a superb level of service

The Legal 500, 2010

Watson Burton
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website management policy

Scope of this Statement

This policy covers the website found at the following URLs:

http://www.watsonburton.com
http://www.watsonburton.co.uk
 
The website is provided by Watson Burton LLP. Third party website developers are employed by Watson Burton to develop and host the website. Appropriate agreements are in place to ensure optimum quality control measures.

The materials contained in this website are provided for general information purposes only and do not constitute legal or other professional advice. Watson Burton LLP does not accept any responsibility for any loss which may arise from accessing or reliance on information contained in this website.

Any issues arising from this website, and your use of this website will be subject to interpretation under the laws of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales shall have non-exclusive jurisdiction to resolve such issues.

Organisation Details

Registered address: 1 St James’ Gate, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE99 1YQ.

Watson Burton LLP is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. To access the rules, guidance and regulations binding our professional conduct please visit www.sra.org.uk and follow the links to the Solicitors’ Code of Conduct.

A list of our partners is available for inspection at the above address.

References in this website to “partners” are to members for the time being of Watson Burton LLP.

Our partners, associate solicitors and assistant solicitors are all qualified “solicitors” as defined in sections 1 and 87 of the Solicitors Act 1974. They are individually registered with our professional body and subject to our professional rules. Our legal executives (some of whom are associates) are fellows of the Institute of Legal Executives in England & Wales and are subject to its code of conduct. Please visit www.ilex.org.uk  and follow the links to the specified code of conduct.

Policy Statement

The Chief Executive Officer has responsibility for the management of the website including:-

  • ensuring content is up to date;
  • ensuring content does not infringe copyright;
  • specifying conditions for downloading material;
  • ensuring any publicity conforms to the Solicitors Code of Conduct 2007, Rule 7;
  • ensuring compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995;
  • overseeing linking arrangements;
  • ensuring posting of a privacy notice explaining how any data collected from visitors will be managed by the practice.

The Chief Executive Officer may delegate responsibility for inputting and maintaining the website however accountability for any content that is shown on the website remains with the executive team.

Copyright and Trademark Notices

The contents of this site are protected by copyright under international law. The name “Watson Burton LLP” and the Watson Burton LLP logo are trade marks of Watson Burton LLP.

Users are permitted to read the contents of this website and make copies of such content for their own personal use. They may also give copies to colleagues for their personal use on terms that Watson Burton LLP is acknowledged as the source, the text is not altered in any way and the attention of the recipients is drawn to this warning. All other use and copying of any of the contents of this site is prohibited. Copying from websites of third parties is subject to any requirements applicable to those sites.


Links to Third Party Sites

This website may include hyperlinks to websites operated by other parties. Watson Burton LLP is not responsible for examining or evaluating them and their inclusion does not imply endorsement of their content. Watson Burton LLP is not responsible for the content of external internet sites that link to this website or which are linked from it.

This policy relates only to information that we obtain from you. If you visit a website operated by a third party through a link included on this Website, your information might be used differently by the operator of the linked Website.


Accessibility

We are committed to making our website as accessible as possible for all our website visitors, including those with disabilities. 

We try to adhere to the most stringent standards set by the World Wide Web Consortium, which is an international group responsible for setting standards for web technologies. The Consortium has set up a specialist task group, the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), to define standards on web accessibility for disabled users. 

The WAI produces varying levels of standards and grades them in order of importance. Organisations can use these grades to decide what level of accessibility to aim for. We aim to stick to all of the WAI’s standards.

The standards are designed for the benefit of users to ensure that all users can access the content on our website, including:-

  • blind users; 
  • partially sighted and colour-blind users;
  • deaf users;
  • hearing-impaired users;
  • users with limited mobility;
  • users with cognitive disabilities or learning difficulties;
  • users with photo-sensitive epilepsy. 

To illustrate how compliancy has made this site accessible, we have listed representative disabilities below and explained how this site meets the users' needs.

  • visual (impaired) - those with visual impairments (eg myopia) can scale on all pages on the site to suit their own requirement. All text on pages is scalable, including all menu item.
  • hearing - there is no content on this site that cannot be accessed by deaf or hard of hearing people. To put this into context, if we were to include audio clips we would also provide a text version of the soundtrack, similarly, if we were to include movie clips or video streaming we would also provide time-indexed subtitles. 
  • speech - this site may be fully accessed using any voice-controlled computer and web browser. 
  • physical - for those that have difficulty using a mouse, keyboard access is supported by using standard shortcut techniques. This site can be fully navigated without the use of a mouse.
  • cognitive - the main (horizontal) menu is structured identically on all pages (ie all main sections can be accessed from anywhere in the site). Additional sub-section or page navigation is included in the panel to the top of appropriate pages. 
  • neurological - there are no animated images or flashing text on this site which could – in extreme cases – cause difficulty for people who have particular neurological disorders. 
  • features for the visually impaired - This site incorporates several features to support blind and poor-sighted people.
  • text scaling - All text on this site is specified in percentage terms, meaning that its size can be increased inside the browser window for easier viewing. The ability to support text scaling varies from browser to browser, but given below are some guidelines for the latest versions of Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator and Opera. In Internet Explorer, select the View | Text Size menu command. You can then choose from a range of text sizes (Largest, Larger, Medium (default), Smaller and Smallest). Note that Internet Explorer cannot resize images. In Netscape Navigator, select the View | Text Zoom menu command. You then have a range of text sizes (in percentages) to choose from, or you can select your own percentage. You can also continually increase or decrease the current zoom factor by pressing the Ctrl and +, or Ctrl and - key combinations. Note that Navigator cannot resize images. In Opera, select the View | Zoom menu command. You then have range of percentages to choose from. Opera scales everything on the page, not just text, so images will also increase in size as you increase the zoom factor. Even the same browser product can behave differently on different platforms. For example, Internet Explorer on the Mac will scale images, whereas the Windows version cannot. Check with your supplier for details.

