Privacy Policy

The Law Office of Eric D. Kessler (“Firm,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) respects your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, retain, and protect personal information through erickessleresq.com and related communications.

1.Scope

This Privacy Policy applies to information collected through:

• This website.
• Lead forms presented with the Firm’s advertisements on Google platforms.
• Calls and text messages initiated through the website or those advertisements.
• Cookies, advertising and measurement technologies, and similar technologies.
• Other communications about the Firm’s services.

A separate engagement agreement may govern information collected during an attorney-client relationship. If this Privacy Policy conflicts with our professional duties to a client, those duties control.

2.Attorney Advertising and No Attorney-Client Relationship

This website is attorney advertising. It provides general information and does not provide legal advice.

Visiting this website or contacting the Firm does not create an attorney-client relationship. The Firm accepts an engagement only through a written agreement.

Please do not submit confidential, privileged, or time-sensitive information before the Firm confirms an engagement. Information sent before an engagement may not be protected by the attorney-client privilege.

The Firm intends its website communications to comply with California Rules of Professional Conduct 7.1 through 7.5. Nothing on this website guarantees a particular result. Descriptions of experience or past matters do not predict results in other matters.

Eric Kessler is admitted to practice law in California. References to fields of practice describe the services the Firm provides. They do not claim certification as a legal specialist.

3.Information We Collect

During the preceding 12 months, the Firm may have collected the following categories of personal information.

A. Identifiers

This category may include:

• Name.
• Email address.
• Telephone number.
• Mailing address.
• Company or organization.
• Internet Protocol address.
• Cookie and other online identifiers.

We collect identifiers directly from you or automatically from your browser or device.

B. Professional and Commercial Information

This category may include:

• Employer or company.
• Job title or professional role.
• Industry.
• Services requested.
• General information about a potential matter or business need.

We generally collect this information directly from you.

C. Internet and Network Activity

This category may include:

• Browser and device type.
• Operating system.
• Pages viewed.
• Links selected.
• Referring website.
• Dates and times of visits.
• Cookie identifiers.
• Interactions with the website.

We collect this information automatically through cookies, server logs, advertising and measurement tools, and similar technologies.

D. Communications

This category may include:

• Lead form submissions made through the Firm’s advertisements.
• Emails.
• Call or text information.
• Messages and attachments.
• Other information you choose to provide.

E. Sensitive Personal Information

The Firm does not intentionally request sensitive personal information through the website. You may voluntarily include sensitive information in an inquiry.

Please do not submit Social Security numbers, financial credentials, medical records, or detailed confidential matter information through a lead form, an email, or any other unsecured channel.

4.How We Use Personal Information

The Firm may use personal information to:

• Respond to inquiries.
• Schedule conversations.
• Conduct conflict checks.
• Evaluate potential engagements.
• Provide legal services after an engagement begins.
• Communicate about requested services or information.
• Operate and maintain the website.
• Measure website traffic and performance.
• Measure the performance of the Firm’s advertising.
• Improve website content and functionality.
• Detect fraud, misuse, and security incidents.
• Maintain business and professional records.
• Enforce website terms and protect legal rights.
• Comply with legal, court, regulatory, and professional obligations.

The Firm limits its collection, use, and retention of personal information to what is reasonably necessary and proportionate for these purposes.

5.Cookies, Advertising, and Measurement

This website does not use analytics cookies, preference cookies, social media tracking pixels, or a cookie consent banner. It has no features that require them. The technologies actually in use are described below.

Hosting and Server Logs

The site is served by a third-party hosting provider that records standard technical information for each request, including IP address, browser and device characteristics, the page requested, the date and time, and the referring page. This information supports delivery of the site, error diagnosis, and protection against abuse.

Google Ads Conversion Measurement

The website uses a Google Ads conversion tracking tag. If you arrive from a Firm advertisement and then take an action such as calling the number listed on the site, the tag reports that action to Google so that the effectiveness of the advertising can be measured. Google and its partners place and read cookies on your device for this purpose and receive information including your IP address, browser and device characteristics, the pages you viewed, and the advertisement you interacted with.

