Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Our family law and personal injury firm (referred to in this policy as "our firm," "we," "us," or "our") is committed to protecting the privacy of visitors to our website at fritzandphillips.com (the "Site"), prospective clients who contact us, and clients we represent. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, when we share it, and the rights you have over your personal information.

This Privacy Policy applies to information collected through the Site, through email communications with our firm, through telephone calls to our office, and through in-person consultations. By using the Site or communicating with us, you acknowledge that you have read and understand this Privacy Policy.

If you do not agree with this Privacy Policy, please do not use the Site or provide personal information to our firm through any channel.

2. Information We Collect

We collect three categories of information: information you voluntarily provide to us, information collected automatically through the Site, and information we may receive from third parties.

Information You Provide

When you contact our firm through the Site, by email, by telephone, or in person, you may provide us with personal information including:

• Your full name and any name variations
• Your contact information — email address, telephone number, mailing address
• The names and contact information of opposing parties, witnesses, or other persons involved in your legal matter, which is necessary for our firm to perform conflicts checks
• The nature of your legal matter — facts, circumstances, dates, locations, and other details you choose to share when seeking legal advice or representation
• Financial information relevant to your case — income, assets, debts, employment history — which may be necessary for divorce, child custody, child support, or personal injury matters
• Documents you upload, attach, or share with our firm
• Any other information you choose to share through contact forms, email, or direct communications

Information Collected Automatically

When you visit the Site, our hosting provider and analytics tools automatically collect certain information about your device and browsing activity, including:

• Your IP address and approximate geographic location based on that IP address
• Your browser type and version (e.g., Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge)
• Your device type and operating system
• Pages visited on the Site, time spent on each page, and the path you took through the Site
• The referring website or search engine that brought you to the Site
• Date and time of your visit
• Information collected through cookies and similar tracking technologies (see Section 6)

Information from Third Parties

In limited circumstances, we may receive information about you from third parties, including:

• Referral sources — other attorneys, current or former clients, or other professionals who refer you to our firm
• Public records — court records, property records, business filings, and other publicly available information when researching a legal matter
• Opposing counsel and parties — in the course of litigation
• Third-party service providers we use to operate the Site, including our hosting provider and analytics provider

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

• To respond to inquiries from prospective clients and provide initial consultations
• To perform conflicts checks required by the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct before establishing an attorney-client relationship
• To provide legal services to our clients, including representation in family law, divorce, child custody, child support, and personal injury matters
• To communicate about your matter, schedule meetings, exchange documents, and provide updates
• To send administrative notices about our services, including changes to fees, policies, or office procedures
• To improve the Site and our services based on aggregated and anonymized analytics data
• To comply with legal obligations, including responding to subpoenas, court orders, or other lawful requests
• To enforce our rights and protect our firm, our clients, and the public from fraud, harm, or illegal activity
• To meet our professional and ethical obligations under the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct

We do not sell your personal information to third parties. We do not share your information with third parties for their own marketing purposes.

4. Attorney-Client Confidentiality & Privilege

The attorney-client privilege and the duty of confidentiality apply to information shared with our firm after an attorney-client relationship has been formally established through a signed engagement letter or other written agreement. These protections may also apply to information shared during a confidential consultation, even where no formal representation results.

Our firm protects client information through written engagement agreements, secure document storage, restricted access, encrypted communications where appropriate, and professional staff trained in confidentiality requirements. We will not disclose privileged information except as permitted or required by the Texas Disciplinary Rules — for example, to prevent imminent harm, to comply with a court order, or with the client's informed consent.

5. No Attorney-Client Relationship Is Created by Website Use

Until an attorney-client relationship is formally established, any information you send to our firm — whether through the Site contact form, email, telephone, or otherwise — may not be protected by attorney-client privilege. Please do not send confidential, privileged, or time-sensitive information through the Site or by email before we have confirmed in writing that our firm has agreed to represent you.

