CHARLESTON – Some of the state’s largest law firms are seeing dramatic changes because of the Coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing quarantine.
Those changes include staff reductions and a heavier reliance on technology.
Susan Brewer, CEO and managing partner of Steptoe & Johnson, said her firm closed all 14 of its offices in six states to the public in mid-March for the safety of employees and clients.
Brewer
“Most of our attorneys and staff have been working remotely, with only small, rotating skeleton crews staffing our offices to handle mail and other needs,” Brewer told The West Virginia Record. “Obviously, the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically impacted the entire world economy, including law firms all over the United States.
“Courts have closed, so many litigation matters are on hold. Business deal flow has declined, and economic activity in general continues to drop off.”
Brewer said the impact is being felt by her firm’s clients as well.
“The court closures and decline in economic activity have affected most of our clients to some degree, regardless of industry,” she said. “Some are having layoffs.”
Brewer also said Steptoe & Johnson has taken “difficult” steps “to adjust our headcount” as well. Citing employee confidentiality concerns, Brewer said she couldn’t elaborate on those figures.
“We have also delayed partner distributions and we have reduced expenses,” she said. “We believe these measures will put us in a good position to weather reductions in the demand for legal services.
“The headcount reductions and cost saving measures are difficult, but they are necessary in order to help the firm remain strong, stable, and ready to meet the needs of our clients when normal business activity resumes.
“We will continue to evaluate economic conditions and respond accordingly.”
Brewer said she thinks the firm has adapted relatively well to the changes required during the pandemic. And she sees a bright future as well.
“Steptoe & Johnson has weathered many severe storms in our 107-year history, and we expect to bounce back from this crisis because of our strength and resilience,” she said. “We have been pleasantly surprised by how easily our firm has adapted to working remotely and meeting virtually, using Zoom and other remote meeting platforms.
“We are using technology effectively to stay safe and be productive. One of our lawyers even tried an arbitration case through Zoom recently. We think this type of remote work will be more common after the pandemic subsides.”
She said large, diverse firms need to be available to service client needs during this crisis.
“For example, our employment lawyers have been busy advising our clients how to navigate difficult employment decisions,” Brewer said. “Our business lawyers have been helping clients take advantage of the federally subsidized loans for small and medium-sized businesses.
“Contract lawyers are helping clients determine their rights and obligations under contracts where performance is hindered by the COVID-19 emergency. This and other work will continue even after the crisis abates.”
Brewer said she thinks technology will be even more vital to law firms after this crisis.
“It seems clear that technology can help us remain productive and efficient now and in the future, and that courts and clients will expect us to use it more than we have in the past,” she said. “We look forward to evaluating the lessons learned from this pandemic to improve our business model.”
Ellen Cappellanti, managing member of Jackson Kelly, said most of her firm’s staff and lawyers in seven states and the District of Columbia were working remotely within a week of the start of the pandemic.
“(We) have been operating remotely for about a month now with good success,” Cappellanti told The Record. “With courts closing and clients focused on keeping their businesses going under challenging circumstances, our legal work in March consisted of traditional billable hours as well as advising clients on getting through the pandemic conditions. March was still a pretty good month under the circumstances.
“Our clients are transitioning to remote work, and we are seeing new matters. It is too early to predict April, but we are seeing courts adjust to remote litigation and oral argument, and we may see this spread throughout state courts. There will be quite a backlog once the courts open again and the third and fourth quarter of the year look to be busy.”
Cappellanti said the energy sector was struggling before the crisis.
“We continue to work with energy clients on cash flow and keeping as many options open as possible for the future,” she said. “Aside from energy, clients in the hospitality, food service and retail business are taking hard hits. They are doing their best to conserve cash and reduce expenses.
“Although we still have one of the best mining practices in the country, we have worked hard to in the past five years to further diversify our client base and have excellent transactional, tax and health care practices to name the largest.”
Cappellanti said her firm hasn’t had furloughs yet.
“Our goal is to try to keep our workforce as intact as possible,” she said. “We are in this for the long run, and we have worked hard to build an outstanding team that I want to keep in place.”
She does predict changes to her firm and the legal community going forward because of the pandemic. Those include more people working remotely, less travel and more reliance on technology.
“This event will transform how we do business in a more cost efficient and economical way for our clients,” Cappellanti said. “I believe that people will be reluctant to travel until there is a vaccine. And as we find that we can conduct our businesses very efficiently using technology such as video/zoom meetings and chat rooms, work travel will probably not rebound to pre-COVID levels.
“This is the first time we have had non-attorney staff working remotely, and most will tell you what a great experience it has been. I envision that some folks will now work remotely either full or part-time even when the COVID crisis is over. I believe you will see professional firms reduce occupancy expense.
“I really hope this new greater demand for remote access capability will result in better quality internet in rural places which would be great to attract more entrepreneurs to places like West Virginia, which I think has done a good job in getting ahead of this crisis. People will be looking for safe places to live with good quality of life.”
As for post-crisis work, Cappellanti has ideas what her firm will see.
“We have at least 10 highly skilled banking and restructuring attorneys that are preparing for a potential insolvency onslaught,” she said. “We have seen an immediate uptick in labor and employment work and consultation with clients on obtaining stimulus funds.
“We are very proud of how our health care clients have been such leaders during this crisis which has presented some very complex legal issues to this industry.
“As we climb out of this, I foresee quite a bit more commercial litigation around insurance coverages and force majeure clauses in contracts.”
Cappellanti also expects permanent changes to the legal community following the pandemic.
“I believe that there will be far less in person meetings and conferences, including trade groups and seminars,” she said. “This crisis has caused courts to use technology, so I see many more hearings and mediations being done remotely.
“Many of our clients will be recovering from this, too, and we will need to be more proactive in working with them to manage legal spend. I can only imagine the innovative technology that will result from this crisis.”
Marc Williams, managing partner of Nelson Mullins’ West Virginia office in Huntington, said almost the entire staff of the regional firm’s branch is working remotely.
“All of our attorneys travel quite a bit, so they are used to working from outside of the office,” Williams told The Record. “So that has not been much of an adjustment. We already had the technology in place to work remotely, with a working familiarity with that technology, which helps.
“Also, our practice in this office is national, and many states have continued to push cases, which means we have to continue to develop those cases, all while maintaining social distancing.”
Williams said the firm’s clients, especially in transportation and manufacturing, have see slowdowns like most businesses.
“We’re reaching out to them to help them navigate some of the new issues that this pandemic brings, whether it’s labor and employment issues, insurance coverage issues or how to take advantage of the various governmental efforts to help small and large businesses,” he said.
Williams also said he thinks, in the long run, the pandemic and the response to it will benefit the legal industry in at least one respect.
“Firms should come out of this with a greater comfort level for employees working remotely,” he said. “Technology will also be an aid in making travel less important.
“For years, we’ve expected videoconferencing to replace face to face meetings, depositions and hearings. Now that parties and courts are forced to use this developing technology, I think you’ll see a greater willingness to use it in the future.”
As for the future, Williams sees both good and bad.
“If the economy softens in the third and fourth quarter, I think you’ll see an uptick in bankruptcy, insurance and financial services litigation,” he said. “As for the legal community, there’s going to be a demand for cheaper, more user-friendly technology to allow work to be done from wherever you are. There will be less travel associated with our work.”