Pre-Hire Recruitment Privacy Notice

As part of any recruitment process, we collect and process personal data relating to job applicants, including special categories of data. It is our policy to deal with your personal information responsibly and in accordance with the requirements of applicable data protection laws, including the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

What personal information we collect

We collect a range of information about you as part of your job application and recruitment process. This may include:

• your name, alias, postal address, contact details, including email address, telephone number and a photograph, SSN, driver’s license number, passport number
• your signature, physical characteristics or description, state ID card number, bank account number
• your date of birth, gender, marital status
• details of your education background, qualifications, professional licenses and memberships, skills, experience, employment, and employment history, CV, interview notes, outcome of application
• information about your current level of remuneration, including benefit entitlements
• whether or not you have a disability for which we need to make reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process
• information about  your entitlement  to  work  in the UK
• passwords  and security questions when  you  apply via our website
• equal opportunities monitoring information, including information relating to characteristics of protected classifications under CA or federal law, including race, color, national origin, gender, disability, age (40 and older), citizenship status, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, military or veteran status, and political activities or affiliations, and
• Internet or other electronic network activity information, including, but not limited to, information regarding your interaction with our website.

How we collect personal information

We collect this information as part of our recruitment and hiring processes in a variety of ways, including:

• directly from you when you apply for a role or when you submit your personal information to us via our website or an alternative application form
• from your passport or other identity documents, or through interviews or other forms of assessment
• from third parties, such as recruitment agencies acting on your behalf or references supplied by former employers, information from employment background check providers and information from criminal records checks. We will seek information from third parties only once a job offer to you has been made and will inform you that we are doing so, and
• data from partners and employees of the Firm as a result of internal referrals or other information generated as part of our recruitment processes.

Data will be stored in a range of different places, including on your application record, in HR management systems and on other of our IT systems (including email).

How we use personal information

We use the information we collect in a number of ways including:

• to identify you and process your application
• to manage the recruitment process, assess and confirm your candidacy and decide whether or not to offer you a job
• to contact you with communications about employment opportunities with S&C
• to fulfil our legal and regulatory obligations, including reporting obligations and in connection with potential or actual legal or regulatory proceedings or investigations
• to fulfill our contractual obligations
• to communicate with you and provide information requested by you, and (where relevant) to repay approved expenses incurred as part of our recruitment processes
• to improve our website, including auditing and monitoring its use, to provide users with a  customized experience, and to understand our website audience and demographics and their interests and content preferences
• to determine if we need to make reasonable accommodations for candidates who are disabled and have need for such
• to fulfil our obligations under diversity and equal opportunities regulations, and to monitor the effectiveness of our diversity efforts
• to support and evaluate our personnel
• to engage in other activities in connection with the proper operation of our legal practice. For example, in connection with its operations, S&C must share or transfer data to third parties (for example, insurance providers, pension administrators, banks, payroll and other service providers) and among its offices around the world in connection with S&C’s provision of legal services, satisfaction of its professional commitments and support and administration of its personnel
• to operate S&C’s alumni site, including personalization services, such as suggested contacts, news, events and interactive communications
• to enable users of S&C’s alumni site to search for and locate other users via the directory
• in connection with the administration of events
• to book travel, and
• to obtain business-related information through surveys conducted by us and others.

The grounds on which we process personal information

We process personal information on one or more of the following grounds:

• for our legitimate business purposes, as described above
• to take steps with a view to entering into a contract of employment with you
• for the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims or proceedings
• to comply with legal and regulatory obligations

Sharing personal information

The Firm has offices around the world.

Your information will be shared with individuals involved in the Firm’s worldwide recruitment efforts. This includes members of the HR and recruitment team, interviewers involved in the recruitment process and partners/managers in the business area(s) relevant to your application. This may result in your information being transferred to one or more of our offices worldwide.

We may also share your personal information with trusted third parties in accordance with contractual arrangements in place with them, including:

• IT service providers, such as the external provider that manages our recruitment website
• your appointed recruitment agent (if applicable), and
• our own professional advisers and auditors.

If your application for employment is successful and we make you an offer of employment, we will then share your data with our employment background check providers to obtain necessary background checks (which will include contacting your former employers to obtain references for you) and the Disclosure and Barring Service to obtain necessary criminal records checks.

