Long before social distancing, Zoom touted its capabilities for lawyers. And the platform is booming, with a reported jump from 10 million daily users at the end of 2019 to 200 million in March. But lawyers must be extra careful when using Zoom or any other videoconferencing tool.
For lawyers and the legal system, the issues presented by the novel coronavirus have been as novel as the virus itself. The reverberations will be long-lasting—in some cases, forever so. The ABA Journal talked to eight leading lawyers in their fields, including Gloria Allred and Robert Shapiro, about impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on their practice areas.
“I am able to use my skills to help with the board, to help with meal organization, and to help with providing supplemental staffing at a time when more than ever an EMT is needed,” says lawyer Christopher Jennison, an ABA member, employment and labor counsel with the Federal Aviation Administration, and assembly clerk of the ABA’s Young Lawyers Division.
Baseball most naturally lends itself to implementing the types of social distancing measures recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention amid the COVID-19 pandemic. But sports lawyers say Major League Baseball likely has the most delicate off-the-field legal and contractual issues to iron out before the teams can play ball.
“Change must come, not just through outrage but by powerful, countervailing forces. Every state needs strong and enforced hate crime laws, prosecution of police officers who abuse their power, and top-down political resolve that this will not be tolerated,” writes the ABA Journal’s Liane Jackson.
Restaurants may often invest in substantial insurance coverage for their businesses, including purchasing “business interruption” coverage in case something beyond their control forces a shutdown of their operations. In mid-March, such an event happened: the coronavirus pandemic.
Coming into the office to pay may not be a safe option for either your clients or law firm staff in 2020. Instead, you’ll have everyone’s best interests in mind when you offer your clients the ability to pay legal bills online from the safety and comfort of their own homes. It’s a win-win for both your firm and its clients.
The Washington State Bar Association’s board of governors created a hostile work environment for staff by mishandling an employee’s sexual harassment allegations lodged against a board member, according to an outside investigator’s scathing report that recently became public.
About 21% of Americans now live in a state that allows medical aid in dying. Although these states allow medical aid in dying, the state laws have specific restrictions about when and how a patient can take the prescription. Advocates are pushing to ease criteria, so that more patients have access and more providers can offer support.