman are set out above.
The SRA Transparency Rules
We are required by our professional rules of conduct to publish certain details in relation to certain services. The following sections cover those services which we do not provide as part of our usual business and those services which we do provide and in respect of which the required details are set out below.
Services We Do Not Provide
As part of our usual business we do not provide any of the following services.
- For members of the public: residential conveyancing, probate, immigration applications, asylum applications, motoring offences, or advising employees on claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal.
- For businesses: debt recovery (up to £100,000), licensing applications for business premises or advising employers on wrongful dismissal claims brought in the Employment Tribunal where the value of the claim is currently limited to £25,000.
Defending Unfair Dismissal Claims in the Employment Tribunal
We advise businesses on defending unfair dismissal claims in the Employment Tribunal and in that connection we are required by our professional standards and regulations to notify you of the following
Our pricing for advising employers on defending claims for unfair dismissal
For defending a simple unfair dismissal case, we would typically charge £50,000 plus VAT (at 20%) and disbursements (typically the types of disbursements are as described below). We use an hourly rate per lawyer (detailed below) to calculate the charge.
A simple unfair dismissal case is one which involves no more than three witnesses (including the claimant), involves the use of no more than one lever arch file of documents at the hearing and a hearing length of no more than one day (starting and ending on the same day).
What services are included?
The fee set out above covers all of the work in relation to the following key stages of a claim:
- Taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on merits and likely damages (this is likely to be revisited throughout the matter and subject to change);
- Entering into pre-claim conciliation to explore whether a settlement can be reached;
- Preparing a response;
- Exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process;
- Considering a schedule of loss;
- Preparing for (and attending) one Preliminary Hearing dealing with case management;
- Exchanging documents with the other party and agreeing a bundle of documents;
- Taking witness statements, drafting statements, agreeing their content with witnesses and exchanging witness statements with the Claimant;
- Preparing bundle of documents;
- Reviewing and advising on the other party's witness statements; and
- Preparation and attendance at Final Hearing, including instructions to Counsel.
The stages set out above are an indication and if some of the stages above are not required, or if the claim settles at an earlier stage without the need for a hearing, the fee will be reduced.
What is not included?
- Any advice provided in relation to an unfair dismissal claim which is not a simple claim, for example where there are more than three witnesses (including the claimant), more than one lever arch file of documents or where the hearing is listed to last for more than one day;
- If it is necessary to make or defend applications to amend claims or to provide further information about an existing claim;
- Defending claims that are brought by litigants in person;
- Making or defending a costs application;
- Complex preliminary issues such as whether the claimant is a whistleblower;
- Allegations of discrimination which are linked to the dismissal;
- Disbursements: these are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as photocopying or printing charges, any travel expenses, courier fees and barristers' fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process. These disbursements will vary depending on the requirements of the matter so we are unable to give an example of the typical level of disbursements. However, we will keep you informed of any significant disbursements as the matter proceeds. The most significant disbursement is likely to be a barrister's fee, the cost of which varies with experience of the barrister and which we will discuss with you; and
- If the employer loses the claim, preparing for and representing the employer at any subsequent remedies hearing.
If any of the above becomes relevant, the cost will increase. We will provide you with a separate fee estimate (including estimate of the barrister's fee) at the outset of the relevant matter or stage in proceedings.
If a simple unfair dismissal claim is listed for one day but it does not finish on that day (meaning that the claim is part-heard), there will be an additional charge for attending the second and subsequent days of the hearing of £2,000 per day (plus VAT at 20 percent).
Timescales and key stages - how long will my matter take?
The time that it takes from taking your initial instructions to the final resolution of your matter depends largely on the stage at which your case is resolved. If a settlement is reached during pre-claim conciliation, the claim is likely to take two to four weeks. If the claim proceeds to a final hearing, the claim is likely to take six to 12 months. This is just an estimate and we will of course be able to give you a more accurate timescale once we have more information and as the matter progresses.
The key stages of defending a simple unfair dismissal claim are set out above under the heading "What services are included?"
Who will carry out the work?
