Privacy Policy

Introduction

This privacy statement covers the business operations, websites, and applications of U.S. Legal Support, Inc. (“U.S. Legal Support” or “we”) that include a link to this statement. This privacy statement also applies to U.S. Legal Support’s business, marketing, and advertising practices where and when it is referenced. It is meant to inform you about our collection and use of your Personal Information.

Personal Information We Collect

You may choose to give us Personal Information to allow us to communicate with you, process your orders, provide you with services, or for employment consideration. You may also provide us this information directly when you are a party or witness in litigation, and we are providing court reporting, records retrieval, interpreting, and litigation support services (our “Services”) to the courts or counsel in that litigation. In addition, third parties, such as witnesses, law firms, insurance companies, health care organizations, and courts may provide us with information about you that we use in the course of our Services to those entities. Data we collect or receive depends on the services our customers request us to provide and the information that third parties provide us, as well as the context of your interactions with us, the choices you make (including your privacy settings), and the services you may be able to choose. Much of the information we collect will be pursuant to a court order or subpoena, or pursuant to other state and federal laws that may supersede rights under applicable privacy laws. The Personal Information we collect in providing our Services can include the following:

Name and Contact Data. Your first and last name, aliases, unique personal or online identifiers, email address, postal address, phone number, and other similar contact data.

Personal Information. This may include your social security number, bank and credit card account numbers and information, driver’s license numbers, passport numbers, educational information, employment or professional information and history, financial information (including debit card and credit card numbers), biometric information, internet and electronic network search history, commercial information (such as records of your purchases of property, goods, and services), genetic information, information about your political or religious beliefs, demographic information (such as age, sex, race, national origin), and health information.

Credentials. Passwords, password hints, and similar security information used for authentication and account access, either with us or with third parties.

Payment Data. Data necessary to process your payment if you make purchases, such as your credit card number and the security code associated with your payment card.

Location Data. We may collect data about your location, which can be either precise or imprecise. Precise location data can be Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data (e.g. GPS), as well as data identifying nearby cell towers and Wi-Fi hotspots, that we collect when you enable location-based products or features or in conjunction with our Services. Imprecise location data includes, for example, a location derived from your device or data that indicates where you are located with less precision, such as a city or zip code.

Job Applications/CVs/Resumes. Information on job applications, curricula vitae, or resumes which you provide to us if you submit a job application to us, either directly or indirectly. You acknowledge that your application may include sensitive Personal Information. We use this information in order to evaluate your application and perform related employment activities.

Feedback and Reviews. Information you provide to us and the content of messages you send to us, such as feedback or questions and information you provide for customer support. When you contact us via our website, a U.S. Legal Support application or a Help Desk, such as for customer support, phone conversations or chat sessions with our representatives may be monitored and recorded. Your feedback will be used to seek improvements in our services.

Website Browsing. Information about your visits to our websites and your browsing patterns. This may include data about your device, including Internet Protocol (IP) address, browser type, and regional and language settings. This is more fully described under the section entitled “Cookies, Web Beacons and Privacy Choices” below. We collect this information to determine such things as the number of visitors to various parts of our websites, to personalize your experience on our sites, and tailor our interactions with you.

Third-Party Sources. We also obtain data from third parties. These third-party sources vary over time, but they are sources deemed credible by us and may be publicly available or available on a commercial basis. They can include, and are not limited to:

  • Health care organizations, when we are requested by a customer to process a subpoena for your health records;
  • Witnesses in depositions or court proceedings;
  • Attorneys in depositions or court proceedings;
  • Designated entities within your business or enterprise (such as a member of your IT department) in the course of providing services to you;
  • Publicly available sources such as open government databases, court dockets, or other data in the public domain.

How We Use Personal Information

We collect and process personal data with your consent, as required by law, or as necessary to fulfill the legitimate interests of U.S. Legal Support, including to: (i) provide you and our customers with our Services; (ii) manage, administer and operate our business; (iii) meet our contractual and legal obligations; (iv) prevent fraud; and (v) protect the security of our systems and our information.

Personal data that is submitted in a business capacity may be merged with available business database directories.

We use personal data to:

  • provide court reporting, records retrieval, interpreting, and litigation support services to our customers (i.e. law firms, lawyers, courts, businesses, individuals, and insurance companies);
  • respond to your questions and communicate with you;
  • provide customer support;
  • share news, updates, or helpful tips about U.S. Legal Support services;
  • inform you of special promotions and other advertising;
  • allow you to sign up for online services;
  • receive and evaluate job applications;
  • improve our services, communications, and relationships with you;
  • deliver services requested by you;
  • notify you about administrative matters that pertain to your U.S. Legal Support services; and
  • in the event of a merger or acquisition of U.S. Legal Support or a substantial portion of its assets, disclose or transfer personal data to the surviving or acquiring party, respectively.

How We Share Your Personal Information

We do not disclose any Personal Information gathered from our websites to persons outside of our company, except as described below.

