Data Retention Policy

1.Enquiries made but not followed up with instructions to act

1.1 If you make an enquiry about our services (whether by telephone, email, letter or via our ‘Contact Us’ page on our website) but do not follow up with instructions to act on your behalf, we shall delete all personal data concerning you which we hold as a result of such enquiry three weeks after responding to it unless we are legally obliged to retain it beyond that time; or have made a note of advice given on which it seems to us you may seek to rely. In the event we have made such a note, it and your personal data will be retained until destroyed as set out at 2.2 below.

2 Periods of Data Retention where advice is given

2.1 At the conclusion of the matter all hard copy documents you have passed to us directly or through a third party (e.g, previously instructed solicitors) and necessary hard copy documents (including but not limited to deeds/productions/pleadings/affidavits/court orders/decrees arising in the course of our acting on your behalf and held by us or coming into our possession will, on payment of all fees, outlays and Vat, be sent to or handed over to you or to a custodian nominated by you in writing (who, you will confirm in writing, is prepared to act as custodian) for you or your nominated custodian to retain in a safe place.

2.2 All the remaining data we hold will be destroyed as follows –

• Civil court cases (other than simple debt collection) – 10 years after completion
• Summary criminal cases – 3 years after completion (although a copy of the complaint will be stored electronically for an indefinite period)
• Solemn criminal cases (i.e., cases on petition/indictment) – for 3 years or the duration of the sentence if more than 3 years’ imprisonment. (A copy of the petition/indictment will be stored electronically for an indefinite period.)
• Family law cases including divorce – 5 years after final completion (e.g., after maintenance, residence and contact orders have ceased to have effect or children involved have all reached majority)
• Simple debt collection – on completion (and after the period for appealing or the entitlement to be reponed has expired)
• Other correspondence files – 5 years after completion of the business
• Money laundering – Client due diligence records – for the remainder of Donnachie Law’s financial year following when they were provided plus a further 6 financial years.