Morris, Manning & Martin managing partner Simon Malko, working from home in Sandy Springs, Georgia, accompanied by his dog, Bronx, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Editor's note: This article is part of The New View, a special report from The American Lawyer on how the coronavirus crisis is changing the way work gets done across the legal industry—now and in the future.

When the coronavirus pandemic hit in March, Simon Malko had only been Morris Manning & Martin's managing partner for a little over a year. 

Malko, 48, assumed the role Jan. 1, 2019, after heading the Atlanta-based, Am Law 200 firm's litigation department. "Thank goodness it wasn't Jan. 1, 2020," he says. 

Malko ordinarily tries to delegate immediate, day-to-day issues so he can think strategically about the firm's future. But since March he's had to be almost entirely reactive.

"In the first month it was just what happens today, tomorrow. Only recently have I been able to start thinking beyond this summer and fall to 'What does 2020 look like—and 2021?'" he says.

Mobilizing the firm to work remotely, for instance, took a full week. Having attorneys work from home was easy, Malko says, as the information technology infrastructure was already in place. But shifting the firm's staff to remote work took constant consultations with his IT and human resources directors.

By early May, Malko was deciding when and how to reopen Morris Manning's main offices in Atlanta and Washington, D.C.—the latest phase of crisis decision-making for law firm leaders. As of late May, Morris Manning had no immediate plans to reopen, but Malko and his colleagues were busy planning safe office procedures. 

Right now, his top concern is whether schools reopen in the fall. "It's one of the biggest gating issues," he explains. "If schools don't open, the economy will have a hard time ramping back up."

He also is worried the virus might rebound because Georgia reopened too quickly, beginning April 24.

"I'm not worried about the spread in law firms, because people will wear masks with lots of spacing," he says. "But when we start having conferences again, who knows?"

Crisis Brings Opportunities

In late May, Malko hadn't been to the firm's headquarters in Atlanta's Buckhead community in six weeks. Circumstances had stabilized enough that he could finally think more long-term. His family's house cleaners had returned for the first time since March, so he was working from his basement with his dog, Bronx, while his wife and two children decamped for the park.

"Despite all the chaos, there are some interesting opportunities out there," he says, most obviously lateral hiring.

Recruiting had ground to a halt when firms and businesses shut down, as everyone entered "survival mode," Malko says. But he's begun to hear from recruiters again and is interviewing candidates over Zoom.

"Some firms are weathering the storm better than others, and people may be more inclined to look around because of the stress that COVID-19 is putting on firms," Malko says. "People with no interest in getting out of their routine are suddenly willing to think about change."

Morris Manning was in a strong financial position when the pandemic hit, with a 6.8% revenue increase last year to $148.9 million, and $1.3 million in profits per equity partner. At press time, the firm had not made any pay cuts or layoffs, even amid a deluge of cost-cutting measures at other large firms.

Malko has remained in conversation with other firm leaders about the opportunities available throughout the industry. For instance, he says, activity in a key Morris Manning practice, commercial real estate, is shifting to industrial property—such as Amazon's national push to build fulfillment centers—because the hotel, retail and office sectors are suffering. Meanwhile, construction litigation is increasing. 

"We want to be on the forefront of that activity," he says, "so we talked about reaching out to our contacts, [potential] laterals and introducing existing clients to new opportunities." 

Shrinking the firm's office space is another opportunity, now that the pandemic has demonstrated that working remotely is viable. More efficient use of Morris Manning's Atlanta headquarters, which occupies 135,000 square feet in Buckhead's Atlanta Financial Center, could produce long-term savings, Malko says.

Remote work was never part of the firm's culture—only one IT staffer with an hour's commute worked from home. But the pandemic has shown that "some jobs can be done as efficiently on a largely remote basis," he says. If five employees each work in a shared office one day a week, the firm could eliminate four offices. The potential savings—at Morris Manning and elsewhere—are significant.

Virtual Face Time

Malko serves as the face of Morris Manning, so he spends a lot of time staying connected with both his partners and the business and legal communities. He says the crisis has made clear how important a strong, cohesive culture is to Morris Manning's success. That cohesion has been invaluable for the firm in navigating the pandemic, he says.

"When you have to go months without seeing your colleagues, you must rely on the close personal connections that you built before," he says.

Ordinarily, Malko's style is to walk the halls and talk to his firm colleagues. Remotely, that's far more time-consuming, with many more meetings on his schedule to compensate for being separated. Monthly partner meetings are now weekly, and instead of weekly, the executive committee communicates several times a day. "It's more emails and a lot more phone calls, plus Zoom," he says.

Malko's partners manage their own client relationships, so rainmaking isn't a major part of his job. But his schedule is packed with calls several times a week with other business and law firm leaders, plus groups like the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.

"We want to hear what's going on with each other's businesses and share ideas," he says. "This is completely unprecedented—and there's safety in numbers." 

Investing in Culture

Malko says the one daily constant in his busy schedule of calls and meetings is blocking out time to call a Morris Manning colleague he hasn't spoken with in a while—people he never went a week, let alone a month, without speaking to in the past. 

"Before COVID-19, I would try to devote some portion of each day to fostering a personal connection with one or more of my colleagues," he says. "I have doubled down on those efforts during the pandemic, and it is something that will continue going forward."

That isn't all he plans to carry with him into the post-pandemic landscape. 

"Historically, things like professional development, leadership programs and charitable and pro bono activities are hit hard when the economy is down," Malko says. "The last few months have shown me that these investments are crucial to our long-term success—and we need to prioritize them as we move forward from the pandemic."

Even though Morris Manning's partnership is highly consensus-driven, Malko says there hasn't been much Monday-morning quarterbacking over leadership's decisions during this unprecedented time. That's one part of the crisis Malko and other leaders might hope carries on into the future.

"Sitting here in my basement with my dog, I feel as supported as I ever have," he says. "It's been a pleasant surprise."

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