Privacy Policy

PRIVACY POLICY

This Privacy Policy sets out the practices of Robertsons relating to the collection and use of personal information we hold about our clients, potential clients and others.  We are bound by the Privacy Act 2020.

INFORMATION WE COLLECT

Personal information is information about an identifiable individual and includes their name, address, email address and telephone numbers.

We collect personal information about you when you visit our website, engage us to represent and advise you, or when you otherwise interact with us.

If you do not provide us with certain personal information that we request, we may not be able to provide our services to you.

We also collect general information about site use, demand for relevant products, services, facilities and information, and related site information.  This may involve the use of cookies for marketing and market research more generally.  This data will not include any information which personally identifies you.

We hold personal information in electronic form on systems hosted by reputable providers, and in some cases in hard copy at our offices.  We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

We retain personal information for as long as it is needed for the purposes for which it was collected, and as required by law and by legal professional rules.  

INFORMATION COLLECTED FROM SOURCES OTHER THAN YOU

Sometimes we will collect personal information about you from sources other than you. These sources can include other parties to a matter, witnesses, your or another party’s representatives, insurers, expert advisers, courts and tribunals, regulators (such as WorkSafe NZ), the Police, the Companies Office, Land Information New Zealand, the Ministry of Justice, and publicly available online sources. We may also collect personal information from referees and other third parties when recruiting staff.

Where we collect personal information about you from someone other than you, we will take reasonable steps to make you aware of the matters required by Information Privacy Principle 3A of the Privacy Act 2020 — namely:

  • the fact that we have collected your information;
  • the purpose of the collection;
  • the intended recipients of the information;
  • that Robertsons is the agency that has collected and holds the information, at the addresses set out at the end of this Policy;
  • the law (if any) that authorises or requires the collection; and
  • your right to access and correct your information.

In some situations, an exception in IPP3A(3) or 3A(4) will apply and we may not notify you — for example, where you have already been made aware of these matters (including by way of this Privacy Policy), where the information is publicly available, where notifying you would prejudice the conduct of an investigation, court or tribunal proceeding, or another lawful purpose for which we have collected the information, or where it is not reasonably practicable to do so.

HOW WE USE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

We use your personal information for the following limited purposes:

  • Engaging you as a client of the firm and providing legal services to you;
  • Checking legal and commercial conflicts; 
  • Emailing you updates, event invitations and publications that we think you may be interested in;
  • When you apply to be employed, or contracted, by Robertsons, for recruitment, employment and contracting purposes;
  • Complying with our legal obligations, including in relation to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009;
  • Carrying out internal business and administrative purposes;
  • Acting for clients in disputes, litigation, and investigations, including communicating with other parties, courts, regulators, witnesses, experts, insurance brokers, counsel and insurers;
  • Storing and managing information using cloud-based document, email and practice management systems; and
  • Using technology tools (including generative artificial intelligence tools) to assist us in producing legal work.

We will not use or disclose any personal information for any other purpose without your consent, unless we are required to do so by applicable law.

USE OF ARTIFICAL INTELLIGENCE

We use a range of technology tools to deliver legal services efficiently, including generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools. AI tools may be used, for example, to summarise documents, draft correspondence and submissions, conduct legal research, and analyse information provided to us.

Where we use AI tools in the course of acting for you or in connection with a matter we are working on, personal information you or others have provided to us may be processed by those tools. We only use AI tools that we are satisfied meet appropriate standards of security and confidentiality, and we maintain controls designed to ensure that:

  • information processed through AI tools is not used by the tool provider to train publicly available models;
  • access to information processed through AI tools is restricted to those who need it for the purposes of your matter;
  • the output of AI tools is reviewed before it is relied on, used or acted on; and
  • the use of AI tools is consistent with our duties of confidentiality, our obligations to maintain legal professional privilege, the Rules of Conduct and Client Care for Lawyers, and the Privacy Act 2020.

Some AI tools we use are hosted overseas. Information processed by those tools may therefore be transferred outside New Zealand. We only use overseas providers where we are satisfied that the information will be subject to comparable safeguards to those required by the Privacy Act, or where another exception under Information Privacy Principle 12 applies.

If you would prefer that we do not use generative AI tools in connection with your matter, please let us know in writing.

DISCLOSURE OF YOUR INFORMATION

We may disclose your personal information to:

  • other parties to a matter, their lawyers and representatives, courts, tribunals and regulators, where this is necessary or appropriate for the conduct of your matter;
  • external counsel, experts, consultants and other professional advisers we engage on your matter;
  • insurers and brokers, where you are insured or where the matter relates to a claim;
  • law enforcement and government agencies, where required or permitted by law;
  • third-party providers of IT, document management, file storage, email, e-signature, AI, transcription, billing, accounting and AML/CFT verification services who assist us with our practice; and
  • any other person to whom you authorise us to disclose the information.

Some of these recipients are based outside New Zealand. Where we disclose personal information to an overseas recipient, we comply with our obligations under Information Privacy Principle 12.

YOUR RIGHTS

Under the Privacy Act 2020, you have the right to request to obtain, or have corrected, any personal information that we hold about you. If you want to make a request, please contact us at scurlett@robertsonslaw.co.nz.

From time to time, Robertsons will update this Privacy Policy. All revisions will be made available on the Robertsons website and will take effect from the date that the revision is made available. This Policy was last updated on 1 May 2026.

If we become aware of any concerns or problems concerning our privacy practices, we will take these issues seriously and work to address any concerns. If you have any further queries relating to this policy, or you have a problem or complaint, please contact us.