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Privacy Policy

PBW Law 18 Woodside Place, Glasgow, G3 7QL, Scotland, United Kingdom

Last updated: September 2026

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1. Who we are

PBW Law is a boutique legal practice based in Glasgow, authorised and regulated by the Law Society of Scotland (Registration No. 48245, VAT Registration No. 194 7584 54). We are the data controller for the personal information we hold about you.

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This policy explains what personal data we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, and the rights you have over it.

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If you have questions about this policy or how we handle your data, contact us at:

  • Email: info@pbwlaw.co.uk

  • Telephone: +44 (0)141 439 1990

  • Post: 18 Woodside Place, Glasgow, G3 7QL, Scotland

 

2. The information we collect

We collect personal data in a few different ways, depending on how you interact with us.

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When you contact us through this website If you use the enquiry form on our Contact page, we collect your name, email address, phone number, and the content of your message.

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When you become a client, or we act for you If we take you on as a client, or represent you (for example, on behalf of the Scottish Police Federation, an insurer, or another representative body), we collect further information necessary to carry out the instruction. This may include your contact details, identification documents, financial information, and details relevant to your case — which, depending on the matter, may include special category data such as information about criminal allegations, proceedings, or convictions.

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Client due diligence and anti-money laundering checks As a regulated Scottish law firm, we are legally required to verify the identity of our clients and, in some cases, the source of funds involved in a transaction. This may involve collecting identification documents and checking your details against fraud-prevention and sanctions databases.

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When you visit our website Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to operate correctly and to help us understand how visitors use the site. See Section 7 below.

 

3. How we use your information, and our legal basis for doing so

We only use your personal data where we have a lawful basis to do so. Depending on the circumstances, this will be one of the following:

  • Performance of a contract — to provide legal services you have instructed us to carry out.

  • Legal obligation — to comply with our regulatory duties, including anti-money laundering and client due diligence requirements imposed by the Law Society of Scotland and UK law.

  • Legitimate interests — to respond to enquiries, manage our relationship with clients and professional contacts, and run our practice, where this does not override your rights and interests.

  • Consent — where we ask for it specifically (for example, for certain marketing communications), which you may withdraw at any time.

 

Where a matter involves special category data — common in our police law and criminal defence work — we process this only where necessary for the establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims, or as otherwise permitted by data protection law.

 

4. Who we share your information with

We do not sell your personal data. We may share it with:

  • Courts, tribunals, regulators, and opposing parties' legal representatives, where necessary to progress your matter

  • Counsel, expert witnesses, and other professionals instructed on your behalf

  • Insurers or funders, where a matter is insurance-funded or backed by a representative body

  • Our professional indemnity insurers

  • IT, cloud storage, and other service providers who support our practice, under appropriate confidentiality and data processing agreements

  • Regulatory or law enforcement bodies, where we are legally required to do so

 

5. How long we keep your information

We retain personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, and in line with our professional and regulatory obligations as a Scottish solicitors' practice. Client files are generally retained for a minimum period following the conclusion of a matter, after which they are securely destroyed, unless a longer period is required by law, by our insurers, or by the nature of the matter itself (for example, ongoing appeals or historic public inquiries).

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Enquiries submitted through our website that do not result in us being instructed are retained for no longer than 12 months, after which they are securely deleted.

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Where an enquiry does result in us being instructed, the relevant information becomes part of your client file and is retained in line with our file retention policy for that type of matter:

  • Civil court cases (including personal injury and defamation matters): ten years after completion.

  • Criminal cases — summary: three years following the conclusion of proceedings.

  • Criminal cases — solemn: for the duration of the custodial sentence where it exceeds three years; otherwise three years from the conclusion of proceedings. Cases involving conviction for murder or another offence resulting in life imprisonment (including an Order for Lifelong Restriction) are retained indefinitely.

  • Fatal Accident Inquiries and Public Inquiries: retained indefinitely, given the long-running and often historic nature of this work.

  • Anti-money laundering and client due diligence records: five years from the end of the business relationship or the relevant transaction, in accordance with Regulation 40 of the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017.

 

These periods reflect the Law Society of Scotland's guidance on file retention. After the applicable period, files are securely destroyed unless a longer period is required by law, by our insurers, or by the specific circumstances of a matter.

 

6. Your rights

Under UK data protection law, you have the right to:

  • Ask us for a copy of the personal data we hold about you

  • Ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data

  • Ask us to delete your data, in certain circumstances

  • Ask us to restrict how we use your data

  • Object to certain kinds of processing, including direct marketing

  • Ask us to transfer your data to another organisation, where technically possible

 

To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details in Section 1. We may need to verify your identity before responding.

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If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your personal data, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO):

  • Website: ico.org.uk

  • Telephone: 0303 123 1113

 

7. Cookies

Our website uses a small number of cookies and similar technologies, categorised as follows:

  • Essential — used to run the site itself (for example, our content management system). These are always active and cannot be switched off, as the site will not function correctly without them.

  • Analytics / embedded content — we embed a Google Map on our Contact page to show our office location. Loading this may set cookies and share data with Google, governed by Google's own privacy policy.

 

When you visit our website, a cookie consent banner lets you accept or manage these categories. You can change your preferences at any time through the banner, or by controlling cookies through your browser settings.

 

8. Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect the personal data we hold, including restricted access to client files and secure IT systems. However, no method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

 

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top of this page shows when it was last revised.

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