We are committed to providing an accessible service. If you experience problems or have any suggestions for improvement, please email us at enquiries@watsonburton.com.

Outside Europe

We reserve the right to appoint an internet service provider to host our website on our behalf which may be situated outside the European Economic Area. By agreeing to our terms and conditions of use of our website you consent to any transfer of your personal information outside the European Economic Area. This may be necessary for us to achieve the purposes set out above.

Opt in

Unless you specify otherwise, submitting a question or comment or registering for a newsletter or event on this website automatically opts you in to our promotional mailing list. You agree that Watson Burton shall be free to send you from time to time additional product or company information, including newsletters, product advertisements and / or announcements. Each newsletter, advertisement etc will also provide an opportunity for you to opt out at any time. We will never sell or disclose your email address to anyone.

Option to Opt-Out

If you no longer wish to receive any form of mailings from us including seminar invitations please email your request to marketing.department@watsonburton.com.

Data Protection

This Website is owned and operated by Watson Burton LLP, who is the ‘Data Controller’ for the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998. This document is intended to explain how we use the information we collect about you, how you can instruct us if you prefer to limit the use of that information, and the procedures we have in place to safeguard your privacy.

Collection, Utilisation and Security of Data

To comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 we adhere to strict security procedures. The personal information which we hold will be held securely to ensure no unauthorised disclosure or access.

The information you provide to us when using this Website will be processed for the following reasons:-

  • to process any request for advice or information supplied by us; 
  • to notify you of our bulletins, information packs and services, should you consent to this; 
  • to customise this Website according to your interests; 
  • to comply with our statutory and regulatory obligations; and 
  • to process any application made by you for a position with us.

The type of information we will collect about you may include:-

  • your name and address; 
  • your phone number and e-mail address; 
  • your occupation; 
  • your interests; 
  • details about the services you specifically request; and 
  • information you complete in relation to our client surveys.

By submitting your information you consent to the use of that information as set out in this document. If we change our terms and conditions we will post the changes on this page, and may place notices on other pages of the Website, so that you may be aware of the information we collect and how we use it at all times.

We will never collect sensitive personal information about you without your explicit consent.

Any information that we collect about you is stored electronically on our database. It may also be printed and stored in our filing system.

We will keep your personal information confidential except to the extent that we are compelled to disclose it by law (for example where fraud or other crime is involved) or to comply with an instruction of a regulatory body or competent jurisdiction.

If you believe that the information we hold about you is inaccurate or if you wish us to cease processing your data for any particular purpose or purposes, write to us at the above address or e-mail marketing.department@watsonburton.com.

Cookies

We also employ cookies on this site. Cookies are small text files used on the internet for a variety of purposes. We use cookies to make your use of the Website more efficient, for example by saving you the trouble of re-entering information. You have a right to refuse this and can modify your browser accordingly. Although the cookie may provide an automated identification of your computer to our workstation, no personal data is stored in the cookie.

By this means we automatically collect and store only the following information about your visit:-

  • the internet domain and IP address from where you access our website;
  • the type of browser software and operating system used to access our website;
  • the date and time you access our website;
  • if you linked to our Website from another website, the address of that website; and
  • the pages you enter, visit and exit our website from.

You may adjust your computer’s settings to block cookies, or to accept them only on confirmation from you. Because of the wide variety of browsers and operating systems used by our customers we cannot provide detailed instructions for this, however your browser should contain details in its help facility.

Financial Transactions

We have appointed an agent to collect credit card payments from you on our behalf for any purchases you make through the website. All credit card transactions from this Website are carried out over a secure link. By transmitting your card details you agree to our agent using your details for the purposes of:-

  • authorising your card;
  • debiting your card account for the service you use; and
  • advising us that payment has been made.

The Chief Executive Officer will monitor all compliance issues associated with any financial transactions.

Terms and conditions related to our events are detailed separately.

Traffic Data

Watson Burton LLP employs information gathering technologies for the purposes of collecting information and statistics about the users of this site, but such information will not be used to identify any individual. The purpose of gathering such information is to assist us to analyse the use of the website and revise it for the benefit of our customers by making your visit to the site more efficient and to improve and increase the content found to be most popular.

Google Analytics is one such platform used for analysing traffic data as above. Google Analytics’ terms require us to state the following disclaimer:-

“This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (“Google”). Google Analytics uses “cookies”, which are text files placed on your computer, to help the website analyse how users use the site. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google’s behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser, however please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website. By using this website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above.”

Liability

The material displayed on our site is provided without any guarantees, conditions or warranties as to its accuracy. To the extent permitted by law, and subject to our liability for (1) death or personal injury arising from our negligence and / or (2) fraud, we exclude:-

  • all conditions warranties and other terms which might otherwise be implied by statute, common law or equity
  • any liability for any direct, indirect or consequential loss or damage incurred by any visitor in connection with our site or in connection with the use, inability to use, or results of the use of our site, any websites linked to it and any materials posted on it, including, without limitation, any liability for
    • loss of income or revenue
    • loss of business
    • loss of profits or contracts
    • loss of anticipated savings
    • loss of data
    • loss of goodwill
    • wasted management or office time; and
    • for any other loss or damage of any kind whether direct or indirect, however arising and whether caused by tort (including negligence), breach of contract or otherwise, even if foreseeable.


Statement

This project was part financed by the European Union and European Regional Development Fund 2007-13.