Tag Archives: office sharing

COVID Face Masks Now Required in Private Law Offices

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Throughout Oregon’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak private offices have been exempt from face covering requirements, provided employees had no public-facing interaction. That changed on Friday, August 14, 2020:

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown Friday issued new guidance regarding face coverings in office spaces.

The guidance requires people to wear face coverings or face shields in private and public office spaces. Face coverings are required in any areas where 6 feet of distance from other people cannot be maintained such as bathrooms, hallways, elevators and break rooms.

The guidance provides an exception, allowing people to remove their face coverings briefly in situations where someone’s identity needs to be confirmed — such as in banks or in interactions with law enforcement.

Source: OPB Live Updates

If your employees are back in the office, send out an immediate push notification or email regarding this requirement and how it will be implemented in your firm.

Many resources may be found on the state’s COVID web pages, including:

Please note these resources will require updating following Friday’s new mandate.

Office Shares

If you are in an office share, remember you are required maintain six (6) feet of physical distance at all times. Maximum occupancy of the space is determined by allowing
35 square feet per person.

Permitted Face Coverings

In lieu of a mask, a face shield that covers the forehead, extends below the chin, and wraps around the sides of the face is perfectly acceptable. Most face shields do not meet this last requirement, so be careful when selecting shields as an option.

Am I Required to Provide Face Coverings for Employees?

As an employer you may be required to provide face coverings for your employees. Do your research. Contact your local health department for further information.

All Rights Reserved 2020 Beverly Michaelis

 

Do Good Friends Make Good Partners?

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The following is an update of “Thinking about Partnership?”

A potential partnership between lawyers sparks many issues – capitalization; entity formation; allocation of profits, losses, income, and expenses; restrictions on partnership authority; division of management duties; decision-making; withdrawal; and more.

But the most important consideration is often ignored: basic compatibility.

Do good friends make good partners?

Not necessarily. The interests or characteristics that draw two or more people together as friends do not always translate well to the business world.  This includes the practice of law.

Sometimes money gets in the way.  Or you could be polar opposites when it comes to work ethic or work style.

Perhaps you and your potential partner are “two peas in a pod,” sharing the same dislikes. While that may sound like a basis for bonding, it can also be a deadly combination.  The example that comes to mind is accounting.  Billing, recordkeeping, accounting, and reconciling can be outsourced, but should still be supervised.  As partners, the buck stops with you.  If neither of you has an interest in tending to law firm finances, you may quickly find yourself out of business.

How to size up a potential partner

For two lawyers considering a partnership, compatibility can be gauged best by joining forces as solos in an office share.  Each lawyer maintains his or her own practice, following the usual recommendations for an office sharing situation.  See the Professional Liability Fund (PLF) form/practice aid, “Office Sharing Guidelines” available on the PLF Website.  

In an office share you can assess your potential partner’s work ethic, work style, and work habits first hand.  You will also learn how your potential partner approaches division of responsibility and money when the time comes to allocate and pay office share expenses.  You have the option of collaborating on individual cases while maintaining your independence.  This will give you intimate knowledge of your potential partner’s capabilities as a lawyer.

If the office sharing arrangement is successful, and you can come to terms on partnership formation issues, you are likely to have a successful union.  If the office sharing arrangement is not successful, you can accept the experience as a “lesson learned” and terminate the office share without the mess of a formal partnership dissolution.

For those who are convinced they have a winning partnership

Occasionally I meet two lawyers who are absolutely convinced they will form the perfect partnership.  They forge ahead, without the benefit of an office share experience, and later regret their decision.

I don’t wish to dampen anyone’s enthusiasm, and sometimes folks are absolutely right in their assessment.  If you’ve known each other for years, and “just know” it will work please do this simple exercise first:

Schedule a time to get together with your potential partner.  Bring two legal pads and two pens.  Allow ten or fifteen minutes for each person to make a list of the goals he or she has for the partnership.  Each person should be able to answer: what do I hope to get out of this?  How will partnering up be a significant improvement over my current working situation?  Exchange lists.  What you learn may surprise you.

Obviously you can approach this exercise any way you like, but here are my suggested ground rules:

  1. Keep the process as spontaneous as possible. If the exercise is your idea, resist the temptation to work on your list in advance.
  2. Write down the first thoughts that come to mind.  Don’t edit yourself to please your potential partner or you defeat the whole purpose of the exercise.
  3. Keep it succinct.  The next ground rule should help with that.
  4. Stick to the time limit. If one or both of you can’t put your goals down in writing in ten or fifteen minutes, that alone should make you pause.
  5. Be open to whatever the other person has to say.

Why bother?

As a wise man named Lee Rosen once pointed out, “lawyers can be nasty.”  We are, after all, human beings.  If we don’t get along, odds are we will take it out on each other. Finding someone compatible to partner with is incredibly important.  The experience should be positive, rewarding, and gratifying.  Life is too short for anything less.

All Rights Reserved [2017] Beverly Michaelis

 

 

To Boldly Go Solo

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How do you know if solo practice is right for you?  Do you have what it takes to organize, manage, and assume all the risks of running a law practice?

solo-with-laptop-cropped

As Bill Nye would say, please consider the following:

Independence

Solos get to call all the shots: client selection, case selection, setting fees, choosing a practice location – every decision that goes into running a practice.  The responsibility rests on your shoulders.  Do you find that appealing, daunting but doable, or overwhelming?  If you answer is appealing or daunting but doable, please proceed.

