Privacy Policy

1.Information We Collect

Information you give us directly

When you fill out a case review form, request a free consultation, book a time on our calendar, complete our Spanish-language form, email us, or call or text our office, we may collect:

• Your name
• Your phone number
• Your email address
• The approximate location or ZIP code of your accident
• The type of case (car accident, rideshare, truck, motorcycle, wrongful death, or other)
• Any details about your situation that you choose to tell us

You decide how much to tell us. Only your phone number and email are required on our case review form. Please keep in mind the warning above: do not send confidential case details until we have agreed in writing to represent you.

Information collected automatically

When you visit this website, we and our service providers may automatically collect:

• IP address and approximate geographic location
• Browser type, device type, and operating system
• Pages viewed, time on page, and the links you click
• The website or advertisement that referred you to us
• Date and time of your visit

Information from third parties

We may receive information about you from our customer relationship platform (HighLevel), our analytics providers, advertising platforms, and, where applicable, people who refer you to us.

2.How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Respond to you. When you submit a form, we use your phone number and email to contact you about your potential case.
• Evaluate whether we can help. We use the details you provide to assess your potential claim and decide whether to offer a consultation.
• Schedule and confirm consultations, including appointment reminders.
• Provide legal services to clients we represent.
• Improve this website and understand which pages and advertisements are useful.
• Comply with our legal, ethical, and professional obligations, including the record-keeping requirements that apply to attorney advertising in South Carolina.

We do not use the information you submit for any purpose unrelated to your inquiry or your representation.

3.How We Share Your Information

We share information only in these limited circumstances:

• Service providers. Companies that operate this website and our practice on our behalf — our CRM and messaging platform (HighLevel), our website host, our email provider, and our analytics providers. They may use your information only to perform services for us.
• When you ask us to. With your consent, for example when we contact an insurance company, medical provider, or expert on your behalf as your lawyers.
• When the law requires it. In response to a subpoena, court order, or other legal process, or where required to comply with law — subject always to the attorney-client privilege and our professional obligations, which we will assert on your behalf where they apply.
• To protect rights and safety, where necessary to prevent harm or to establish or defend legal claims.

We do not share your information with lead generators, case-buying services, or other law firms without your consent.

4.SMS and Text Messaging

This website invites you to call or text us, and our forms collect your mobile number. This section explains how text messaging works and how to stop it.

Our numbers

Our main office line is (843) 732-8141. Text messages are sent and received on a separate number, (843) 779-9213. Both are ours.

Consent

By providing your mobile number on one of our forms and agreeing to be contacted, you consent to receive text messages from Heist Law Firm, LLC at that number, sent from (843) 779-9213. Consent to receive text messages is not a condition of any purchase or of our agreeing to represent you. You can decline text messages and still contact us by phone or email.

What we send

• Responses to your case review request
• Appointment confirmations and reminders
• Case updates, if we represent you
• Requests for information we need to evaluate or handle your matter

Frequency

Message frequency varies depending on your inquiry and the stage of your case. Submitting a case review form does not enrol you in a recurring marketing programme — we text you about your matter, not to advertise.

How to stop

Reply STOP to (843) 779-9213 — the number the messages come from. Opting out of texts does not end any representation or withdraw any instruction you have given us; we will simply contact you by phone or email instead.

TCPA compliance

We send text messages in accordance with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and applicable carrier requirements. We text only numbers that have been provided to us with consent, we honour opt-out requests promptly, and we maintain records of consent.

See our Terms of Service for the full messaging terms.

5.Confidentiality and Privilege

This is a law firm, so a word about the difference between privacy and privilege.

This Privacy Policy governs the website. It is not the same thing as the attorney-client privilege.

Once we have agreed in writing to represent you, information you give us is protected by the attorney-client privilege and by our duty of confidentiality under Rule 1.6 of the South Carolina Rules of Professional Conduct. Those protections are considerably stronger than this policy, and they survive the end of the representation.

Before that point, they may not apply. Information you send through a web form, before an attorney-client relationship exists, may not be privileged. This is the reason for the warning at the top of this page.

6.Cookies and Tracking

We use cookies and similar technologies to operate this website, understand how it is used, and measure our advertising. Our Cookie Policy explains the categories we use, the specific third-party services involved, and how to turn them off.

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Blocking cookies may affect how parts of this website work, including our forms and booking calendar.

Some browsers offer a "Do Not Track" signal. There is no industry-standard response to that signal, and this website does not currently respond to it.

7.Data Retention

We keep information for as long as we need it for the purpose it was collected, and as long as our professional and legal obligations require:

• Enquiries that do not become cases are kept for a limited period so that we can identify conflicts of interest and show what advice was or was not given.
• Client files are retained in accordance with our professional obligations and applicable South Carolina requirements.
• Advertising records. South Carolina requires a lawyer to keep a copy of every advertisement for two years after its last dissemination, along with a record of when and where it appeared. This includes this website.
• SMS consent records are retained to demonstrate TCPA compliance.
• Analytics data is retained according to our providers' standard retention periods.

8.How We Protect Your Information

This website is served over an encrypted connection, and we use reputable providers with their own security programmes. Access to information within the firm is limited to the people who need it to do their jobs.

No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security, which is another reason not to send sensitive details through a web form before we represent you.

9.Your Rights

South Carolina does not currently have a comprehensive consumer data privacy statute. We extend the following rights to anyone who contacts us, regardless of where you live:

• Access. Ask what personal information we hold about you.
• Correction. Ask us to correct information that is wrong.
• Deletion. Ask us to delete your information, subject to the retention obligations described in section 7 — we cannot delete records we are professionally or legally required to keep.
• Opt out of messages. Reply STOP to any text, or ask us to stop contacting you.
• Withdraw consent at any time.

To exercise any of these, email [email protected] or call (843) 732-8141. We may need to verify your identity first.

If you are a resident of California, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, Texas, or another state with a comprehensive privacy law, or of the EU or UK, you may have additional statutory rights, including the right to know what information is collected and to opt out of its sale. We do not sell personal information. Contact us using the details above and we will respond in accordance with applicable law.

10.Children's Privacy

This website is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us information, contact us and we will delete it.

Where we represent an injured minor, information about that child is provided by a parent or guardian in the course of the representation and is governed by our professional obligations, not by this section.

11.Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will change the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Material changes will be posted here. Continuing to use the website after a change means you accept the updated policy.

12.Contact Us

Questions about this Privacy Policy, or about information we hold: