Privacy Notice

Moore & Van Allen PLLC
Privacy Notice

Introduction and scope

Thank you for visiting the Moore & Van Allen PLLC (“Hawsons”, “we”, “us” or “our”) website (the “Site”). Please take a moment to review our privacy policy (this “Policy”).  Any questions regarding this Policy can be submitted to the contact listed below.

This Policy applies to information we collect about you through our Site, social media pages managed by us that include a link to this Privacy Policy, including, but not limited to, social media pages managed by us on Twitter and LinkedIn, on which social media pages are located, as of the date this Privacy Policy was last revised (collectively, our “Social Media Pages”), electronic communications, including but not limited to, email from or to us through our Websites or Social Media Pages (“Electronic Communications”) (collectively, the Site, Social Media Pages and Electronic Communications are referred to herein as the “Sites” or the “Services”).

If you connect to other websites through this Site, please understand that we do not operate or control those other websites and this Policy does not apply to information collected through those sites. 

If you are a resident of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Texas, Utah, or Virginia, please see the Your Rights section in this Policy for additional information. If there is any conflict between the terms in this Policy and the terms of the applicable addendum with respect to personal data that is subject to the laws of those jurisdictions, the applicable addendum for your jurisdiction will control.

The contents of this Policy may change over time. Please visit this page to view it in its current form. The change in the effective date listed at the bottom of this page will notify you that the Policy has been updated. Your continued use of this Site or our services after any changes or additions in these terms constitute your agreement with these terms.  This Privacy Policy is not intended to, and does not, create any contractual or other legal rights.

What information do we collect?

We collect information that identifies, relates to, describes, references, is capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular consumer, visitor or device (“personal information”). In particular, we collect (and have collected within the last 12 months) the following categories of personal information from visitors to this Site to the extent they were provided or otherwise made available to us via this Site:

Identifiers such as real name, alias, postal address, unique personal identifier, online identifier, Internet Protocol address, email address, account name, social security number, driver's license number, passport number, or other similar identifiers.

Contact information and background information such as name, signature, address, or telephone number, education, employment, employment history. Some personal information included in this category may overlap with other categories.

Internet or other similar network activity, including browsing history, search history, Internet service provider (ISP), language, referring/exit pages, platform type, date/time stamp, number of clicks, and other information on a consumer’s interaction with a website, application, or advertisement.

Professional or employment related information such as current or past job history or performance evaluations, education history, and resume

Sensitive personal information including your racial or ethnic origin, mental or physical health, sexual orientation, or citizenship or immigration status, employment history, social security numbers, and drivers’ license number, may be collected from applicants if requested on the employment application and the applicant voluntarily provides it. If you submit an employment application with us and share your employment history and social security number, we will collect and process your employment history and social security number as set forth below.

We will not ask you to submit other sensitive information, such as religious beliefs, genetic or biometric information, financial account numbers, health information, and payment card numbers, through the Sites.  If you decide to voluntarily disclose this information, you consent to its use and disclosure. Please be aware that we cannot ensure the privacy and security of this information. 

What are the sources of information?

Hawsons obtains the categories of personal information listed above from the following sources:

• directly from you when you provide it to us.
• automatically as you navigate the Services, which may include usage details, IP addresses, and information collected through cookies.
• when you connect with social media through the Services, the Services may offer you the ability to use LinkedIn, X (formerly known as Twitter) or other social media services in conjunction with certain Services. When you access the Services through LinkedIn, X or other Social Media accounts, we may, depending on your privacy settings, have access to information you have provide to the Social Media platform; and
• from your employer.

Hawsons also collects personal information when you interact with us or apply for a position with us. The personal information we collect about you will vary by context and may include:

• your name and contact details.
• your professional background.
• company name.
• your stated and inferred interests.
• your resume.
• Social security numbers may be collected from applicants if requested on the employment application.
• you visit our offices or attend our events.
• you subscribe to a newsletter.
• you fill out an inquiry form; and/or
• you email us directly.

What do we use personal information for?

We may use or disclose the personal information we collect for one or more of the following business purposes:

• To provide legal advice, representation, or services to clients.
• To provide marketing information.
• To administer our services and respond to your requests for information.
• To manage our business relationship, for example, as part of billing.
• To process submitted resumes and other documentation provided by applicants as part of a job application and the evaluation of those applicants.
• To enable participation in events and affinity groups.
• To confirm identity and allow us to carry out checks in the interest of security and to prevent fraud.
• To carry out our obligations under any contracts.
• To comply with legal and regulatory requirements that apply to us, enforce our terms and conditions, and protect our rights, privacy, safety, or property, or that of our affiliates, you, or others.
• To evaluate or conduct a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other sale or transfer of some or all of Hawsons’s assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding, in which personal information held by Hawsons about our Site users, employees, or clients is among the assets transferred, in accordance with the requirements of applicable laws.
• To monitor and analyze the performance, operation, and effectiveness of this website; or
• Other purposes permitted by law or with your consent.