Your claim will be handled by a team of one or more employment lawyers in London who are dedicated to the practice of employment law. That team consists of Paul Callegari (Partner) (current hourly rate of £900 plus VAT (at 20 percent)), Natalie Taylor (Senior Associate) (current hourly rate of £470 plus VAT (at 20 percent)), and Amelia MacHugh (Associate) (current hourly rate of £315 plus VAT (at 20 percent)). If you click on each individual's name you will be taken to their online bio which provides further information regarding qualifications and experience.
LONDON OFFICE LEGAL SERVICES PRIVACY POLICY AS AT 7 December 2022
K&L Gates is a global legal services provider and we are committed to respecting your data privacy. We act in accordance with applicable data privacy laws when collecting and using personal information provided to us, or which we have obtained during the course of providing our services.
This Privacy Policy explains our information practices in relation to personal information. If you are a client of K&L Gates, you should read this Policy together with our terms of engagement.
When This Policy Applies
This Privacy Policy explains how we manage personal information that we obtain:
- In the course of carrying out business intake procedures;
- From or about individuals who are our clients;
- From or about individuals in the course of providing legal services to our clients;
- From or about individuals in the course of operating our business generally, including marketing data and data from digital initiatives.
How We Collect Personal Information and the Types of Personal Information
The personal information we may directly collect from you will depend on the nature of your interactions with K&L Gates and whether you:
- Have engaged our legal services;
- Are a recipient of our marketing communications or attend events;
- Have interacted with K&L Gates websites, similar technologies or your interactions involve the use of relationship insight tools;
- Have a connection to a member of our personnel;
- Or have a vendor relationship or similar with K&L Gates.
In addition, we may collect personal information about you from third parties. Third parties may include but are not limited to instructing clients (where your information forms part of a client matter) and providers of verification services for client onboarding. We may monitor your use and interactions with our websites, marketing we send and communications between you and K&L Gates.
Depending on the circumstances, the types of personal information collected by K&L Gates may include:
- Basic details such as your name, contact details, job title and the name of your employer,
- Financial information such as billing addresses, bank accounts and payment information,
- Identification, background verification information, evidence of ownership or source of funds or source of wealth collected for business acceptance purposes and anti-money laundering requirements,
- Special categories of data such as race, ethnicity, trade union membership, information about health or information about your political, religious or philosophical beliefs,
- Information that relates to criminal matters,
- Information that relates to children (although K&L Gates does not target children when offering legal services),
- Photographic, audio and video content (which can include CCTV footage if you visit our premises),
- Information that you have provided in relation to marketing preferences, registering for events and meetings (which may include access and dietary requirements);
- Information relating to your website usage and technical data that is collected through tracking technologies and relationship insight tools; and
- Any other information relating to you that you or others may provide.
Purposes for Which we Use Your Personal Information
We will only use your personal information when the law allows us to do so. Most commonly we will use your personal information in the following circumstances, where permitted:
- When we need to perform a contract we are about to or have entered into with you;
- When we need to do so to comply with a legal obligation;
- Where permitted by law, when it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests;
- When it is necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims;
- If you have already made the information public; or
- If you have given your consent.
We may rely on more than one circumstance for a particular category of personal information.
To the extent permitted by law, the particular legitimate interests upon which we rely in processing your personal information include the following:
For the purposes of carrying out business intake procedures
This will include using and/or obtaining information for the purposes of carrying out anti-money laundering, conflict and other business intake searches.
For providing legal advice to our clients
The information may include contact data, data concerning your employment or business activities and any other data relevant to the transaction, litigation or other matter upon which we are advising. Where necessary (such as in employment work) and, permitted by law, that data may include ‘special categories’ of personal information such as that relating to health.
For the purposes of marketing our services
We may use information about you for the purposes of promoting our business, if you request information about our services or indicate that you have an interest in receiving communications on legal topics, respond to invitations to events, or comment on our blogs or social networks. Based on that information, we may also identify further products, services, legal topics and events about which you may wish to know more.
You have the right to ask us not to process your personal information for marketing purposes. You can exercise your right to prevent such processing by checking the appropriate boxes on the forms we use to collect your data. You can also exercise that right at any time by contacting us as set out below.
For the functioning of our business and its operations
We may use your personal information in the course of operating our business, including the management of our relationships with third party suppliers, dealing with our insurance arrangements, facilitating a business sale, acquisition or restructuring or for seeking external legal advice.
