Blog

Member Spotlight: Law Firms During COVID-19

May 19, 2020

WRITTEN BY STEPHANIE EGGERS, FELLOW

A Better City members are stepping up during these unsettling times and leading efforts in the business community with their response to COVID-19. Their actions assist their clients and the community at large to support a united relief effort.

This week’s spotlight focuses on the work of law firms in the A Better City Community. Our member firms are actively engaged in the discussion surrounding COVID-19 by providing free resources on pandemic and post-surge topics to best protect their employees, limit the spread of COVID-19 through Massachusetts, and use their positions in the community to help mitigate and limit the impacts from the economic shutdown.

PUTTING COMMUNITY FIRST

Our members recognize we are all in this together and that putting community first is critical to flattening the curve and ensuring society has access to the necessary information to enable a responsible reopening of the economy. Many of our law firms are making their resources publicly available and for free online.

• Mintz Levin has hosted and recorded webinars regarding decision making to mitigate negative impacts from COVID-19, preparing for the new workplace paradigm, and other concerns or impacts from the pandemic.
• Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP has a series of webinars available for free on their website regarding how businesses currently closed and individuals can use aid programs.
• Choate Hall & Stewart, Bowditch, DLA piper, Nixon Peabody, Sherin and Lodgen, and WilmerHale have all made their advisories and insights free for all online as well as a list of contacts for further information.

ADAPTING SERVICES TO SUPPORT CLIENT NEEDS DURING COVID-19

With offices temporarily closed, our law firm members continue to adjust to the new normal and adapt their services to continue to support their client needs during COVID-19. Our members are innovating to make sure they remain available to their clients and can advise them throughout the pandemic. This includes extensive online resources available to clients on employment and contractual obligations, supply chain disruptions, economic relief options for businesses, and managing financial risk.

• Choate Hall & Stewart, Bowditch, Foley Hoag, Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP, and WilmerHale have all created specific COVID-19 task forces made up of in-house lawyers to help clients develop and execute plans to help their businesses survive through the shutdown.
• Bowditch has included proper contacts for clients across a variety of issues including labor & employment, real estate & construction, contracts & supply chain disruptions, and bankruptcy or restructuring.
• Glouston & Storrs PC has information on their website for contractual issues, workplace safety, hiring, termination, and disability issues, tax relief proposals, and loan and foreclosure issues.
• WilmerHale has information on labor, employment, worker safety, anti-discrimination, and healthcare for employees.
• Choate Hall & Stewart is releasing information through a collection of alerts, advisories, and other online resources on specific to federal and local aid policies like the CARES Act and how they impact businesses and individual clients.
• Mintz Levin has a variety of business issues insights spanning operation resilience in the supply chain, managing risk, compliance, and litigation, and workforce and human capital management.
• DLA Piper has developed a global repository of insights, events, ad contacts to deliver guidance and direction across corporate governance and risk management, finance and restructuring, insurance and real estate contracts, and workforce and employment concerns.
• Nixon Peabody has a multitude of resources related to the varying impacts of COVID-19 and how individuals, families, and businesses can navigate each new challenge and how to use aid programs to their advantage. It also created a Coronavirus Response team made up of professionals across their offices and practices that aim to help clients with a range of virus-related issues including wealth management, securities, bankruptcy, employment issues, and contractual obligations and dispute resolution.
• Sherin and Lodgen utilize a client alert system focusing on employment issues, hospitality industry concerns, real estate issues, and the impacts on renewable energy.
• Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP has a slew of webinars and alerts specifically regarding policies like the CARES Act, as well as information on corporate matters, intellectual property, labor and employment benefits, and litigation.

PLANNING FOR REOPENING

While member law firms continue to support their clients on how to survive the economic shut down, they are also looking ahead to how businesses can prepare for the gradual reopening of the economy, including information on what the Massachusetts reopening will mean for businesses moving forward and provide a loose roadmap for how they can prepare.

• WilmerHale recently discussed the potential for virtual court hearings, outlining practical challenges and considerations with this approach, in a free webinar, to give insight on how certain sectors can resume activities in a safe manner.
• Bowditch, in thinking about reopening, has several resources associated with the reopening plan in Massachusetts specifically, the new workplace paradigm like masks being the new normal at work, and how businesses will have the manage employees getting sick.
• Nixon Peabody has resources what reopening will look like for different businesses based on differing federal and local advisories and health and safety laws.