In some circumstances, we may also pass information to regulatory authorities, courts, tribunals, government agencies and law enforcement agencies. We may be required to disclose your information to comply with legal or regulatory requirements. Where possible, we will use reasonable efforts to notify you before disclosing your information, but we may be legally restricted from doing so.

This may involve a transfer of your information from a location within the European Economic Area (the “EEA”) to outside the EEA, or from outside the EEA to a location within the EEA. The level of information protection in countries outside the EEA may be less than that offered within the EEA. We will implement appropriate measures to ensure that your personal information nevertheless remains protected and secure in accordance with applicable data protection laws. EU standard contractual clauses are in place between all Sullivan & Cromwell entities that share and process personal data.

Protecting Personal Information

We use a variety of technical and organizational measures to help protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration or destruction consistent with applicable data protection laws. These measures are reviewed periodically by external assessors who confirm and certify our operations.
Accordingly, we hold certificate #IS 585222 and operate an Information Security Management System which complies with the requirements of ISO/IEC 27001:2013.

Keeping Personal Information

Your personal information will be retained in accordance with our Data Privacy Policy.

We retain personal information of different types, or relating to different categories of people, for different periods, taking into account its business purpose. For example, information about individuals who have applied for employment with us will be retained for a shorter period than information about individuals who have actually worked for us.

The periods for which we retain information are based on the requirements of applicable data protection laws and the purpose for which the information is collected and used. We take into account legal and regulatory provisions which require information to be retained for a minimum period. We also consider the limitation periods for taking legal action and good practice in the legal industry.

If your application for employment is successful, personal data gathered during the recruitment process will be transferred to your personnel file and retained during your employment.

As a data subject, you have a number of rights. You can:

• access and obtain a copy of your data on request,
• require us to change incorrect or incomplete data,
• require us to delete or stop processing your data, for example where the data is no longer necessary for the purposes of processing,
• object to the processing of your data where we rely on legitimate interests as the legal ground for processing, and
• ask us to stop processing data for a period if data is inaccurate or there is a dispute about whether or not your interests override our legitimate grounds for processing data.

Rights regarding personal information for California residents

Pursuant to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), California residents receive certain rights with respect to their personal information, as described below.  These rights are not absolute and are subject to certain exceptions more fully set forth in the CCPA. California residents have the right not to receive discriminatory treatment from us for the exercise of the privacy rights conferred by the CCPA.

Right to know about personal information collected, disclosed, or sold

Each California resident has the right to request, subject to certain exceptions described in the CCPA, that we disclose to that resident: 

• the categories of personal information we have collected about them,
• the categories of sources from which the personal information is collected,
• the business or commercial purpose for collecting or selling the personal information,
• the categories of third parties with whom we have shared the personal information, and
• the specific pieces of personal information we have collected about them (collectively, a “Request to Know”).

To make such a Request to Know, you can either call us at our toll free number (1-888-558-1505), or fill out our request form here.

In the past twelve months we have collected, and in the future we will continue to collect, the categories of personal information cited in the section entitled “What personal information we collect” above. This includes the following categories of personal information set out in the CCPA: identifiers, personal information described in Section 1798.80 of the California Civil Code, characteristics of protected classifications under California or federal law, Internet or other electronic network activity information, geolocation data, professional or employment-related information, education information and sensitive personal information. We collect this information from the sources described in the section entitled “How we collect personal information” above, use this information as described in the section entitled “How we use personal information” above, and share this information with third parties as described in the section entitled “Sharing personal information” above.  For S&C’s notice of collection of personal information for applicants with respect to information collected or used outside of the context of such person’s recruitment with S&C, please see S&C’s Privacy Policy available here.

We do not sell your personal information as defined under the CCPA or share your personal information for cross-contextual behavioral advertising purposes and we do not have actual knowledge that we sell or share the personal information of consumers under 16 years of age.  We do not use or disclose sensitive personal information for purposes other than those permitted purposes specifically identified in the CCPA and its implementing regulations.

Right to request deletion of personal information

Each California resident has the right to request the deletion of their personal information that we collect or maintain (a “Request to Delete”), subject to certain exceptions set forth in the CCPA.  To make such a Request to Delete, you can either call us at our toll free number (1-888-558-1505), or fill out our request form here. 