Change of Purpose
We will only use your personal information for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If we need to use your personal information for an unrelated purpose, we will only do so if legally permitted to do so and with appropriate notice (or consent, if required by law).
If you wish to understand more about the basis upon we are using your data please contact us.
Transferring Your Information
K&L Gates is a global law firm. Your personal information is stored on servers located in different countries, and your personal information may be processed by K&L Gates worldwide for business or administrative purposes. Information held in hard copy is stored onsite or at secure locations. The types of personal information involved and uses include those detailed above where appropriate.
Within K&L Gates, we may transfer personal information outside of the United Kingdom ("UK"), European Economic Area ("EEA") or outside of a jurisdiction where you are located. When we transfer personal information from our offices in the UK and EEA or the jurisdiction where you are located, we do so under a Personal Data Transfer Agreement that conforms to UK and European data privacy law, using Standard Contractual Clauses, or to applicable law in the jurisdiction where you are to our offices outside of the UK.
We may provide personal information to third parties that perform operational services for us solely for our use and benefit or professional advisors (such as barristers and local counsel) and service providers (such as document review platforms) in order for them to perform services on behalf of a client with their consent. We will only transfer your personal information in these circumstances where we are satisfied that it will be subject to an appropriate level of protection and in accordance with any safeguards that may be legally required. On occasion, K&L Gates may be required by law to disclose personal information by a regulator, court or authority. Where necessary and with appropriate safeguards, K&L Gates may also need to disclose information to its professional advisors (e.g. legal and financial advisors), bankers, auditors, insurers and insurance brokers.
WHEN WE DISCLOSE INFORMATION
As a fully integrated global law firm, K&L Gates may engage third-party contractors and vendors to help us accomplish our business objectives and services. There are other circumstances where we are required by law to disclose personal information to third-parties, such as public bodies or judicial authorities.
K&L Gates Affiliates
We may disclose your personal information within our K&L Gates affiliates to provide legal and other services. Contact details of K&L Gates affiliated entities are available here and a list of our offices are available here.
Third-Party Contractors and Vendors
We use third-party contractors and vendors for the purposes listed above and to perform operational services for us solely for our use and benefit and service providers (such as document review platforms) in order for them to perform services on behalf of a client with their consent. We require these third-parties to treat personal information consistent with this Privacy Policy and each of them is required to enter into a legally binding agreement with K&L Gates.
Third Parties Engaged in the Context of the Provision of Legal and Other Services to Clients
These third parties include regulators, corporate registries, public authorities, courts/tribunals, lawyers, private investigators, arbitrators, financial organizations, advisors and other professionals.
Law Enforcement, Judicial Authorities, and Third-Parties
Applicable law may require us and our service providers to disclose your information if it is necessary to comply with laws, court orders or government requests or when it is necessary for the prevention of illegal activity or other wrongdoing. In other circumstances, we may share your personal information to protect our legal rights or those of other parties, or for the establishment, exercise or defence of a legal claim.
Third-parties in the Context of a Business Transfer
We may transfer your personal information if we are involved, whether in whole or in part, in a merger, sale, acquisition, restructuring, dissolution, bankruptcy or other change of ownership or control. If a transfer occurs, we will require that the transferee use personal information in a manner that is consistent with this Privacy Policy and inform you, as the case may be, in accordance with applicable law.
Associations and Professional Bodies
This includes, but is not limited to education, training and examining bodies.
Other Third-Parties Based on Your Consent
We may ask for your consent to share your information with other third parties. In any such case, we will make it clear why and how we want to share the information.
UK and EU data protection
Certain Data Protection Rights
If we process any of the above personal data through our UK and European offices (or otherwise benefit from such rights by application of the UK and/or EU General Data Protection Regulation), you have the following rights:
Request access to your personal information (commonly known as a "data subject access request")
This enables you to receive a copy of the personal information we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.
Request correction of the personal information that we hold about you
This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate information we hold about you corrected, though we may need to verify the accuracy of the new information you provide to us.
Request erasure of your personal information
This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal information where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it
You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal information where you have successfully exercised your right to object to processing (see below), where we may have processed your information unlawfully or where we are required to erase your personal information to comply with local law.