Personal Information provided to us in the ordinary course of our Services is disclosed to the parties normally expected to receive that information. For example, personal information disclosed by a witness during a deposition will be disclosed to counsel of record who requests a transcript of that deposition.

Access to the data collected through our websites is limited to our authorized employees and companies that provide services (such as computer support) to us, and to parties who we disclose the information as part of providing our services.

We provide court reporting, records retrieval, interpreting, and litigation support services for corporations and law firms that operate nationwide. Because of this, Personal Information may be transmitted, shared with, stored by, and processed by our customers. To the best of our knowledge, our customers are governed by the same privacy principles and security practices as we are.

Access to the data that is collected through our websites is limited to our authorized staff employees and companies that provide services (such as computer support) for us.

We may release personally identifiable information if legally required to do so by law enforcement or other governmental authority, or under advice of counsel. We may also release Personal Information to protect our rights, property, to prevent a crime or protect others from harm.

We may also send Personal Information to marketing companies who will then contact you to determine feedback and satisfaction with our Services. Those companies may send you information on our services. We may also provide your information in connection with the sale or transfer of all or a part of U.S. Legal Support’s business to another company. In that case, we will require such a purchaser to agree to treat your information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

We will only provide these agents and suppliers with the Personal Information they need to complete the service we have requested, and who have agreed to maintain the confidentiality of that information in accordance with this policy.

Location of your Personal Information

Personal Information collected by us is transferred, stored, and processed throughout the United States. Our sub-contractors, agents, and partners are required by contract to safeguard any Personal Information they receive from us and are prohibited from using the Personal Information, except to perform the services as instructed by U.S. Legal Support. We also protect the transfer of your Personal Information in accordance with applicable law.

Our privacy guidelines are communicated to our employees on an annual basis as part of our mandatory training program. We prioritize that the data collected under this privacy statement is processed according to the requirements of this statement and the applicable law.

Retention of your Personal Information

We retain your information only as long as necessary to achieve the goals of this policy. We will retain your information when necessary to comply with our legal obligations (for example, applicable tax/revenue laws), resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. We also retain log files for internal analytics. These log files are generally retained for a short period of time. We may keep them longer to improve website security and functionality. If we provide Services to or for courts or governmental agencies, we will retain information in accordance with the laws applicable to such records.

Your Rights Regarding Personal Information

You have choices about the data we collect. When asked to provide Personal Information, you may decline. However, some services will be unavailable without your personal information.

  • If the processing of Personal Information is based on your consent, you have a right to withdraw consent at any time for future processing;
  • Where applicable, you have a right to request from us, (i) access to and receipt of Personal Information, (ii) transfer of Personal Information, and (iii) rectification or deletion of your Personal Information;
  • You may also have a right to object to the processing of your Personal Information. If so, please use this link Do Not Sell My Personal Information to inform us;
  • You may also have a right to restrict the sharing of your Personal Information. If so, please use this link Do Not Share My Sensitive Personal Information to inform us;
  • You have the right to object to direct marketing; and
  • You have a right to file a complaint with a regulator or data protection authority.

You may contact us to check the accuracy of your Personal Information, to learn about the information we have collected about you, the sources of that information, the categories of information we have disclosed to third parties for business purposes. You may also request that your information be updated or deleted. Please contact us by writing to privacypolicy@uslegalsupport.com. Please write “Personal Information Accuracy” in the subject line and explain the details of your request in the body of the message. We reserve the right to confirm your identity and to modify the scope and number of requests. In certain cases, your request may be denied on the basis of a legitimate exception or where we are legally prevented from honoring such a request.

Minors

Registration on U.S. Legal Support.com is not intended for persons under the age of 18.

Safeguarding your Personal Information

We realize the importance of safeguarding Personal Information and put in place appropriate procedures to ensure limited access to your Personal Information. We deploy security measures to protect the security of Personal Information we collect and process. We may use encryption, firewalls, passwords, and physical protection to prevent unauthorized access to Personal Information. We set restrictions on employees who have access to the data. Despite our safeguards, data could be intercepted by unauthorized third parties regardless of any security strategies deployed. Therefore, in submitting Personal Information to our website, you assume the risk of an unauthorized third party obtaining that information.

Our Agents and Partners Protect Personal Information

When you provide Personal Information to us, it may be necessary to transfer Personal Information to our agents or subcontractors. We require that our agents and partners handle Personal Information with the same concern for Personal Information privacy as we do.

Definitions: Cookies, Web Beacons and Privacy Choices

What is a Cookie?

Cookies are small text files placed in your computer and web browser by websites that you visit. They make websites work efficiently and provide information to the owners of the site. Cookies allow a website to recognize your device, letting you navigate between pages efficiently, remembering your preferences, and generally improving your experience.

How We Use Cookies?

We use cookies to recognize repeat visits to our websites and to facilitate website navigation. The cookies store your country and language, along with an assigned random session ID. Sometimes, cookies store name and address information so you do not have to re-enter this information in multiple forms.

