The global pandemic has altered in so many ways how people communicate and stay in touch.  The legal profession, as a prime example, moved quickly online in servicing clients, using audio and video conferencing to handle most interactions. Even the courts relatively quickly moved to online venues as of the late Spring of 2020.  These developments, on the surface, were necessary and born out of expediency given the rapid movement of the pandemic across the globe.  In some sense, because it happened so quickly, there was no time to take stock of what might have been lost with the movement to an all-digital world.  The embrace of online video conferencing seemed to work as a good two-dimensional solve for the three-dimensional world, as it offered efficiency and immediacy in communications.  However, lurking underneath these developments are signs that there may be something lost in lawyer – client relations.

While the best of lawyers might argue that they did not miss a beat in servicing their clients when moving solely to virtual communications, to take the full measure of this change requires a deeper examination.  A good legal advisor can use technology tools in her favor to interact real-time with clients – such technology collaboration tools have improved greatly in past several years.  But the tools are a means to an end when it comes to interacting and providing advice.  We believe that it is important to take stock of some of the resources used—or not—perhaps resulting from these new rules of engagement, and to evaluate their effectiveness.

One resource that appeared in universal abundance was the publication of law firm reports on topics that implicated pandemic related legal issues.  This occurred relatively immediately with the onset of the pandemic and resulted in client email boxes filled with legal information on far ranging subjects such as the effect of force majeure clauses, employment hiring and firing and health benefit exclusions.