Before our firm can accept representation, we must complete a conflicts check to ensure that representing you would not create a conflict of interest with our existing or former clients. The information you provide for the conflicts check (including the name of any opposing party) is used solely for that purpose and is held in strict confidence by our firm, but it is held under our internal information management procedures rather than under formal attorney-client privilege.

The information presented on this Site is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Legal outcomes depend on the specific facts of each case. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Do not act or refrain from acting based on information on this Site without seeking the advice of a licensed attorney about your specific situation.

6. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

The Site uses cookies and similar technologies to operate properly, to remember your preferences, and to understand how visitors use the Site.

What Are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files that a website stores on your device when you visit. Cookies allow websites to recognize your device and remember information about your visit. The Site uses the following types of cookies:

• Essential cookies — required for the Site to function properly (e.g., security, session management, basic navigation). These cannot be disabled without affecting Site functionality.
• Functional cookies — remember preferences such as language or display settings.
• Analytics cookies — provide aggregated and anonymized data about how visitors use the Site through Google Analytics (see Section 7).

Managing Cookies

Most web browsers allow you to control cookies through browser settings. You can typically block all cookies, accept all cookies, or be prompted before a cookie is stored. Each browser is different — consult your browser's help documentation for specific instructions:

• Chrome: Settings → Privacy and Security → Cookies and other site data
• Safari: Preferences → Privacy → Manage Website Data
• Firefox: Settings → Privacy & Security → Cookies and Site Data
• Edge: Settings → Cookies and site permissions

Blocking cookies may affect Site functionality. The Site does not require cookies to display its main content, but some features may not work as expected if cookies are disabled.

7. Third-Party Services

The Site uses the following third-party services. Each operates under its own privacy policy, which governs how it collects and uses information.

Google Analytics

The Site uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google LLC, to understand how visitors interact with the Site. Google Analytics uses cookies and similar technologies to collect information about Site usage in aggregated, anonymized form — including pages visited, time on page, referring website, browser type, device type, and approximate geographic location.

The information collected by Google Analytics is used to analyze Site traffic, improve content, and understand visitor interests. Google Analytics does not collect your name, email address, or other directly identifying information by default. Google may also use this data for its own purposes under the Google Analytics terms of service.

You can learn more about Google's data practices at https://policies.google.com/privacy. You can opt out of Google Analytics tracking by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

Website Hosting

The Site is hosted by a third-party hosting provider whose servers automatically log technical information about each Site request, including the visitor's IP address, browser type, request time, and pages requested. This information is used by the hosting provider for security, troubleshooting, and abuse prevention.

8. When We Share Your Information

We do not sell your personal information. We share information only in the following limited circumstances:

• With your consent — when you ask us to share information with a third party (for example, with another attorney, an expert witness, or a healthcare provider)
• With opposing parties and counsel — in the course of representing you, our firm shares case-related information with opposing parties, opposing counsel, and the court as required to advance your matter
• With service providers — including our hosting provider, our analytics provider, our IT support, and our document management system providers, who are contractually required to keep your information confidential
• With professional consultants — such as experts, paralegals, investigators, or co-counsel, who may be retained to assist with your matter and are subject to confidentiality obligations
• For legal compliance — when required to comply with a subpoena, court order, search warrant, or other lawful legal process
• To protect rights and safety — when necessary to investigate, prevent, or take action against suspected illegal activity, fraud, or threats to the safety of any person
• In the event of a business transfer — if our firm is involved in a merger, sale, or asset transfer, client information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to applicable confidentiality requirements

9. Data Security

We implement reasonable technical, administrative, and physical safeguards to protect personal information from unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These safeguards include:

• Secure password-protected systems for client file management
• Restricted access to client information on a need-to-know basis among firm personnel
• Encrypted transmission of sensitive documents where appropriate
• Locked physical storage for paper files
• Training of firm personnel on confidentiality and data security

No system of security can be guaranteed to be perfectly secure. Despite our reasonable efforts, no data transmission over the internet or storage system can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. If you believe your interaction with our firm is no longer secure, please contact us immediately at the contact information at the end of this policy.

