In this time of the COVID-19 coronavirus, the role of outside counsel has never been more important. The outside attorney is in a unique position to team with his clients to develop solutions to problems like those created by the coronavirus epidemic.

First, outside counsel is more connected, particularly in these times, than people at a client. The attorney is in contact with multiple clients and contacts, who are often competitors and peers of the client. While the lawyer cannot breach client confidentiality, she can share, at a high level and on a no-names basis, what she is seeing in the market and how other firms are dealing with similar issues. Clients and even non-clients feel more comfortable that an attorney will keep their matters confidential. In contrast, while a business person could contact someone at a peer firm, there often is not the same level of trust that the peer will not disclose that information to someone else (e.g., an investor considering two fund sponsors). In this way, outside counsel can serve as a valuable intermediary in the market. As the attorney sees similarly situated clients dealing with issues in a particular environment, such as COVID-19, he is able to reach out proactively to his other clients to ask if they are also considering these issues.

If the attorney is part of a larger firm or practice group, she can similarly take advantage of what her partners and colleagues are seeing with their clients and contacts. Their clients may consist of different types of counterparties within the market, such as lenders, operating companies, investors, placement agents, administrators and consultants. They may also come from different asset classes and product types, such as mutual funds, private equity, hedge, credit or real estate. The law firm attorneys have the benefit of speaking freely among each other without concerns about client confidentiality, which further deepens their understanding of the issues at hand. The outside counsel's connections relative to any one client are thereby multiplied even greater.

In contrast, an internal business person may feel isolated from the rest of the market. As stay in place orders proliferate, working from home has moved from a relative exception to the rule. While telephone and video conferences are available, in-person meetings with investors, joint venture partners, portfolio companies, service providers and fellow work colleagues are not possible. Although advances in technology and changes in social custom may ultimately mitigate this, at least in the short term, people cannot experience the benefits of direct personal interaction. In times such as these, quarantining and social distancing may cause someone to feel separated even from others within his own company. Outside counsel can provide additional market intelligence that allows organizations to make more informed decisions.

Second, the outside attorney may have more experience, or at least different experiences, than people within her client. As people change jobs more frequently, outside counsel may have a longer relationship with an organization than the time that internal decision makers have been employed there. Consequently, outside counsel may have more knowledge about how the client has dealt with similar circumstances in the past with the same funds, other funds, the same investor, other investors, etc. A relatively new employee will look to a longstanding attorney for guidance for how he has historically handled various matters for that client.

In addition, a more senior attorney, with a decade or more of practicing law, will have seen and dealt with analogous situations in the past with other clients. In particular, a seasoned attorney may have been through the Global Financial Crisis in 2008 and earlier periods of economic distress. As mentioned above, outside attorneys also can talk with their partners and colleagues about their experiences in the same and adjacent areas. On the whole, law firm counsel can bring a much broader perspective to her clients and draw from a much wider range of experiences.

Finally, outside counsel can bring a calming influence to his client. The attorney who has represented a firm for many years is viewed as a trusted adviser. She knows their business, their risk tolerance, and how they like to approach problems. In the face of crisis, with little interaction with other firms, business people may have a tendency to overreact, or perhaps become paralyzed by inaction. It can be very comforting to hear that peer firms are experiencing similar issues and how they are handling them, whether similar or dissimilar. Outside counsel has the opportunity to bring stability and thoughtfulness to client discussions when dealing with matters that are mission sensitive and critical to their business. While part of a lawyer's job is to analyze risk and examine possible outcomes, this must be balanced by the lawyer's role as counselor. In times of distress, it is more important to approach problems in a calm, even-handed manner, rather than raising a client's fears unnecessarily.

Here are some practical suggestions for how to team with your clients:

• Reach out to your client. Don't wait for them to call you. Feel free to talk with them about non-billable matters, personal and professional. When you finish your conversation about one topic, ask them what else is on their mind.

• Leverage your external network. Talk with your other clients and contacts to see if they are having similar issues. Speaking with them about these issues will show them how connected you are within the industry. They will appreciate that you are thinking about them.

• Leverage your internal network. Speak with other attorneys in your practice group to see if their clients are also encountering these issues. Talk to colleagues in adjacent practice areas to see how different counterparties are approaching these problems and whether different industries have similar problems. Take advantage of client alerts and other written work product that can be provided to or adapted for your client.

• Develop solutions with your client. Be ready to be involved in discussions with people at the client other than your daily point of contact. Become a part of their decision-making team. Remember that your job is not to raise the stress level of those conversations, but to lower it. Be the calmest person in the (sometimes virtual) room.

• Repeat. This is an iterative process. As you talk with your client and those within your external and internal networks, you will learn about other issues that people in your client's industry and adjacent industries are facing. Ask your client if they are also encountering those issues. Your conversations with one client will inform your discussions with other clients.

As a recent personal example, when the COVID-19 crisis began here in mid-March, I started talking with some of my real estate fund clients about the uncertainties of property valuations and rent payments from tenants, and how these could affect fund liquidity. I reached out to my other real estate fund clients and contacts at other real estate fund managers to see how they were thinking about these issues. Other asset management attorneys at my firm told me how their mutual fund and fund of funds clients were handling valuations. My real estate transaction colleagues discussed how their clients were dealing with rent and loan payments. Private equity attorneys informed me about the new SBA loan programs and their availability to real estate managers and properties such as hotels. I drew on my own personal experiences on how real estate funds handled redemptions during the Global Financial Crisis. All of these guided my subsequent discussions with clients. Taking account of each client's unique fund structure, investor base, portfolio, distribution policies, and existing contribution and redemption queues, we crafted solutions to address the concerns of each fund and its investors.

When times get tough, firms want their trusted outside counsel at the table, as a valued member of their team. The attorney's market knowledge, the resources of his firm, and his experience with the client and with others, make him a critical part of the decision-making process. As she participates in these discussions, the attorney can guide the client in a thoughtful, informed manner to develop effective solutions for their most critical problems.

Matt Posthuma is a real estate funds partner in the asset management practice at Ropes & Gray.