Google processes that information under its own privacy policy, available at policies.google.com/privacy. The reports available to the Firm through this tag are aggregate. They show how many people took an action, not which individual did.

Google Lead Forms

The Firm may present a lead form with its advertisements on Google platforms. That form is hosted and displayed by Google rather than on this website. Information you enter in it, such as your name, email address, telephone number, or company, is collected by Google and made available to the Firm, and the Firm then handles it as described in this Privacy Policy. Google’s own handling of that information is governed by its privacy policy.

Submitting a lead form does not create an attorney-client relationship. Please limit what you include to what is necessary for the Firm to understand your inquiry and respond.

Fonts and Embedded Content

Typefaces on this site are served by Google Fonts, which means your browser makes a request to a Google server and that server receives your IP address. The Insights section of the homepage loads recent posts from a blog hosted on Google’s Blogger platform, which involves a similar request.

Your Choices

You may control these technologies as follows:

• Turn off Google ad personalization at adssettings.google.com.
• Block or delete cookies through your browser settings.
• Use the industry opt-out tools at optout.aboutads.info and optout.networkadvertising.org.

Blocking these cookies does not affect your ability to read or use this website.

6.Global Privacy Control and Do Not Track

The Firm will treat a legally recognized opt-out preference signal, such as Global Privacy Control, as an opt-out request where required.

The website may not respond separately to legacy browser “Do Not Track” signals because no uniform standard governs those signals. You may still manage cookies through your browser controls and the advertising opt-outs described above.

7.Sale and Sharing of Personal Information

The Firm does not sell personal information.

The Firm does not share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. It does not use information collected through this website to target advertising based on your activities across unrelated businesses, websites, or services.

The Firm does not knowingly sell or share the personal information of anyone under 16 years old.

8.Disclosure of Personal Information

The Firm may disclose personal information to the following categories of recipients:

• Website hosting and maintenance providers.
• Security and content-delivery providers.
• Advertising, lead form, and measurement providers, including Google.
• Email, telephone, text, and scheduling providers.
• Cloud storage and document-management providers.
• Billing and practice-management providers.
• Consultants and vendors supporting Firm operations.
• Courts, regulators, or law enforcement when legally required or permitted.
• Other parties at your direction or with your consent.

The Firm may also disclose information when reasonably necessary to protect its rights, prevent fraud, respond to legal process, or address a security incident.

If the Firm undergoes a reorganization or practice transfer, information may be transferred as permitted by applicable law and professional obligations.

Service providers must use personal information only for specified services and maintain appropriate safeguards. The Firm does not permit service providers to use client confidential information for their own advertising or unrelated commercial purposes.

9.Client and Prospective-Client Confidentiality

Information received during an attorney-client relationship receives the protections required by applicable law and professional rules. These protections may include:

• Attorney-client privilege.
• Attorney work-product protection.
• The ethical duty of client confidentiality.
• Contractual confidentiality obligations.

The Firm protects client information under California Rule of Professional Conduct 1.6 and California Business and Professions Code section 6068(e). The Firm does not reveal protected client information without informed consent unless applicable law or professional rules authorize or require disclosure.

The ethical duty of confidentiality may protect more information than the attorney-client privilege. These protections apply separately from this Privacy Policy.

Communications from prospective clients may receive limited protection under applicable professional rules. Contacting the Firm does not create an attorney-client relationship or guarantee that the Firm can represent you.

Nothing in this Privacy Policy waives any privilege, protection, or professional duty owed to a client or prospective client.

10.Data Security

The Firm uses administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information. These measures include, as appropriate:

• Access controls based on business need.
• Multi-factor authentication where supported.
• Encryption in transit.
• Appropriate encryption at rest.
• Secure website hosting and communications services.
• Software updates and malware protection.
• Security monitoring.
• Vendor review.
• Contractual confidentiality and security requirements.
• Secure deletion and disposal practices.
• Incident-response procedures.