Right to correct inaccurate personal information

Each California resident has the right to request the correction of any inaccurate personal information that we maintain (a “Request to Correct”), subject to certain exceptions set forth in the CCPA.  To make such a Request to Correct, you can either call us at our toll free number (1-888-558-1505), or fill out our request form here. 

Process for verifying requests of California residents

In order to protect your privacy and security, prior to completing any Request to Know, Request to Delete or Request to Correct that you may submit, we must verify your identity.  We will verify your identity by asking you to provide certain data that we have already collected from you to confirm that they match our records.  In certain instances, additional verification steps may be required.

Authorized agents

California residents have the right to designate an authorized agent to make a request under the CCPA on their behalf.  Prior to completing a request made by such an authorized agent, we require that you provide your authorized agent with written permission to submit such a request and require that you or your authorized agent provide us with a copy of such written permission.  Additionally, we require that you verify your identity pursuant to the procedure described above.

What if you do not provide personal data?

You are under no statutory or contractual obligation to provide data to us during the recruitment process. However, if you do not provide the information, we may not be able to process your application properly or at all.

Sullivan & Cromwell and its clients have long benefited from the skills and perspectives of lawyers from around the world. Lawyers holding non-U.S. passports face particular challenges and responsibilities when assigned to one of our offices in the United States. This statement sets forth our policies and practices in relation to our lawyers who hold non-U.S. passports and is intended to communicate the nature of the support that our lawyers can expect from the Firm and the responsibilities those lawyers have with respect to maintaining their authority to be employed in the United States. For purposes of this statement, the term "lawyer" references a lawyer in good standing employed by the Firm as an associate, special counsel, European counsel or practice area associate.

U.S. Visa Stamp

First, the U.S. visa stamp in the passport (not required for Canadians) serves as the necessary document for entry to the United States in work authorized nonimmigrant visa status. Because this visa stamp is necessary for travel, the Firm expects that each nonimmigrant visa holder will be vigilant about its validity and take the necessary action for visa issuance or renewal. Therefore, it is incumbent upon each holder to monitor the expiration date of his or her visa stamp and plan travel abroad accordingly, keeping in mind the processing time for obtaining a visa stamp from a U.S. consulate abroad.

The Firm financially supports obtaining a U.S. visa stamp at a U.S. consulate abroad if international travel is for business reasons. Costs incurred for personal travel are not covered.

TN Status

The Firm’s financial support for business related travel expenses is likewise applicable to those holding TN status. TN status is a special nonimmigrant status unique to citizens of Canada and Mexico. In the case of TN status for Canadians (different procedures apply for Mexicans) the individual will obtain the initial TN classification at a U.S. port of entry—either at the U.S./Canadian border or preflight inspection in Canada. The TN status granted by the Department of Homeland Security will be valid for a three-year period and will be reflected as such on the I-94 Arrival/Departure record.

Before a lawyer's TN expires, the Firm recommends that, whenever possible, the lawyer contact Suzanne DiDonato in the Talent Management Department at least four months before the I-94 Arrival/Departure card expires (1) to make appropriate plans for travel to Canada or for a petition to be filed with a service center in the United States and (2) to allow Suzanne to work with our immigration counsel to prepare the TN documents necessary for the TN application.

While TN status is temporary in nature and issued for three years, it is renewable in three-year increments indefinitely. However, an individual in TN status must maintain nonimmigrant intent and demonstrate that his or her stay has a reasonable, finite end that does not equate with permanent residence. Any questions concerning the temporary nature of the assignment or the necessary intent for the TN category should be directed to Suzanne DiDonato, who will arrange for a discussion with our immigration counsel.

The Firm will support TN visa status and may also sponsor individuals for H-1B visa status at the conclusion of any three-year TN approval period. Individuals have the option to request that the Firm sponsor an H-1B visa at any time and the Firm will consider earlier sponsorship.

