On May 7, 2020, Governor Brown announced new details on the phased reopening of businesses in Oregon. Decisions will be made on a county-by-county basis. Counties must apply to reopen and:

• Show a decline in COVID-19 or have fewer than 5 hospitalizations
• Have sufficient COVID-19 testing and contact tracing capability
• Establish plans for the isolation and quarantine of new cases
• Have the hospital capacity to handle any surge in COVID-19 cases
• Have enough personal protective equipment for health care workers

What Should Law Firms Do?

Now is an excellent time to put your plan together for phased reopening.

Start with this very thoughtful post from Vinson & Elkins. Directed at clients, it also applies to law firms, who are – after all – businesses too.

It begins with identifying a return-to-work coordination team with the right members – HR, IT, finance, admin, and for law firms – lawyers and legal staff. As a group, the team addresses these issues:

1. When will the office reopen?
2. Who should work from the office?
3. Should we screen employees for COVID-19 before they return?
4. What new practices will be required to maintain social distancing and ensure a sanitary workplace?
5. How will we handle individual employee requests?

The post suggests delegating responsibilities by department or floor. This could also be done based on the issue. Whatever makes sense for your firm. Most importantly, the team needs to communicate what will happen and when.

Remember the Clients

While social distancing and sanitizing will benefit clients, your return-to-work team should also consider:

1. When will we resume in-person client meetings?
2. What new practices will be required for in-person meetings?
3. How should we communicate about COVID-related client procedures?

Permitting in-person meetings may mean:

• Redesigning your reception area
• Staggering client meeting times
• Limiting non-client visitors
• Requiring face coverings
• Sanitizing client property delivered to the firm

More Resources

A Google search reveals a plethora of return-to-work resources from law firms directed at clients, such as the return-to-work coordination team described above. Three particularly useful reads are the Reopening Issues Checklist, the Checklist for Health and Safety Planning, and 10 issues to consider offered by the Society for Human Resource Management.

All Rights Reserved 2020 Beverly Michaelis