No internet transmission or storage system is completely secure. Please do not send highly sensitive or confidential information through a lead form, an email, or any other unsecured channel.

11.Data Retention

The Firm retains personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected.

Retention decisions consider:

• Whether an inquiry or professional relationship remains active.
• Conflict-check and professional recordkeeping needs.
• Legal, tax, accounting, insurance, and ethical obligations.
• Security and fraud-prevention needs.
• Dispute management and applicable limitation periods.
• Vendor retention settings.
• Backup and scheduled deletion cycles.

Client files and information received during a representation may follow separate retention practices.

When personal information is no longer reasonably needed, the Firm deletes, anonymizes, or securely disposes of it as appropriate.

12.California Privacy Rights

The California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended (“CCPA”), applies only to businesses meeting statutory requirements. It also contains exceptions for information subject to evidentiary privileges and other legal protections.

If the CCPA applies to particular personal information, a California resident may have the following rights.

Right to Know and Access

You may request:

• The categories of personal information collected about you.
• The sources of that information.
• The purposes for collecting, using, selling, or sharing it.
• The categories of recipients.
• The specific pieces of personal information collected about you.

Right to Delete

You may request deletion of personal information collected from you. Legal and other permitted exceptions may apply.

Right to Correct

You may request correction of inaccurate personal information maintained about you.

Right to Opt Out

You may direct a covered business not to sell or share your personal information.

The Firm does not sell personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.

Right to Limit Use of Sensitive Personal Information

You may have the right to limit certain uses or disclosures of sensitive personal information.

The Firm does not use or disclose sensitive personal information for purposes that trigger this right.

Right to Non-Discrimination

The Firm will not unlawfully discriminate or retaliate against you for exercising an applicable privacy right.

13.How to Submit a Privacy Request

To submit a privacy request:

• Email Eric@erickessleresq.com with “Privacy Request” in the subject line;
• Call or text 310.945.8172 and state that your message concerns a privacy request; or
• Write to the mailing address in Section 18.

Please describe your request and provide enough information to identify the relevant records.

The Firm may verify your identity before completing a request. The Firm will use verification information only to process the request.

An authorized agent may submit a request on your behalf. The Firm may require proof of the agent’s authority and may verify your identity directly.

The Firm will respond within the period required by applicable law. If the CCPA does not apply, the Firm may still consider a reasonable access, correction, or deletion request.

14.Exceptions to Privacy Requests

The Firm may deny or limit a request when permitted or required by law. This may include information that the Firm must retain to:

• Protect attorney-client privilege or work-product protection.
• Meet duties of confidentiality.
• Provide requested or contracted services.
• Conduct conflict checks.
• Maintain security and integrity.
• Comply with legal or professional obligations.
• Establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.
• Complete a transaction.
• Maintain internal records consistent with reasonable expectations.

The Firm will explain any applicable limitation when required.

15.Children’s Privacy

The website is intended for adults seeking information about legal services.

The Firm does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16 through the website. If the Firm learns that it collected such information without appropriate authorization, it will take reasonable steps to delete it.

16.Third-Party Websites

The website may link to social media platforms, publications, or other third-party websites. Those parties control their own privacy practices.

This Privacy Policy does not govern information collected after you leave the Firm’s website. Review the privacy policies of third-party services before providing information to them.

17.Changes to This Privacy Policy

The Firm may update this Privacy Policy when its practices, services, or legal obligations change. The revised policy will identify a new effective date.

The Firm will communicate material changes through a reasonably prominent website notice or another appropriate method. The Firm will not apply materially different practices retroactively when prohibited by law.

18.Contact Information

For questions, concerns, or privacy requests, contact:

The Firm will acknowledge a privacy request and respond within the period required by applicable law.