Hawsons will not collect additional categories of personal information or use the personal information we collected for materially different, unrelated, or incompatible purposes without providing you notice and obtaining your consent, where required by law. If you believe we have impermissibly used your personal information, you may object to such use by contacting us.

Use and Disclosure of Sensitive Personal Information

Hawsons may use or disclose sensitive personal information collected on this Site to evaluate you for employment (if you apply for a position with us), to detect security incidents, to resist malicious, deceptive, fraudulent or illegal actions directed at the business, or to perform services on behalf of Hawsons, such as processing payments and similar services.

Do we disclose personal information?

To provide legal services and effectively run our business, we may disclose your personal information internally between Hawsons offices. We may disclose your personal information to our service providers with whom we have a contract to process your personal information for a specific business purpose, such as to help us provide services to you or to protect or improve our website. These service providers include  those service providers we have retained to perform services on our behalf or on behalf of a client in connection with specific legal services we are providing for the client and fraud detection, security and technical support providers.  As noted below, Google Analytics has access to certain information about your use of the Site for purposes of providing analytics to us.  We may also disclose your personal information for a business purpose to our contractors with whom we have a contract, including professional advisors and insurers.  When we disclose personal information to a service provider or a contractor, we enter a contract with it that requires it to use the information only for that business purpose and prohibits it from taking certain actions with your information, such as selling your information and from sharing it with others for cross-context behavioral advertising.

We do not disclose, share, sell, rent, lease, license or otherwise disseminate such information to any third party, other than to our vendors and service providers (who are bound by confidentiality and other fiduciary obligations to us regarding the information that we provide to them).

Your personal information may be used or stored by us or our service providers and our corporate affiliates in the U.S.A. or other countries.  We require that our service providers and our corporate affiliates safeguard your personal information. However, your personal information could be subject to the laws of the country in which it is stored.

We reserve the right, however, to disclose such information to appropriate third parties:

• as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations.
• in response to a lawful subpoena or information request from governmental authorities.
• to comply with legal process.
• to protect, defend and enforce the rights, privacy, safety or property of our firm, individuals affiliated with our firm and other third parties.
• including to analytics and search engine providers that assist us in the improvement and organization of this Site.
• in the event that we sell or buy any business or assets, in which case we may disclose your personal data to the prospective seller or buy of such business or assets.
• if Hawsons or substantially all of its assets are acquired by a third party, in which case personal data held by it about its clients will be one of the transferred assets; or
• as otherwise agreed between our firm and you (or your organization).

All of the above disclosures are subject to any professional ethical obligations that may otherwise apply, including the obligation of confidentiality owed to our clients. 

How long do we retain your personal data?

We will retain your data for as long as we are obliged, under relevant legislation, and regulation, contract or professional ethical obligation, or where no such rules or agreements apply, for no longer than it is necessary for our lawful purposes, and until you notify us to delete your data.

Notwithstanding the any other provisions we will retain documents (including electronic documents) containing personal data:

1. to the extent that we are required to do so by law.
2. if we believe that the documents may be relevant to any ongoing or prospective legal proceedings; and
3. to establish, exercise, or defend our legal rights (including providing information to others for the purposes of fraud prevention and reducing credit risk).

We will destroy, erase or make anonymous documents or other records containing personal information as soon as it is reasonable to conclude that the purposes for which that information is in our possession are no longer being served by retention of the information and retention is no longer necessary for legal or business purposes. We will take due care when destroying personal information so as to prevent unauthorized access to the information.

Online Tracking

Some content or applications provided with the Services are served by third parties, including servers, content providers and application providers. These third parties may use cookies, alone or in conjunction with other tracking technologies, to collect information about you when you use the Services. The information they collect may be associated with your personal information or they may collect information, including personal information, about your online activities over time and across different websites and other online services. The collection, use, and disclosure of personal information received by third parties is governed by the privacy policies listed on the website where the information was submitted by the user. Third parties may use this information to provide you with interest-based (behavioral) advertising or other targeted content.

We do not knowingly track visitors to this website over time and across third party sites.

