General
Stoke White Ltd is a limited company registered in England and Wales under number 10860631. The registered office address is 150 Minories, London EC3N 1LS. Stoke white Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA number 640444). Our VAT number is 334 7368 86.
Stoke White Ltd and other affiliated offices whether limited companies incorporated in the UK or for other corporate bodies; we may use the word ‘Partner’, on this website or generally to refer to a member, director, owner, shareholder of the limited company or we may use this term for an employee or consultant with senior standing and qualifications. Details and confirmations of individuals status’ can be provided on request.
Stoke White’s Association Partner – Gulden Sonmez, based in Parima Is Merkezi, Maltepe Mahallesi, Eski Cirpici yolu, No:8/148 P.K 34010, Cevizlibag, Istanbul.
Ethical Values and Professional Standards Policy
Stoke White Ltd is committed to the highest ethical values and professional standards. We maintain and adhere to the highest principles not only for all those that work for us but also those we work for too, and therefore we;
• Are frank, fair and independent
• Act in the best interest of our clients
• Provide a professional service
• Commit to justice and the rule of law
• Encourages equality, diversity and inclusion
• Uphold public trust and confidence in the solicitors‘ profession and in legal services provided
Anti-corruption, Bribery and AML Statement, Policies and Procedures
At Stoke White Ltd, we run an ethical business and do not tolerate any impropriety in our dealings including for the avoidance of doubt; bribery, corruption and money laundering. We conduct our business in a manner which complies with the applicable laws in order to prevent bribery, corruption and money laundering. We regularly assess, by way of due diligence checks and otherwise, how internal and external risks may be posed and what preventative measures can be taken to avoid these.
We ensure all those who work with us; employees, consultants, contractors, counsel including foreign counsel, agents and all third parties use their best endeavors to perform services according to these policies and share our commitment to ethically conducting business.
Where clients and all those who work with us, provide us personal data for the purpose of carrying out the relevant checks. We shall only keep this data for as long as we are required to do so by under the law.
For more detailed information regarding our statements, policies and procedures please do contact us.
Privacy Notice
How we use your information
This firm processes your data in accordance with the terms of the Data Protection Act 2018, the Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 and the relevant provisions relating to the General Data Protection Regulation contained within the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (UK GDPR). This Data & Privacy Notice explains, in detail, the types of personal data we may collect about you when you interact with us. It also explains how we’ll store and handle that data and keep it safe. Unless otherwise indicated, references in this Data and Privacy Notice to the GDPR refer to the UK GDPR.”
We will collect information about you and keep this on our computers, in our email, in cloud storage and on paper for a certain period of time. The main reasons for this are to:
• deliver the legal services we have agreed in contract to provide to you. For example, we may use your information to write letters on your behalf or prepare legal documents to help you with your matter;
• comply with the law. For example, as solicitors we have to perform ‘conflicts of interest’ checks for new cases against a list of current and former clients. We also have a legal duty to report suspicious activity to the National Crime Agency (‘NCA’) if we suspect money laundering.
In some cases, we may hold more ‘sensitive’ information about you such as your health. This may be necessary to pursue your legal matter. We are permitted to use such information to provide legal advice to you or in connection with equality legislation.
You can withdraw consent to your information being used in a particular way but this may limit what more we can do for you.
As a client we may also in the future send you a newsletter or similar and find that most clients find this helpful. We rely upon the ‘legitimate interest’ we have in maintaining contact with former clients to do this in data protection law and your agreement for the purposes of the Privacy & Electronic Communications Regulations (which can be implied under these Regulations). However, we will never share your information with third parties to market to you and will not contact you about non-legal services. We will make it quick and easy to ‘opt out’ of future communications in every communication sent. If you don’t want to receive these messages, then you can opt out now by Nadiyah Choudhury at nadiyah@stokewhite.com
Your information may be kept on computer servers within the European Union. If at any point information is stored on computer servers outside of the EU we have selected countries which are either approved for this purpose (under Article 45 of the General Data Protection Regulation or ‘GDPR’) or are located where we are happy that the safeguards in place in that country to protect your information are appropriate (under Article 45 of the GDPR).
We do not use your personal information to make ‘automated decisions’ which affect you.
Will you share my information with anyone else?
Generally speaking, we will not share your information with third parties unless this is part of the work on your legal matter. For example, we may need to send certain information about you to other lawyers working on the case, to Court or to government bodies such as the Land Registry. In rare circumstances we sometimes need to make reports of suspicious activity to the NCA. We do also work with some trusted contractors or consultants who may have access to your information such as service providers or copiers. All contractors have an agreement with us which requires that your information is accessed appropriately and kept confidential (among other GDPR requirements).
How long will you keep my information?
Files are generally destroyed after 6 years. Certain original documents or files may need to be kept longer if there is a big risk of destroying something which is needed. We will also always keep a small amount of information after file closure to do conflicts of interest searches in the future to comply with our professional duties.
Can I see what information you hold about me?
We do normally have a right to payment of any outstanding costs before releasing a whole file but you do have a separate right under the GDPR to access your ‘personal data’ without charge. This may include having it in a particular electronic format (‘portable’ format). Please contact Ms Iram Syed (iram@stokewhite.com) if you would like to request a copy of your personal data.
What if I have other questions or concerns?
