PRIVACY PROTECTION POLICY

Our law firm understands your concerns for privacy and the need to ensure the privacy of all your information. Your privacy is important to us and maintaining your trust and confidence is a high priority. Lawyers have been and continue to be bound by professional standards of confidentiality. The purpose of this notice is to explain our Privacy Policy with regard to personal information about you that we obtain and how we keep that information secure.

NONPUBLIC PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

The Law Office of Elizabeth L. McMahon collects nonpublic personal information about you that is provided to us by you, your attorney or your former spouse, or obtained by us with your authorization or consent.  We do not disclose any nonpublic personal information from our files, except as expressly or impliedly authorized by our clients to enable us to effectuate the purpose of our representation or as required or permitted by law or applicable provisions of codes of professional responsibility or ethical rules governing our conduct as lawyers. Our policy specifically means that we protect the confidentiality of our clients’ Social Security numbers, prohibit unlawful disclosure of our clients’ Social Security numbers and limit access to our clients’ Social Security numbers in the same manner as we do all other nonpublic personal information. We safeguard the data, computer files and documents containing your personal information and shred paper documents that have data, and erase or make unreadable such data, computer files and documents prior to disposal.

OFFICE PROCEDURES TO PROTECT YOUR INFORMATION

The single most sensitive document we prepare is the Addendum, which provides the parties’ Social Security numbers and dates of birth.  We do not file the addendum with the court. It is our practice not to share the Addendum with any entity other than the parties and the plan administrator.  We print the addendum on buff colored paper to distinguish it from the QDRO and to limit the chance of the addendum being shared accidentally.

RETENTION OF FILES

It is our policy to retain a file for three years after completion, after which the file will be shredded.  We also keep an electronic copy, but as technologies change, we cannot guarantee the file will be accessible.