Effective Date: June 5, 2025
Molly Zelvonberger (“the Firm,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is a privately contracted paralegal firm committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of our clients’ information. This Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, use, disclose, and protect the personal and sensitive information we obtain in the course of providing our paralegal services.
1. Information We Collect
We collect information necessary to provide our paralegal services. This may include:
- Contact Information: Name, address, email address, phone number, and other contact details.
- Identification Information: Date of birth, government-issued identification numbers (if required for specific legal processes), and other identifying details.
- Case-Related Information: Details pertaining to your legal matter, including but not limited to, facts of the case, witness statements, evidence, legal documents, correspondence, and other information relevant to the legal services we are providing. This may include sensitive information such as financial details, health information, and other personal circumstances depending on the nature of your case.
- Financial Information: Billing and payment information, such as bank account details or credit card information, necessary for processing payments for our services.
- Communications: Records of our communications with you, including emails, phone calls, and meetings.
2. How We Collect Information
We collect information through various means, including:
- Directly from You: When you contact us, engage our services, or provide information to us in person, over the phone, via email, or through our website (if applicable).
- From Third Parties: We may obtain information from third parties involved in your legal matter, such as attorneys, courts, opposing parties, witnesses, experts, or public records, as necessary and legally permissible for the provision of our services.
- Publicly Available Sources: We may collect information from publicly available sources, such as government registries or online databases, where relevant to your legal matter.
3. How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect for the following purposes:
- Providing Paralegal Services: To perform the paralegal services you have contracted us for, including legal research, drafting documents, organizing case files, preparing for hearings, and other tasks as agreed upon.
- Communication: To communicate with you regarding your case, appointments, billing, and other related matters.
- Billing and Payment Processing: To generate invoices, process payments, and manage our financial records.
- Legal and Ethical Obligations: To comply with our legal, ethical, and professional obligations, including rules of professional conduct, court orders, and applicable laws.
- Internal Operations: For internal administrative purposes, such as record-keeping, conflict-of-interest checks, and quality control.
- Improving Our Services: To analyze and improve the quality and efficiency of our paralegal services.
4. Disclosure of Your Information
We understand the importance of maintaining the confidentiality of your information. We will only disclose your information in the following circumstances:
- With Your Consent: We may disclose your information if you provide us with explicit consent to do so.
- To Your Attorney: We will share information with your instructing attorney as necessary to assist in your legal matter.
- To Third-Party Service Providers: We may share information with trusted third-party service providers who assist us in operating our business and providing our services (e.g., IT support, cloud storage providers, billing processors), provided they are bound by confidentiality obligations.
- As Required by Law: We may disclose your information if required to do so by law, court order, or governmental regulation, or if we believe such disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, property, or safety, or the rights, property, or safety of others.
- In Connection with a Legal Matter: As necessary for the proper handling and resolution of your legal matter, which may involve disclosure to courts, opposing counsel, experts, or other parties involved in the legal proceedings.
- Professional Advisors: To our professional advisors (e.g., accountants, auditors, legal counsel) who are also bound by confidentiality.
We will not sell, rent, or lease your personal information to third parties for their marketing purposes.
5. Data Security
We implement reasonable technical, administrative, and physical safeguards to protect the information we collect from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures include, but are not limited to:
- Secure physical storage of paper documents.
- Password protection and encryption for electronic data.
- Restricted access to client files.
- Regular security assessments and updates.
However, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is completely secure. Therefore, while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
6. Retention of Information
We retain your information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, including for the duration of our engagement, to comply with our legal and professional obligations, to resolve disputes, and to enforce our agreements. This retention period may vary depending on the nature of the information and applicable laws and regulations.
7. Your Rights
Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information, including the right to:
- Access: Request access to the personal information we hold about you.
- Correction: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
- Deletion: Request deletion of your personal information, subject to legal and ethical obligations.
- Object to Processing: Object to the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
- Data Portability: Request a copy of your personal information in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the contact information provided below. We may require you to verify your identity before processing your request.
8. Third-Party Websites/Services
Our services may contain links to third-party websites or services that are not operated by us. This Privacy Policy does not apply to the practices of those third parties. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party websites or services before providing them with your information.
9. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. We will notify you of any material changes by posting the updated Privacy Policy on our website (if applicable) or by other appropriate means. The “Effective Date” at the top of this policy indicates when it was last revised.
10. Contact Us
If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact
Molly Zelvonberger at: office@mollyzelvonberger.com