Our general contact details are set out in our covering letter and our information officer is: Ms Iram Syed. Her email address is iram@stokewhite.com – please contact her if you wish to exercise one of your data protection ‘rights’ and in particular if you:
• wish to complain about how your personal data is being used;
• wish to request that our records about your personal information be corrected or deleted;
If you have a complaint about how your personal information is being used which we have not been able to address, please note that you may be able to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) directly. Please see our complaints procedure below.
Human Rights and The Modern Slavery Act
The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights were unanimously endorsed by the Human Rights Council in June 2011, these state that all business enterprises have a responsibility to respect human rights. As a firm we agree to adhere and support the Guiding Principles as well as all recognised international human rights.
Modern slavery is a crime and a violation of fundamental human rights. It takes various forms, such as slavery, servitude, forced and compulsory labour and human trafficking, all of which have in common the deprivation of a person’s liberty by another in order to exploit them for personal or commercial gain. We have a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery and we are committed to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business dealings and relationships and to implement and enforce effective systems and controls to ensure modern slavery is not taking place anywhere in our own business or our supply chain.
All persons working for us or on our behalf in any capacity, including employees at all levels, directors, officers, agency workers, seconded workers, interns, agents, contractors, external consultants, third-party representatives and business partners.
Copyright and Links
This website was created by Stoke White Ltd and is unless otherwise stated the copyright of Stoke White Ltd. Permission is granted to view, store, print, reproduce, and distribute (by way of paper or electronic form) any of the contents within this World Wide Web site provided that
• none of the page is modified;
• this copyright notice is included with any distribution;
• you provide the information to others free of charge;
• your communication of the material is not misleading or inaccurate
• you cannot republish or create a link to any content or material available on this website on any other public site or service without prior written consent.
All other publications from the website requires prior express written consent from us.
Client Feedback and Complaints
We are committed to providing a quality service to our clients. We value feedback from clients greatly because it helps us to continually improve our service. If you do not feel that you are receiving excellent client service or that something could be improved, please do tell us about it. If we have fallen short of the high standards which we have set for ourselves then we would like the opportunity to put it right.
Similarly, if at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service we have provided then you should inform us immediately, so that we can do our best to resolve the problem.
In the first instance it may be helpful to contact the person who is working on your case to discuss your concerns and we will do our best to resolve any issues at this stage. If you would like to make a formal complaint, then you can read our full complaints procedure below. Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case and you will not be charged for time spent handling your complaint.
What do I do if I have feedback or a complaint?
At first it would be helpful if you could discuss any feedback or concerns which you have about our service or how it might be improved with the lawyer dealing with your matter. If the lawyer dealing cannot resolve your concern informally, or if the issue is of such a serious nature that you do not feel comfortable raising it with your lawyer, then you may discuss this with our complaints partner as a complaint under this policy.
How do I raise a complaint under this policy?
It would help us if you could email with:
• why you feel dissatisfied with the service which you have received;
• how you would prefer to be contacted about your complaint;
• if there is anything in particular which you would like us to do to resolve your complaint.
If you would prefer not to email details of your complaint in this way, then please call to discuss the best way to get an understanding of your concerns.
What happens after I have made a complaint under this policy?
We will:
• send an acknowledgement of your complaint within 7 days of receiving it;
• log your complaint on our central complaints register;
• investigate the concerns and arrange a discussion with you to try to agree how to resolve the issues within 21 days of receiving your complaint;
• write to you within 28 days of receiving your complaint to confirm the outcome of this.
In exceptional circumstances it may be necessary to extend these timescales but we will try to agree any variations with you first. If you remain unsatisfied after 8 weeks at the latest, we will always ensure that you are reminded at that time of how to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman if you are eligible to do so.
What might the outcome of my complaint be?
We very much regret any dissatisfaction which our clients experience and will not hesitate to apologise to you where our service has fallen below our high standards. We may also agree that certain steps will be taken to improve your situation and to ensure that any problems experienced will not reoccur.
What if I remain unsatisfied?
If you remain dissatisfied, you may be entitled to complain to the Legal Ombudsman about our service. The Ombudsman may be able to help you if we are unable to resolve your complaint ourselves. They will look at complaints independently and accessing the Ombudsman will not affect how we handle your case. Most ‘consumer’ clients (as oppose to large businesses) will be able to make use of the Ombudsman scheme however there are restrictions for some larger clients. Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, then you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:
• Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint
• and
• No more than six years from the date of act/omission; or
• No more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.
If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them:
Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9am to 5pm.
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ
Please note that the Ombudsman are there to deal with concerns about the level of service received. Where there are more serious concerns that a solicitor or solicitor’s firm have been involved in professional misconduct then reports can also be made to the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the regulator of solicitors and solicitor firms. This could be for quite unusual and serious acts of misconduct such as dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic. Obviously we do not anticipate any such problems arising and would ask that you notify the matter supervisor straight away if you have any such concerns. You can find out more about the Solicitors Regulation Authority including their contact details on their website: www.sra.org.uk.
Accessibility statement
We have made the website as simple as possible. However, if you have any difficulties in accessing or reading the information on this website, please do get in touch with Nadiyah Choudhury at nadiyah@stokewhite.com for assistance.
Disclaimer
The information, materials, opinions and publications on this website are for general information purposes only. They are not intended to serve or constitute legal or professional advice, and therefore should not be relied upon where specific legal advice ought to be obtained.
Stoke White Ltd nor any of its associates or partners accept any responsibility for any loss or damage incurred whilst relying on information, materials, opinions or publications provided on this website nor to any site link that may link to external internet sites from this website.