Some web browsers incorporate a “Do Not Track” feature (DNT) that signals to the websites that you visit that you do not want to have your online activity tracked.  Many other websites and applications do not currently respond to web browser DNT signals because such signals are not yet uniform. For more information about DNT signals, please visit http://donottrack.us/.   Other third-party websites may keep track of your browsing activities when they provide you with content, which enables them to customize what they present to you on their websites.

We do not control these third parties’ tracking technologies or how they may be used. If you have any questions about an advertisement or other targeted content, you should contact the responsible provider directly. These third parties may provide you with ways to choose not to have your information collected or used in this way. You can opt out of receiving targeted advertising from members of the Network Advertising Initiative (“NAI”) on the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page.

Please note that we use the following services which may track your use of our Sites.   By continuing your use of our Sites without opting out of such tracking you consent to the tracking and collection of data.

Use of Cookies on the Hawsons Website

This Site may send a “cookie” to your computer. A cookie is a small piece of data sent to your browser and stored on your computer’s hard drive. A cookie cannot read data from your hard drive or read cookie files created by other websites. Hawsons uses cookies to identify which areas of the Hawsons website you have visited or customized so that those pages can be made readily available to you on your next visit. 

We use Google Analytics, which uses cookies and similar technologies to collect and analyze information about the use of our website (such as how often users visit this site and what pages they visit) and report on activities and trends.  Google Analytics collects specific information such as IP address rather than your name or other personally identifying information.  Google does put a cookie on your web browser to identify you as a unique user the next time you visit this site.  You can learn about Google’s practices by going to www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners (http://www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners) and opt-out from the collection of your information by downloading the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/181881?hl=en (https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/181881?hl=en ).

Most browsers allow you to refuse to accept cookies. Blocking all cookies may have a negative impact upon the usability of some websites. If you block cookies, you may not be able to use all the features on our Site .

Social media

Our Site contains links to social media services where users may post comments. These third-party services may collect and share information about users which may be disclosed to anyone to whom the user sends a message. Any information that is posted or disclosed through social media may be available to us and to other users of that service or the public. We are not responsible for the operation of such third-party services, and this Policy does not apply to any information collected by such third-party services.

Your rights 

Individuals residing in certain jurisdictions, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, Texas and Virginia and certain other jurisdictions have certain data subject rights.

These rights vary by jurisdiction, but they may include the right to: (i) request access to and rectification or erasure of their personal data; (ii) obtain restriction of processing or to object to processing of their personal data; and (iii) the right to data portability. Individuals may also have the right to lodge a complaint about the processing of personal data with a data protection authority.

Depending on your use of our Site, you may have the following choices:

• Marketing E-mails: You may sign up for our mailing list on order to receive promotional and other materials that may be of interest to you. If you do not want to receive marketing, advertising or promotional emails from us in the future, you can opt-out via the opt-out link found on any of the emails you have received from us. This opt-out applies to marketing, advertising and promotional emails only and does not impact online or digital advertising that does not rely on your email address and does not apply to emails that we may send to you primarily regarding your account or transactions with us.           
• Cookies Settings and Preferences: You may disable cookies and other tracking technologies through the settings in your browser. While doing so may negatively affect your experience with the use of our Sites, it will not prevent us from transacting with you.
• Complaint: You may contact us using the information below if you have any questions or would like to submit a complaint about our practices.
• Access to Specific Information and Data Portability Rights. You can request that Hawsons provide certain information to you about our collection and use of your personal information over the past 12 months or such other period required by applicable law. Once we receive and confirm your verifiable consumer request, subject to applicable exemptions, we will disclose to you:
  • The categories of personal information we collected about you, including sensitive personal information (if any).
  • The categories of sources for the personal information we collected about you.
  • Our business or commercial purpose for collecting or sharing that personal information. We will also disclose our business or commercial purpose if Hawsons engages in selling of personal information in the future.
  • The categories of third parties with whom we share that personal information.
  • The specific pieces of personal information we collected about you.
  • In connection with any personal information we may sell, share, or disclose to a third party for a business purpose, you have the right to know:

• The categories of personal information about you that we sold or shared (if any) and the categories of third parties to whom the personal information was sold or shared; and
• The categories of personal information that we disclosed about you for a business purpose and the categories of persons to whom the personal information was disclosed for a business purpose.

You may also request that Hawsons deliver the specific pieces of personal information obtained from you in a format that is easily understandable, subject to certain exceptions.  If we cannot comply with your request, we generally will provide an explanation of why we cannot do so in the particular context such as if responding to the request would be unreasonably expensive.

