Privacy Policy

Messerli & Kramer P.A. Website Privacy Policy

Introduction

Welcome to www.messerlikramer.com (the “Website”).  This Website is owned and operated by Messerli & Kramer P.A. (“we,” “us”, or “our”), a law firm with offices in the United States, principally in Minnesota. In this privacy policy, “you” or “your” means any user of this Website.

This privacy policy is part of our Terms of Use that governs your use of our Website. They are available on our Website under the link captioned “Terms of Use.”

Purpose and Scope of Policy

The purpose of our privacy policy is to inform you how we collect, use, protect and share personal information submitted to us through our Website. Personal information is information that identifies you, either alone, or combined with other data elements.  This privacy policy covers personal information collected by us when you use our Website.  It does not apply to information received or collected by us through other means such as in person or by telephone, mail, or emails submitted outside of our Website, which may be protected by other policies or applicable law.

Our privacy policy may supplemented with additional privacy notices in certain pages or areas of our Website which are also part of our privacy policy.

Consent to Terms of Privacy Policy and Changes

By accessing, browsing or using this Website, you, on behalf of yourself, and any other person or entity on whose behalf you are using this Website, expressly consent to our collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information as described in this privacy policy. If you do not agree to this privacy policy, please do not use this Website.

We reserve the right, at our discretion, to change, modify, add or remove portions of our privacy policy at any time.  All changes are effective immediately, without prior notice to you, when we post them on our Website and apply to your personal information collected by us on our Website thereafter. Your continued use of the Website following the posting of such changes means that you accept and agree to the changes and you are bound by them. Please refer to this policy regularly.

Types of Information We Collect on our Website

Information You Choose to Submit. You do not need to submit or provide us with any personal information to simply visit and browse our Website. However, we will collect personal information you voluntarily choose to submit to us through the Website in a variety of ways, such as the following:

  • By sending an email inquiry through our “Contact Us” link on the Website.

  • By signing up to receive newsletters, email updates or other notifications we may offer from time to time.

  • By sending an email request to any attorney or employee directly from our Website to contact you or provide you information.

  • By providing us with feedback, a testimonial or other information through our “Contact Us” link on the Website, any forum which may be hosted on our Website or in any free text area available on our Website.

  • By submitting or requesting career / employment information.

  • By otherwise submitting personal information to us in email correspondence with us on our Website.

Any personal information submitted by you and collected by us may be stored and retained by us and may be used as set forth in this privacy policy. Although we do not own any of your personal information, any feedback, comments, suggestions or submissions you provide to us through an email, any forum which may be hosted on our Website, or otherwise through our Website will be our property.

Information Automatically Collected From Your Web Browser.  As you navigate through and interact with our Website, automatic data collection technologies collect certain non-personal information about your equipment and browsing actions.

We collect information automatically sent to us from your web browser on the device you are using to connect to the internet to view our Website.  This will include your “IP address” and may include your internet service provider, the operating system and browser you used, web pages on our Website you have visited, the time and date of your visit, the Website you came through to reach our Website, and whether or not links which may be available on our Website were clicked on. Your IP address is a unique identifier assigned to your computer or device when you connect to the internet.  It is used so that electronic information can be sent to you over the internet to your IP address.

The information we receive from your web browser does not identify you by name.  Your IP browser information will reveal whether your IP browser accessed our Website through an email communication we send you containing a link to our Website if the link was clicked on. We use this information from your browser to improve our marketing services.

Information from Other Technologies.  We also may use standard data tracking technologies such as the following:

  • Cookies (or browser cookies). A cookie is a commonly used automated data collection tool. It is a small file placed on the hard drive of your computer or device by websites that you visit or emails you open. Cookies make websites work, or work more efficiently, for example, when you return to our Website, cookies enable us to remember information from prior visits, and cookies may save data such as screen preferences and pages viewed. If you wish, you can configure your browser to block cookies; however, your ability to access certain portions of the Website may be affected.

  • Web Beacons. Pages of our Website and our emails may contain small electronic files known as web beacons that permit us, for example, to count users who have visited those pages or opened an email and for other related Website statistics (for example, recording the popularity of certain Website content and verifying system and server integrity). Unlike cookies, you cannot decline web beacons. However, setting your browser to decline cookies or to prompt you for a response generally may keep web beacons from storing your activity.

  • Flash Cookies. These are similar to cookies, except that they can store more complex data to provide greater Website functionality and to remember your settings, preferences and navigation to, from, and on our Website. Flash cookies operate differently than regular browser cookies, and cannot be removed or blocked via regular web browser settings. To learn more about how to manage flash cookies, you can visit the Adobe Website and follow the directions provided by Adobe with respect to the Flash settings and make changes as directed therein. Limiting the acceptance of flash cookies may reduce or impede the functionality of some Flash applications.

These technologies are used by us in a variety of ways and primarily to:

  • Estimate our audience size and usage patterns.

  • Collect information about how users use our Website such as pages they visit, the length of stay and links that are used.

  • Facilitate server and network operation and maintenance of the Website.

  • Store information about your preferences, allowing us to customize our Website according to your individual interests.

  • Better understand the needs and interests of our users.