Are You a Decider?

Some people are decisive, others are not.  If you agonize over choices and normally poll multiple friends and family members before making a decision, solo practice will be difficult.

Solos need to make business and practice decisions every day.  Some of these decisions must be made under pressure with little time to reflect. The reward, of course, is that you get to decide.  You have the freedom and independence to use your creativity, knowledge, and skills to solve problems.

Are You a Self-Starter?

Solo practitioners must be self-regulating. Can you get the work out without someone supervising?  Give regular attention to administrative tasks like billing and bookkeeping? It will be up to you to meet deadlines, organize your time, and follow through on details. If you are a good planner and organizer, your solo practice will be successful.

Are You a Marketer?

All lawyers in private practice are expected to develop business, but in a solo practice the pressure is greater.  You’re it.  Can you create your own networking opportunities and business contacts?   Devote time to blogging or updating your website?  Post to social media?  Speak at CLEs?  Write articles for bar publications?  Build business referral relationships?

Financially Speaking

What resources are available to you?  What financial demands and commitments do you have?  Is it possible (or desirable) to apply for a micro loan, regular loan, or line of credit?  Are you up for crowdfunding?  Start by reviewing your expenses, then prepare a start-up and monthly budget.  Read about other business/financial essentials here.

Drive, Stamina, and Work-Life Balance

Can you practice law, run a business, and keep it all in balance with your personal life? Are you strongly motivated?  Healthy?  Is your family supportive of your efforts?  These are all good markers.  Nonetheless, make a plan to care for yourself and manage stress.  If you are looking for ideas or resources, contact the attorney counselors at the Oregon Attorney Assistance Program.  Services are confidential and free to Oregon attorneys.

Final Thoughts

Solo practice requires a lot of time and work, but it also has benefits: no one looking over your shoulder, no pressure to take a particular client, freedom to work in the areas of law that you prefer, and complete flexibility in deciding when, where, and how to work.  Is it a match for you?

All Rights Reserved Beverly Michaelis 2017

Thinking about Partnership?

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A potential partnership between lawyers sparks many issues – capitalization; entity formation; allocation of profits, losses, income, and expenses; restrictions on partnership authority; division of management duties; decision-making; withdrawal; and more.

But the most important consideration is often ignored: basic compatibility.

Do good friends make good partners?

Not necessarily. The interests or characteristics that draw two or more people together as friends do not always translate well to the business world.  This includes the practice of law.

Sometimes money gets in the way.  Or you could be polar opposites when it comes to work ethic or work style.

Maybe you are two peas in a pod with the same dislikes, which can be deadly.  The example that comes to mind is accounting.  Billing, recordkeeping, accounting, and reconciling can be outsourced, but should still be supervised.  As partners, the buck stops with you:

Lawyers must account for every penny of [client] funds as long as the funds remain in their possession.  This responsibility cannot be delegated, transferred, or excused by the ignorance, inattention, incompetence, or dishonesty of the lawyer or the lawyer’s employees or associates. A lawyer may employ others to help carry out this duty but must provide adequate training and supervision to ensure that all ethical and legal obligations to account for those monies are being met. In re Mannis, 295 Or 594, 668 P2d 1224 (1983) (lawyer reprimanded although he was unaware employee was commingling funds).  Excerpted from A Guide to Setting Up and Using Your Lawyer Trust Account, published by the Professional Liability Fund (2014).

How to size up a potential partner

For two lawyers considering a partnership, compatibility can be gauged best by joining forces as solos in an office share.  Each lawyer maintains his or her own practice, following the usual recommendations for an office sharing situation.  See the Professional Liability Fund (PLF) form/practice aid, “Office Sharing Guidelines” available on the PLF Web site.  

In an office share you can assess your potential partner’s work ethic, work style, and work habits first hand.  You will also learn how your potential partner approaches division of responsibility and money when the time comes to allocate and pay office share expenses.  You have the option of collaborating on individual cases while maintaining your independence.  This will give you intimate knowledge of your potential partner’s capabilities as a lawyer.

If the office sharing arrangement is successful, and you can come to terms on partnership formation issues, you are likely to have a successful union.  If the office sharing arrangement is not successful, you can accept the experience as a “lesson learned” and terminate the office share without the mess of a formal partnership dissolution.

For those who are convinced they have a winning partnership

Occasionally I meet two lawyers who are absolutely convinced they will form the perfect partnership.  They forge ahead, without the benefit of an office share experience, and later regret their decision.

I don’t wish to dampen anyone’s enthusiasm, and sometimes folks are absolutely right in their assessment.  If you’ve known each other for years, and “just know” it will work I would ask you to do this simple exercise first:

Schedule a time to get together with your potential partner.  Bring two legal pads and two pens.  Allow fifteen minutes for each person to make a list of the goals he or she has for the partnership.  Each person should be able to answer: what do I hope to get out of this?  How will partnering up be a significant improvement over my current working situation?  Exchange lists.  What you learn may surprise you.

Note:  Each set of potential partners can decide how long to allocate to this process, but there is an advantage in keeping the list-making phase short and sweet: limited time is more likely to result in someone writing down the first (unedited) thoughts that come to mind.  Limited time also forces participants to be succinct.

Understandably, such an exercise will always be one person’s idea.  But please don’t initiate such a meeting and arrive with a list prepared in advance.  If you prefer a mulling and polishing period, tell your partner several days in advance so each person has an equal amount of time to prepare.

All Rights Reserved [2014] Beverly Michaelis