Object to processing of your personal information where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or that of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground as you feel it impacts on your fundamental rights and freedoms
You also have the right to object where we are processing your personal information for direct marketing purposes.
Request restriction of processing of your personal information
This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of your personal information in the following scenarios (a) if you want us to establish the information's accuracy; (b) where our use of the information is unlawful but you do not want us to erase it; (c) where you need us to hold the information even if we no longer require it as you need it to establish, exercise or defend legal claims; or (d) you have objected to our use of your information but we need to verify whether we have overriding legitimate grounds to use it.
Request the transfer of your personal information to you or to a third party (commonly known as a "right to portability")
We will provide to you, or a third party you have chosen, your personal information in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format. Note that this right only applies to information which you initially provided to us based on (i) your consent or (ii) the performance of a contract with you and where such information is being processed through automated means.
Withdraw consent at any time where we are relying on consent to process your personal information
However, this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdraw your consent. If you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide certain products or services to you. We will advise you if this is the case at the time you withdraw your consent.
If you would like to exercise your data protection rights, or to discuss any of the above rights, please contact us at privacy@klgates.com.
We will make reasonable efforts to comply with the aforementioned requests, unless such requests are prohibited by law, or there is a legitimate purpose to retain your personal data, in which case we will inform you without undue delay and in any case within 30 (thirty) days from the receipt of your request. We reserve the right to verify your identity before any request relating to your personal data processed by us.
If you are not satisfied with our answer or the way we process your personal data pursuant to this Privacy Policy, for UK residents, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office or for EU residents, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a Data Protection Authority by clicking here or with the Data Protection Authority in your Member State.
Information Retention
We will retain your personal information for the period necessary to fulfil the purposes for which you provided it to us, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.
The criteria used to determine our retention periods include:
- The length of time we have an ongoing relationship with you and provide services to you (for example, for as long as you are our client);
- Whether there is a legal obligation to which we are subject (for example, certain laws require us to keep client records for a certain period of time before we can delete them);
- Whether retention is advisable considering our legal position and for recordkeeping purposes (such as, for statutes of limitations, litigation or regulatory investigations).
Data Controller
For the purposes of UK and EU data protection law K&L Gates LLP is the data controller responsible for the personal information processed through our European Offices and has appointed the Paris branch of K&L Gates LLP (UK) as a representative in the EU and in the UK. Please direct inquiries regarding UK or EU data protection to privacy@klgates.com or:
K&L Gates LLP
Attention: Information Security
K&L Gates Center
210 Sixth Avenue
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
For any individual whose personal data may be processed through one of our German offices, you can also direct your inquiries to:
K&L Gates LLP
Datenschutzbeauftragter
Markgrafenstr.42
10117 Berlin
datenschutz@klgates.com
Security
K&L Gates takes precautions intended to help protect information that we process, but no system or electronic data transmission is completely secure. Any transmission of your personal information is at your own risk and we expect that you will use appropriate security measures to protect your personal information.
K&L Gates has earned ISO/IEC 27001 certification from the International Organization for Standardization, an independent, non-governmental international organization. ISO/IEC 27001 is a rigorous framework for information security management systems that is designed to ensure the accessibility, confidentiality and integrity of information.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy from time to time. The "Effective Date" at the beginning of this Policy indicates when this Privacy Policy was last revised. If we modify this Privacy Policy, we will post the revised version on the Website, with an updated revision date at least thirty days prior to such changes being effective. Where such changes are substantial, we will also notify you by other means prior to the changes taking effect, such as by sending you an email notification. By continuing to use the Website thirty days after such revisions are in effect, you will be deemed to accept and agree to the revisions and to abide by them. If you would like a copy of the prior version, please contact us at privacy@klgates.com.
How to Contact us
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about how we handle your personal information, then you may contact us at privacy@klgates.com or write to us at:
K&L Gates LLP
Attention: Information Security
K&L Gates Center
210 Sixth Avenue
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
For any individual whose personal data may be processed through one of our German offices, you can also direct your inquiries to:
K&L Gates LLP
Datenschutzbeauftragter
Markgrafenstr.42
10117 Berlin
datenschutz@klgates.com
California
This website constitutes a "communication" as defined in Rule 1-400(A) of the California Rules of Professional Conduct because it is a message made by and on behalf of attorneys at K&L Gates who are members of the State Bar of California concerning K&L Gates and the availability for professional employment of those members and their law firm.