• You have the right to request correction of inaccurate personal information maintained by us about you. Upon receipt of a verifiable request from you, we will use commercially reasonable efforts to correct the inaccurate personal information. In addition, users with accounts with us may access, verify the accuracy of, update or change the information that they submitted to a Site by logging into their account and editing the information, as applicable.

If appropriate, we will send the amended information to third party service providers or other third parties to whom the information has been disclosed.

If you are not a resident in one of the jurisdictions listed above, we will normally afford you the same control over your information on a voluntary basis unless we deem it unreasonably burdensome for us to do so.

Please also review the addendum for your jurisdiction for information regarding additional rights that you may have.

To exercise the rights described above, please submit a verifiable consumer request to us by either:

• Complete a data subject request form available [on our website at [URL]] [within your online account settings at [location description]];
• Call us, toll-free, at 1-800-582-3407 or
• Emailing us at info@mvalaw.com.

Only you may make a verifiable consumer request related to your personal information. You may also make a verifiable consumer request on behalf of your minor child.  In particular, a California consumer may authorize a person registered with the California Secretary of State to act on their behalf.

Your authorized agent may submit a request by calling 1-800-582-3407 or by emailing us at info@mvalaw.com. To protect the privacy and security of your data, we may contact you or your authorized agent to collect additional data to verify your identity, your agent’s authorization and to verify the request.

Virginia, Connecticut, and Colorado consumers have the right to appeal our decisions on their data subject requests. To appeal our decision on your data subject requests, please email info@mvalaw.com or call us, toll-free, at 1-800-582-3407. Please enclose a copy of or otherwise specifically reference our decision on your data subject request, so that we may adequately address your appeal. We will respond to your appeal in accordance with applicable law.

You may only make a verifiable consumer request for access or data portability twice within a 12-month period or such other period required by applicable law. The verifiable consumer request must:

• Provide sufficient information that allows us to reasonably verify you are the person about whom we collected personal information or an authorized representative.
• Describe your request with sufficient detail that allows us to properly understand, evaluate, and respond to it.

We cannot respond to your request or provide you with personal information if we cannot verify your identity or authority to make the request and confirm the personal information relates to you.

Making a verifiable consumer request does not require you to create an account with us. However, we do consider requests made through your password protected account sufficiently verified when the request relates to personal information associated with that specific account.

We will only use personal information provided in a verifiable consumer request to verify the requestor’s identity or authority to make the request.

Unless a shorter period is required by applicable law, we endeavor to respond to a verifiable consumer request within forty-five (45) days of its receipt. If we require more time (up to an additional 45 days), we will inform you of the reason and extension period in writing. We may withhold personal information that you request to the extent permitted by law.

If you have an account with us, we will deliver our written response to that account. If you do not have an account with us, we will deliver our written response by mail or electronically, at your option.

Any disclosures we provide will only cover the 12-month period or such other period required by applicable law preceding the verifiable consumer request’s receipt. The response we provide will also explain the reasons we cannot comply with a request, if applicable. For data portability requests, we will select a format to provide your personal information that is readily useable and should allow you to transmit the information from one entity to another entity without hindrance.

We do not charge a fee to process or respond to your verifiable consumer request unless it is excessive, repetitive, or manifestly unfounded. If we determine that the request warrants a fee, we will tell you why we made that decision and provide you with a cost estimate before completing your request.

You may instruct us at any time not to process your personal information for marketing purposes.

Additional Disclosures for Nevada Residents

Under Nevada law, Nevada residents may opt out of the sale of certain “covered information” collected by operators of websites or online services. We currently do not sell covered information, as “sale” is defined by such law, and we don’t have plans to sell this information. However, if you would like to be notified if we decide in the future to sell personal information covered by the Act, please email info@mvalaw.com to provide your name and email address. You are responsible for updating any change in your email address by the same method and we are not obligated to cross-reference other emails you may have otherwise provided us for other purposes. We will maintain this information and contact you if our plans changes. At that time, we will create a process for verifying your identity and providing an opportunity to verified consumers to complete their opt-out. Please become familiar with our data practices as set forth in this privacy policy. We may share your data as explained in this privacy policy, such as to enhance your experiences and our services, and those activities will be unaffected by a Nevada do not sell request. You may also have other choices regarding our data practices as set forth elsewhere in this privacy policy.

Protection Against Discrimination

You have the right not to be discriminated against by us because you exercised any of your rights. This means we cannot, among other things do any of the following solely because you exercised your rights hereunder:

• Deny goods or services to you.
• Charge different prices or rates for goods or services, including through the use of discounts or other benefits or imposing penalties.
• Provide a different level or quality of goods or services to you; or
• Suggest that you will receive a different price or rate for goods or services or a different level or quality of goods or services.