H-1B Status

Because the H-1B visa is subject to a numerical limitation based upon a congressionally mandated quota that commences with the government’s fiscal year on October 1, the Firm, in its discretion, may require that an individual maintain TN status until the H-1B visa is approved by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. The Firm works with counsel to secure the H-1B visa as appropriate in advance of the October 1 start date, but due to government constraints it may not be possible to obtain H-1B visa status on behalf of each lawyer at the desired time. For those who obtain H-1B visa status, the Firm likewise expects vigilance with regard to the visa stamp for travel and the status for continued, uninterrupted employment in the United States.

For lawyers new to the Firm, the Firm will help them secure H-1B visas as well, but new lawyers need to be aware that these efforts may not succeed due to government constraints and new lawyers remain responsible for maintaining their own authority to work in the United States. If a new lawyer is unable to obtain a visa that will permit him or her to work in the United States, the Firm may consider requests to work in a non-U.S. office, but whether office transfers will be permitted will depend on the needs of the Firm, including the relevant office and practice, and other factors, and the Firm can make no commitments in this regard. Lawyers holding non-U.S. passports who propose to join the Firm in the United States should alert Suzanne DiDonato of their visa status as soon as possible, promptly following acceptance of their offers.

If the Firm has obtained an approval of a change of visa status to the H-1B classification from another classification, then the individual can work in the United States in H status as of the date on the approval notice (Form I-797) and the period of admission will be reflected on the I-94 Arrival/Departure record at the bottom of the approval notice. This means that to work legally without interruption one need not depart the United States to obtain the H visa stamp in the passport and may work in H status.

With regard to international travel, however, those holding non-U.S. passports who live in the United States (except Canadians who are visa-exempt) must have a valid H visa stamp in their passports in order to re-enter the United States after traveling abroad. Because the Firm requires that lawyers be available to travel outside the United States on business, it is incumbent upon each person in H-1B visa status to make arrangements to have the H visa stamped in his or her passport as soon as feasible, following the above guidelines for the Firm’s financial support. We encourage individuals to contact our immigration counsel before making a visa stamp appointment at a U.S. consulate abroad.

Once a lawyer obtains a visa stamp from a U.S. consulate abroad and admission in a nonimmigrant category is granted, the lawyer must send a copy of the I-94 Arrival/Departure record to Suzanne DiDonato because that record controls the period of authorized stay in the United States.

Green Cards

The Firm may, in its discretion, sponsor its lawyers working in the United States for lawful permanent resident status, also known as “green card” status. At this time, the Firm will consider requests for green-card sponsorship made by lawyers who are employees in good standing and who are at the beginning of their second three-year term, or 37th month, of an H-1B visa with the Firm, or who have been employed by the Firm for a comparable period and are within 24 months of the final expiration of another class of nonimmigrant visa. In each case, if the Firm decides to sponsor a lawyer for a green card, the lawyer will be required to confirm in writing his or her “at will” employment status and acknowledge that termination of employment for any reason prior to obtaining a green card could result in termination of the green-card process, with the consequence that the lawyer may be required to leave the United States upon expiration of his or her nonimmigrant visa.

Other Assistance

The Firm also provides assistance to its lawyers in the United States who do not have U.S. citizenship or lawful permanent resident status. This includes access, at the Firm’s expense within established limits, to immigration counsel in connection with obtaining family-based lawful permanent residence (e.g., marriage to a U.S. citizen). Any questions about this access should be directed to the Talent Management Department. Any questions on the Firm’s practices and policies should be directed to Suzanne DiDonato, Senior Manager in the Talent Management Department, who will seek advice from our immigration counsel about particular circumstances when necessary. Our immigration counsel is not to be contacted directly without the prior approval of the Talent Management Department.

Additional Information

Please note that all of our offers are contingent upon satisfactory verification of academic transcripts, background checks, and conflicts clearance, and that employment is subject to the Firm’s practices and policies, including that employment is at will.  In addition, it is a condition of employment at our Firm that you comply with a number of Firm policies, including our Confidentiality Agreement, Data Privacy Policy, Information Security Policy and Equal Employment Opportunity Statement.

Additional questions should be directed to:

If you have any questions on the matters covered in this policy, please contact our Data Protection Officer.

We regularly review this Pre-Hire Recruitment Privacy Policy and may make changes as our services or privacy practices change, or as required by applicable laws or regulations. 

This policy was last updated on January 5, 2023.