Additionally, pursuant to applicable laws and rules of professional conduct in other states, this website may constitute advertising. The hiring of a lawyer is an important decision that should not be based solely upon advertisements. Before you select any lawyer, you should inquire further about the particular abilities, qualifications, and experiences of the lawyer to determine if they are appropriate for your needs. If you wish to consider retaining K&L Gates to be your lawyers, please ask us to send you free written information about our qualifications and experience.
Texas
The attorneys resident in all offices, unless otherwise indicated, are not certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
Affordable Care Act Transparency in Coverage
The following link contains information related to K&L Gates’ group health plan via its health plan administrator: in-network rates and an out-of-network allowed amounts and billed charges for covered items and services in a machine readable file as required by the Affordable Care Act transparency in coverage rule. These machine-readable files are intended by the Departments of Labor, Treasury, and HHS to promote health insurance literacy, consumerism, and competition by providing this information in a public forum so that industry innovators are able to compile and present this information to consumers and promote transparency.
K&L Gates LLP is, unless otherwise stated, the owner or licensee of all rights in this Web site and its contents, software, databases and services. The materials contained in this Web site are protected by the copyright and trademark laws and other laws of the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries. No user of this Web site has any right, title, or interest in such contents, software, databases or services not previously expressly granted in writing to such user by K&L Gates or by its licensor.
Other Web sites operated by K&L Gates, such as extranets available to clients of the Firm, are subject to agreements posted on such other Web sites. Such agreements may contain terms that differ from the terms of this Notice.
No materials from this Web site may be published, uploaded, downloaded, transmitted, posted, copied, reproduced, distributed or republished except (a) with the Firm’s express written permission, (b) in accordance with a license granted by the Firm, (c) in accordance with a contract entered into with the Firm, or (d) as permitted by applicable law. However, you may view, print or download one copy of the materials on any single computer for your personal, non-commercial use only, but only if:
(i) all proprietary notices, including copyright, trademark and other intellectual property notices, are kept intact;
(ii) the materials are not modified;
(iii) the materials, absent the Firm’s express written permission, are not used in a manner that suggests an association with any of our services; and
(iv) the materials are not incorporated in any other work or publication.
Notwithstanding the foregoing,
(i) any materials available on this Web site are subject to any additional or narrower restrictions stated in such materials or by the owners thereof;
(ii) more than one copy of brochures, announcements, registration forms, client alerts and bulletins, and similar materials may be printed or downloaded as may be necessary and reasonable under the circumstances;
(iii) you may send copies of the materials to individual third parties for their personal information, but only if you acknowledge this Web site as the source of the material and you inform the third party that the terms of this Notice apply;
(iv) no part of this Web site may be distributed or recopied for any commercial purpose or for a fee.
The Firm reserves the right at any time at its discretion to withdraw or modify the permissions set out above.
K&L GATES®, K&L®, GLOBAL GOVERNMENT SOLUTIONS ®, PEOPLE.PLACES.PRACTICES. ®, LEGAL SOLUTIONS AT THE CRITICAL CROSSROADS OF THE 21ST CENTURY ®, CHANGE YOUR WORLD ®, and GLOBAL PEOPLE SOLUTIONS are registered service marks or trademarks, service marks, and/or trade names owned by K&L Gates. These and all other trademarks, service marks, and trade names used on this Web site and the Firm’s other Web sites are owned by the Firm or third parties, and are protected by state, federal, and/or international trademark laws. No user of any Firm Web site has any right, title, or interest in those marks or names not previously expressly granted in writing to such user by the Firm or the third party.
Effective: April 1, 2022
This Cookie Policy does not address the collection, use and disclosure or your personal data by us generally. To learn more about how K&L Gates handles your personal information, please see our Privacy Policy.
Data Collection Technology collects all sorts of information, such as how long you spend on various webpages in the Website, which webpages you view, your search queries, error and performance reports, as well as device identifier or IP address, browser type, time zone and language settings and operating system.
“Data Collection Technology” deployed through the Website includes cookies and web beacons.