Please note that we may charge a different price or rate or provide a different level or quality of goods and/or services to you, if that difference is reasonably related to the value provided to us by your personal information.

California, Colorado, Connecticut, Texas, Utah and Virginia Privacy Rights

Residents of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Texas, Utah and Virginia, please see the addendum to this policy located HERE.

Governing law and jurisdiction

This Policy and your use of this Site are governed by the laws of the State of North Carolina. You hereby consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina for any claim or dispute arising from this Policy or the use of this Site. You are responsible for compliance with all applicable laws.

How to contact us

You may reach us at info@mvalaw.com.
If you prefer to write us, mail your concerns to:
Attn:  Marketing
Moore & Van Allen PLLC
100 N. Tryon Street, Suite 4700
Charlotte, NC 28202

Last updated 9/12/2024

ADDITIONAL DISCLOSURES FOR CALIFORNIA, COLORADO, CONNECTICUT, TEXAS, UTAH AND VIRGINIA RESIDENTS

This section provides additional details about the personal information we collect and receive about California, Colorado, Connecticut,  Utah and Virginia consumers and the rights afforded to such consumers under the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 as amended and expended by the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (CCPA), the Colorado Privacy Act of 2021 (the “CPA”), the Connecticut Data Privacy Act (the “CTDPA”), the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act (the "TDPSA"), the Utah Consumer Privacy Act of 2022 (the “UCPA”) and the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act of 2021 (the “VCDPA”)

Disclosures of Personal Information for a Business Purpose

In the preceding twelve (12) months, Hawsons has disclosed the following categories of personal information for a business purpose.  These categories are more fully described in the “What information do we collect?” Section in this Privacy Policy.

Category A: Identifiers.

Category B: California Customer Records personal information categories.

Category F: Internet or other similar network activity.

Category I: Employment History.

Category L:   Sensitive Personal Information.

Sales or Sharing of Personal Information

Hawsons does not knowingly disclose your personal information to third parties for money or other valuable consideration.

In the preceding twelve (12) months, Hawsons has not sold or shared personal information, as defined by the California Privacy Rights Act. 

We do not sell or share Personal Information to third parties or process Personal Information for purposes of targeted advertising, as defined by the Colorado Privacy Act, the Connecticut Data Privacy Act, the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act, the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act, and the Utah Consumer Privacy Act. 

Your Rights and Choices

California, Colorado, Connecticut, Texas, Virginia, and Utah law provides consumers (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Texas, Virginia, and Utah residents) with specific rights regarding their personal information. These rights vary by jurisdiction, but they may include the right to: (i) request access to and rectification or erasure of their personal data; (ii) obtain restriction of processing or to object to processing of their personal data; and (iii) the right to data portability. Individuals may also have the right to lodge a complaint about the processing of personal data with a data protection authority. The Right to Deletion is a right specific to California, Colorado, Connecticut, Texas, Virginia, and Utah consumers.

Deletion Request Rights

You have the right to request that Hawsons delete any of your personal information that we collected from you and retained, subject to certain exceptions. Once we receive and confirm your verifiable consumer request (see Exercising Access, Data Portability, and Deletion Rights), we will delete (and direct our service providers to delete) your personal information from our records, unless an exception applies.

We may deny your deletion request if retaining the information is necessary for us or our service provider(s) to:

1. Complete the transaction for which we collected the personal information, provide a good or service that you requested, take actions reasonably anticipated within the context of our ongoing business relationship with you, or otherwise perform our contract with you.
2. Detect security incidents, protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity, or prosecute those responsible for such activities.
3. Debug products to identify and repair errors that impair existing intended functionality.
4. Exercise free speech, ensure the right of another consumer to exercise their free speech rights, or exercise another right provided for by law.
5. Comply with the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act (Cal. Penal Code § 1546 et. seq.);
6. Engage in public or peer-reviewed scientific, historical, or statistical research in the public interest that adheres to all other applicable ethics and privacy laws, when the information’s deletion may likely render impossible or seriously impair the research’s achievement, if you previously provided informed consent.
7. Enable solely internal uses that are reasonably aligned with consumer expectations based on your relationship with us.
8. Comply with a legal obligation; or
9. Make other internal and lawful uses of that information that are compatible with the context in which you provided it.

Other California Privacy Rights

California’s “Shine the Light” law (Civil Code Section § 1798.83) permits users of our Website that are California residents to request certain information regarding our disclosure of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, please send an email to info@mvalaw.com.