We collect cookies to help us track the number of visitors to our websites over time and determine whether these were new or repeat visits.

We work with third party advertising partners that use cookies to deliver U.S. Legal Support advertising on other websites and to measure the performance of our advertising campaigns.

What is a Web Beacon?

A web beacon is a tool that recognizes the cookie on a device.

How Do We Use Web Beacons?

We may use web beacons on our websites, in our emails, and in our advertisements on other websites to measure the effectiveness of our websites and our advertising. For example, web beacons may count the number of individuals who visit our websites from a particular advertisement or the number of individuals who open or act upon an email message.

Is It Possible to Avoid Cookies and Web Beacons?

Yes, the ability to enable, disable or delete cookies can be controlled though your web browser. Consult the “Help” menu of your browser application for details. If you block the use of cookies, you will not be able to use some of the features on our website. You can make some web beacons unusable by disabling cookies. You can remove cookies already on your web browser by deleting your browser history.

Links to other Websites.

Other websites that may be accessed through our website, such as through social media buttons or other links, may collect certain information about you through the use of cookies, web beacons, and other features. We cannot access or control the cookies or other features that these third-party sites may use, and the information practices of these third-party websites are not covered by this privacy statement. Please review the privacy notices and settings of the third-party site to understand their practices.

How Do We Use Interest-Based Advertising?

Websites cooperate with online advertisers to collect information about visitors to present advertisements that are more useful and relevant. This is known as interest-based advertising. U.S. Legal Support and our third-party advertising partners may use cookies and web beacons to deliver interest-based advertisements that are relevant and targeted to our customers. When delivering interest-based ads, we adhere to the Self-Regulatory Program for Online Behavioral Advertising.

What Information Do We Collect for Interest-Based Advertising?

U.S. Legal Support and our third-party advertising partners may use cookies or web beacons to collect information for the purposes of interest-based advertising based on your visits to U.S. Legal Support.com and other websites. Cookies provide a history of your web browsing activity. Advertisers use cookies to deliver advertising to you based on your visit to our website.

Complaints

You may lodge any complaints about violations of this Privacy Policy with us directly or to the Federal Trade Commission.

Arbitration

Except for complaints to the Federal Trade Commission, all disputes relating in any way, directly or indirectly, for any breach by U.S. Legal Support of this Privacy Policy will be subject to arbitration. All arbitration proceedings shall be conducted according to the rules of the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) in Houston, Texas, including any dispute about the scope of this arbitration agreement, and including all questions about the types of disputes that are subject to this arbitration agreement, all of which you agree will be decided by the arbitrators, whose decision will be final and binding on you. Any issue concerning the extent to which a dispute is subject to arbitration, or concerning the applicability, interpretation or enforceability of this agreement, including any contention that all or part of this agreement is invalid or unenforceable, shall be governed by the Federal Arbitration Act and resolved by the arbitrators.

You acknowledge and agree that, in any arbitration proceeding, no depositions will be taken, and all other forms of discovery of facts will be limited to those things that the arbitrators determine, in their sole discretion, to be necessary. Further, in any arbitration proceeding, (i) there shall be no award of punitive, exemplary, incidental or consequential or other special damages and (iii) the parties will conduct the arbitration confidentially and expeditiously and will pay their own costs and expenses of arbitration, including their own attorneys’ fees. If you are unable to afford the AAA fee, you agree to notify all persons against whom you have an arbitrable claim and give such persons the opportunity individually and as a group to pay such fee. The proceeding and the decision shall be kept confidential by the parties. All claims you may have under this Privacy Policy must be brought within one (1) year of the date on which the claim arose.

Communication Preference

We may send commercial emails to you advertising our products and services. You can also subscribe to various service-specific communications on our websites. If you receive commercial email from us and wish to discontinue these mailings, you may unsubscribe at privacypolicy@uslegalsupport.com You may also mail an unsubscribe request to:

Marketing Privacy Preferences
U.S. Legal Support, Inc.
Attn: Privacy Officer
16825 Northchase Drive, Suite 900
Houston, TX 77060

This unsubscribe option does not apply to communications primarily for the purpose of administering order completion, contracts, support, software updates, or other administrative and transactional notices, the primary purpose of which is not promotional in nature.

Contact Us

We are committed to resolve complaints about your privacy and our collection or use of your Personal Information. If you have questions or concerns about this privacy policy, you may contact our corporate offices in writing at:
U.S. Legal Support, Inc.
Attn: Privacy Officer
16825 Northchase Drive, Suite 900
Houston, TX 77060
privacypolicy@uslegalsupport.com

Updates to this Policy

We reserve the right to update this privacy policy at any time. You can always obtain a copy of the most up-to-date policy by visiting this Web site.

What Was Revised in this Update?

This privacy statement has been updated to reflect changes in various state laws regarding information protection.