Web Beacons: A web beacon (also called a pixel tag or clear GIF) is computer code that communicates information from your device to a server. Some of K&L Gates’s content and emails may contain embedded web beacons that allow a server to read certain types of information from your device, allow us to count the number of people who have viewed content, to know when you opened an email message and the IP address of your device. Web beacons help K&L Gates develop statistical information to provide better and more personalized content.
Cookies: Cookies are small text files that are sent to or accessed from your web browser or your computer’s hard drive. A cookie typically contains the name of the domain (internet location) from which the cookie originated, the “lifetime” of the cookie (i.e., when it expires) and a randomly generated unique number or similar identifier. A cookie also may contain information about your computer, such as user settings, browsing history and activities conducted while using the Website.
The Website uses the following cookies:
- Strictly necessary cookies, which are required for the operation of the Website. Without them, for example, you would not be able to register or log in for the Website that K&L Gates offers.
- Analytical/performance cookies, which allow K&L Gates to recognize and count the number of visitors, learn how visitors navigate the Website and improve the Website.
- Functionality cookies, which K&L Gates uses to recognize you when you return to the Website.
How K&L Gates Uses Data Collection Technology: Some Data Collection Technology is deployed by K&L Gates when you visit the Website. Other Data Collection Technology is deployed by third parties with which K&L Gates partners to deliver the Website (3rd Party Technology.
Data Collection Technology helps us improve your experience of the Website by measuring the success of marketing campaigns, compiling statistics about use of the Website and helping us analyze technical and navigational information about the Website.
We also may use Data Collection Technology to collect information from the device that you use to access the Website, such as your operating system type, browser type, domain and other system settings, as well as the language your system uses and the country and time zone in which your computer or device is located.
Your Control of Cookies: Some web browsers (including some mobile web browsers) provide settings that allow you to control or reject cookies or to alert you when a cookie is placed on your device. Although you are not required to accept cookies, if you block or reject them, you may not have access to all features available through the Website.
Do Not Track: Some web browsers (including Safari, Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome) incorporate a “Do Not Track” (“DNT”) or similar feature that signals to websites that a user does not want to have his or her online activity and behavior tracked. If a website that responds to a particular DNT signal receives the DNT signal, the browser can block that website from collecting certain information about the browser’s user. Not all browsers offer a DNT option and DNT signals are not yet uniform. For this reason, many website operators, including K&L Gates, do not respond to DNT signals.
Legal Basis: We will ask for your express consent before placing any cookies or other Data Collection technology. This does not apply to strictly necessary cookies. We use 3rd party cookies of operators located in a country outside the European Economic Area (EEA) or share cookie data with such parties. In such case your consent does also encompass the transfer of your data to such party outside the EEA. Please be aware that your data may after such transfer not be subject to comparable legal protection in these countries. In particular, the data may be accessible by governmental authorities even without a court order or without the need to inform you accordingly. Further, you may not be able to contest any such request or have a right to judicial redress.
To learn more about cookies and web beacons in general, visit www.allaboutcookies.org.
K&L Gates also uses analytics services, such as Google Analytics, to collect other information. The provider for Google Analytics is Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043, USA ("Google"). Google Analytics also uses cookies. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website will generally be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. The website uses Google Analytics with the extension "anonymize IP". This means that the IP address of the user collected by the Google Analytics cookie is shortened by Google within member states of the European Union or in other contracting states of the Agreement on the European Economic Area before transmission to the USA. Only in exceptional cases is the full IP address transmitted to a Google server in the USA and only shortened there.
Google uses the information generated by the Google Analytics cookie on our behalf to evaluate the use of the website, to compile reports on website activity and to provide us with other services relating to website activity and internet usage. We have entered into a data processing agreement with Google to ensure that your data is only processed in accordance with our instructions. The IP address transmitted by the browser of the accessing system as part of Google Analytics is not combined with other data from Google. Further information on terms of use and data protection is available at http://www.google.com/analytics/terms/de.html and http://www.google.com/intl/de/analytics/privacyoverview.html respectively.
If you have initially given your consent to being tracked by Google Analytics you can withdraw your consent here: http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
How do I change my cookie settings?
Most web browsers allow some control of most cookies through the browser settings. However, if you use your browser settings to block all cookies (including essential cookies) you may not be able to access all or parts of the Website. To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set, visit www.aboutcookies.org or www.allaboutcookies.org.