10. Data Retention

We retain personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, including:

• Prospective client information — retained for a reasonable period to allow follow-up communication and to maintain our conflicts-check database
• Client files — retained for the duration of representation and for at least five years after the matter closes, consistent with Texas State Bar recordkeeping requirements; some categories of records may be retained longer based on the type of matter and statutory requirements
• Financial records — retained for at least seven years to comply with tax and regulatory requirements
• Website analytics data — retained per Google Analytics' default retention period

When information is no longer needed and not subject to a legal retention requirement, we securely dispose of it.

11. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on where you reside, you may have specific privacy rights under applicable law. We honor verified consumer requests to the extent required by law.

Texas Residents — Texas Data Privacy and Security Act (TDPSA)

Effective July 1, 2024, the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act provides Texas residents with rights regarding personal data, including the right to:

• Confirm whether we are processing your personal data and access that data
• Correct inaccuracies in your personal data
• Delete personal data we have collected from you
• Obtain a portable copy of your personal data
• Opt out of the sale of personal data, targeted advertising, or certain profiling activities

Note: certain processing necessary to provide legal services, comply with professional obligations, or comply with court orders is exempt from some of these rights.

California Residents — CCPA / CPRA

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act provides additional rights, including:

• The right to know what personal information we collect, use, disclose, and sell
• The right to delete personal information (subject to legal retention exemptions)
• The right to correct inaccurate personal information
• The right to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information (note: we do not sell personal information)
• The right to limit use of sensitive personal information
• The right to non-discrimination for exercising your privacy rights

Other State Residents

Residents of Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, and other states with comprehensive privacy laws have similar rights under their respective state laws, including rights of access, correction, deletion, portability, and opt-out from certain processing activities.

EU and UK Residents — GDPR / UK GDPR

If you are located in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, the General Data Protection Regulation and the UK GDPR provide rights including:

• The right to access your personal data
• The right to rectification of inaccurate data
• The right to erasure ("right to be forgotten") subject to legal exemptions
• The right to restrict processing
• The right to data portability
• The right to object to processing based on legitimate interests
• The right to lodge a complaint with your data protection authority

How to Exercise Your Rights

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at the contact information at the end of this policy. We will verify your identity before responding to your request and will respond within the timeframes required by applicable law. We may need to retain certain information to comply with legal obligations, professional ethical requirements, or to defend legal claims, even after a deletion request.

12. Children's Privacy

The Site is not directed to children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 in violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). If you believe we have inadvertently collected information from a child under 13, please contact us immediately so we can delete the information.

In the context of family law cases involving children, our firm may collect and process information about minor children at the direction of their parents or legal guardians as part of providing legal services. Such collection is conducted under the parent's or guardian's authority and is governed by attorney-client confidentiality and applicable court orders.

13. Do Not Track Signals

Some browsers transmit "Do Not Track" (DNT) signals to websites. Because no consistent industry standard for interpreting DNT signals has emerged, the Site does not currently respond differently to DNT signals. You can control tracking by adjusting your browser cookie settings (see Section 6) and by using the Google Analytics opt-out tool described in Section 7.

14. Third-Party Links

The Site may contain links to third-party websites — including government court websites, the Texas Attorney General's Office, the Texas Office of Court Administration, and other resources. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those third-party sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party site you visit.

15. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, applicable law, or for other operational reasons. When we update the policy, we will revise the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page. Material changes will be communicated through a notice posted on the Site.

Your continued use of the Site after the Effective Date of any updated policy constitutes your acknowledgment of the changes. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically.

16. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, wish to exercise your privacy rights, or want to discuss any privacy-related concern, please contact us:

This Privacy Policy is governed by the laws of the State of Texas, without regard to its conflict of law principles. Any disputes arising from or related to this Privacy Policy shall be resolved in the courts of Montgomery County, Texas.