This information we collect automatically from these technologies does not identify you personally.

Aggregated Non-Personal Information. We may collect general, non-personal, statistical information about the users of our Website to determine information regarding Website usage, and general information about our users. We may also group this information to provide general aggregated data. The aggregated data will not personally identify any user of our Website.

How We Use Your Information

The personal information we collect through our Website is used by us generally to:

  • Respond to an email or request from you and provide information you have requested.

  • Send you information we believe may be of interest to you about us or our services, unless you have opted-out to receive email notices from us.

  • Improve the usage and operations of our Website generally.

  • Improve our marketing and promotion of our business.

  • Help secure our systems.

  • Comply with legal requirements.

  • Process an employment request or application.

  • Better understand the needs and interests of our users.

How We Disclose the Information We Collect

We do not share, sell, rent, or transfer personal information other than as described in this privacy policy.  We may disclose or publish reports that contain aggregated and statistical data discussed above.  These reports do not contain any personal information that would enable the recipient to contact, locate or identify you. In addition, we may disclose personal information as follows:

  • To third parties we use to support the internal operations of our Website and who are bound by contractual or other obligations to use the information only for such purpose and to keep it confidential, such as our website hosting provider.

  • If we are required to do so by law or legal process, such as to comply with any court order or subpoena or to respond to any government or regulatory request.

  • If we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to (a) protect the rights, property, or safety of us, our customers or others, (b) protect the safety and security of our Website, (c) enforce or apply our Terms of Use, or (d) prevent or investigate possible crimes such a identify theft, or to law enforcement agencies or for an investigation related to public safety. In some cases, disclosure may be required by law to be without notice to you.

In addition, if we are involved in a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other sale or transfer of some or all of our assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding or event, your personal information we have collected may be transferred to the buyer or other successor.

Third Party Websites and Links

We may display links on our Website which may take you to other websites beyond our control. For example, if you click on a link, the “click” may take you off our Website and onto a different website. This may include links from third parties, such as third parties whose link we agree can be displayed on our Website. These other websites may send their own cookies to you, independently collect data or solicit personal information and may or may not have their own published privacy policies. We do not control these third parties’ tracking technologies or how they may be used. If you visit a website from a link contained on our Website, you should consult that website’s privacy policy before providing any personal information as these websites are not owned or controlled by us and we are not responsible for the privacy practices of those websites as they may differ from our privacy practices. We recommend that you read the privacy statement of each website that collects personal information, as their privacy statement will govern any personal information you submit to those websites. This privacy policy applies only to information collected by us through our Website.

You May Opt-Out of Promotional Messaging

You can opt-out of receiving promotional or marketing email messages from us. Simply follow any unsubscribe or opt-out instructions contained in the email we send to you. You may also send us your opt-out request by emailing us in the “Contact Us” portion of our Website or mailing your request to our postal address set forth below under the caption “Contact Us.”

Access and Correction

Our Website currently does not allow you to create a user profile. If this changes in the future, you may have the ability to view or edit your personal information online. We take reasonable steps to keep your personal information accurate.  If you desire to access, update or correct personal information you submitted to us through our Website, please contact us as at the email address or postal address set forth below under the caption “Contact Us.” We will respond to you within a reasonable period and take reasonable steps to provide you with the requested information or action, subject to verifying your identity and any limitations provided by law or our internal policies regarding the information requested or the action to be taken.

Security and Data Retention

The security, integrity and confidentiality of your information are important to us. We have implemented reasonable technical, administrative and physical security measures that are designed to protect personal information from unauthorized access, disclosure, use and modification. Please be aware though that, despite our efforts, no internet security measures are perfect or impenetrable. We will retain your personal information for the length of time needed to fulfill the purposes outlined in this privacy policy unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.

Do Not Track

Some browsers have incorporated a Do Not Track (DNT) feature. These features, when turned on, send a signal that you prefer that the website you are visiting not collect and use data regarding your online searching and browsing activities. As there is not yet a common understanding on how to interpret the DNT signal, we currently do not respond to DNT signals on our Website.

Children Under 13

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are under 13, do not provide any information about yourself. If we learn we have collected or received personal information from a child under 13, we will delete that information. If you believe we might have any information from or about a child under13, please contact us as set forth below under the caption “Contact Us.”

Notice to California Residents

Under California Civil Code 1798, California residents with an established business relationship with us can request information about sharing their personal information with third parties for the third parties’ direct marketing purposes. At present, we do not share your personal information with third parties for direct marketing purposes, except as otherwise provided in this privacy policy.

Governing Law

This privacy policy is governed by and construed in accordance with the internal laws of the State of Minnesota without regard to its choice or conflict of law provisions.

Contact Us

If you have a comment or question about this privacy policy, desire to opt-out of any promotional messaging, gain access, update or correct any of your personal information submitted through our Website or have any other concern or request, please contact us as follows:

By email:  Through the “Contact Us” portion of our Website

By mail to: Messerli & Kramer P.A.
1400 Fifth Street Towers
100 South Fifth Street
Minneapolis, MN 55402-1217
Attn: Marketing Department

Effective: November 2017

Last Reviewed: November 2023