Find out how to manage cookies on popular browsers:
To find information relating to other browsers, visit the browser developer's website.
Updates to this Policy
We reserve the right to update this Cookie Policy from time to time in order to reflect any changes to our Website or to comply with changes in our legal and/or regulatory obligations. We will post the revised version on the Website, with an updated revision date. By continuing to use our Website thirty days after such revisions are in effect, you will be deemed to accept and agree to the revisions and to abide by them.
Purpose. This policy establishes guidelines for implementing a position-related, consistent, and non-discriminatory pre-employment background investigation as part of the recruiting selection process. A background check of a candidate for employment purposes is performed to promote a safe work environment, protect the firm’s and clients’ assets, including employees, property, and information, as well as to assist departments in their hiring decisions.
Administration. The Human Resources Department shall have the authority to designate those firm positions that shall require a background check, as well as the type of background check(s) applicable to the position. Types of background inquiries could include, but are not limited to, a trace on Social Security number, criminal history, civil record, employment, credit records, and a search for termination with cause.
Candidate Notification and Consent. Candidates will be made aware of the background check procedures during the application process. The background check process will only be initiated for a staff or non-partner level lawyer applicant once it has been determined that he or she is a final candidate. Background checks will not be initiated until disclosure and consent is provided by the candidate, to the extent required by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and/or State laws. If the candidate refuses to provide consent, then no further consideration for employment, promotion or reassignment will be given to the individual.
Initiation. When a background check is required for a position, the assigned recruiter shall initiate the background check by requesting that an e-mail invitation be sent by the firm’s background check vendor to the candidate. The candidate will follow a link provided in this e-mail and enter the required information into the background check vendor’s secure Internet form. The candidate will be required to provide an electronic signature as part of this process. If the candidate cannot complete the form online, the recruiter will instead provide the candidate with a hard copy Disclosure and Consent form to be completed and signed. Failure by a candidate to consent to a required background check shall result in the candidate’s disqualification, as described above. After the candidate has completed the online process or authorization form, the background check will commence with the appropriate background check(s) required for that position.
Adjudication. The Background Check Coordinator (BCC) will receive the background check results (Consumer Report) from the background check vendor. The report will contain a score of either "meets company standards” or “does not meet company standards” for each candidate investigated. A score of “meets company standards” is required to proceed with the hire or for consideration for promotion.
If a score of "does not meet company standards” is received, the BCC will review all adverse information. He or she will consult with the background check vendor to ensure that all information received is in compliance with applicable federal and state regulations. The BCC will also research any state-specific restrictions related to the type of information that the firm is legally permitted to consider when making employment decisions. All findings, along with the candidate’s Consumer Report will be presented to the Firm’s Office of General Counsel for review.
Adverse Action. Prior to taking any adverse action, the firm will consider the nature and severity of the offense(s), the time elapsed since the offense(s) occurred, the nature and level of responsibility attributed to the open position, as well as any other lawful and appropriate considerations. A final determination will be made by General Counsel as to whether the candidate should “pass” or "fail” a background investigation.
If the Firm’s decision to not offer a position to a candidate is based in whole or in part on information obtained from the background investigation, the background check vendor will proceed with the adverse action notification process, to the extend required by the Fair Credit Reporting Act and/or state laws.
If it is determined that the candidate should receive a “does not meet company standards” score, the background check vendor will issue a pre-adverse action notice to the candidate via US mail within 24 hours. This notification will inform the candidate that negative information was obtained via the background investigation process and that this information may have an adverse impact on the firm’s decision to hire the candidate. A copy of the candidate’s Consumer Report and of “A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act” will be enclosed with this letter along with any forms required by state law. The candidate will be allowed five (5) business days or longer designated time period if required by state law to dispute the accuracy or completeness of these findings directly with the background check vendor.
If a candidate does not contact the background check vendor or is unable to disprove the negative findings in the consumer report within five (5) business days or longer designated time period if required by state law, an adverse action notice will be mailed to the candidate by the background check vendor. This letter will advise the candidate of the firm’s decision not to hire, promote or transfer him or her due to disqualifying information revealed in the Consumer Report.
