This overview summarises how Legalease Limited, trading as Legal 500 ("we", "us" or "our"), uses personal data in connection with our website, our services, and our research and rankings. It is a summary only. Please read our full Privacy Notice for complete information about how we use your personal data and the rights you have.
About Us
Legalease Limited is the controller of your personal data. We are registered in England and Wales (No: 02427356) and our registered office is at 188 Fleet Street, London, EC4A 2AG.
How to Contact Us
If you have any questions about how we use your personal data, please contact us.
Our Data Protection Officer
We have appointed a Data Protection Officer, who you can contact directly here.
How We Collect and Receive Personal Data
We collect personal data that you give us, for example when you use our services, respond to our research surveys or interview requests, or contact us. We also collect some data automatically when you use our website or interact with our emails, including through cookies. We receive personal data from third parties, including law firms and legal professionals who nominate referees or make submissions to our research, and referees who give feedback. We also collect publicly available information, for example from law firm websites, legal directories and professional networking platforms.
Personal Data We Control
The personal data we hold includes your name and contact details, professional information, account and transaction details, information about how you use our website and emails, and research data such as referee feedback and law firm submissions. We do not intentionally collect special category data in connection with our Research and Rankings.
Our Processing Activities
We use your personal data to:
• provide our website and services;
• conduct our research and publish our rankings;
• respond to enquiries and manage our customer relationships;
• understand and improve how our website and services are used;
• tell you about our products, services and events;
• recruit staff; and
• run our business and comply with the law.
Research and Rankings
As part of our independent research, we contact referees for feedback, assess law firm submissions, and publish rankings, profiles and editorial commentary about legal professionals and law firms. All editorial and rankings decisions are made by our editorial team.
Cookies
We use cookies, web beacons, pixel tags and similar technologies on our website and in our emails. You can manage your preferences for non-essential cookies in our Cookie Preferences Centre.
Use of Artificial Intelligence
We may use artificial intelligence (AI) technologies provided by third parties to process personal data in connection with our Site and our Services. We use AI to help us analyse and organise information, and to support content editing and quality assurance. All editorial and rankings decisions remain the responsibility of our editorial team, and any AI-assisted outputs are subject to human review and approval. We do not permit personal data to be used to train third-party AI models. We do not make decisions about individuals based solely on automated processing where those decisions produce legal or similarly significant effects.
Sharing Personal Data
We share personal data within our group of companies and with service providers who support our business, such as IT, payment, delivery and event suppliers. We also share it with professional advisers and with regulators where the law requires it. We publish our rankings and editorial commentary. With your consent, we may share your data with content contributors whose content you read. We may also share data with event sponsors.
Your Rights
You have rights in relation to your personal data. These include the right to access, correct or delete it, and the right to object to how we use it, including for direct marketing. You can unsubscribe from our marketing emails at any time. You can also complain to us or to the Information Commission's Office.
Information Security
We have put in place technical and organisational measures designed to protect your personal data from unauthorised access, misuse, loss or destruction.
How Long We Keep Your Personal Data
We keep personal data only for as long as we need it for the purposes described in our Privacy Notice. Some research records have specific retention periods, which are set out in the full notice.
Third-Party Links and Services
Our website may contain links to third-party websites and services, which are not covered by our Privacy Notice.
Personal Data of Minors
Our website, services and research are not intended for, or targeted at, individuals under 18.
If You Fail to Provide Your Personal Data
If you do not provide personal data that we need by law or under a contract with you, we may not be able to provide our Services to you or register your account.
International Transfers of Personal Data
We may transfer personal data outside the UK. Where we do, we rely on adequacy decisions or approved contractual safeguards to protect it.
Social Media Partners
Where we receive insights about our social media pages from Meta, Google (YouTube) or LinkedIn, those platforms may be controllers of your personal data, and in some cases we are joint controllers with them.