Susan Huntington, a partner with Day Pitney, and Peter Knight, a partner with Robinson & Cole. Courtesy photos

As Connecticut reopened some of its businesses Wednesday morning, Big Law has been ahead of the curve in working with clients and small business leaders in answering their questions and providing information needed to navigate the uncharted waters of the current COVID-19 world.

The state will reopen in four phases with shops, malls and restaurants serving customers outdoors as part of the first phase. Later phases include the opening of barbershops, nail salons, movie theaters and fitness centers, among others.

Robinson & Cole, which ranks 186th on the Am Law 200 with about 200 attorneys in 11 offices, is the lead firm for the Connecticut Bar Association's statewide Small Business Virtual Legal Clinic.

The purpose of the clinic, which began May 15 and will run through August, is to assist entrepreneurs and businesses with less than 25 employees in reopening.

"We offer a 45-minute phone call or video conference with an attorney, free of charge, to answer any questions or concerns related to the pandemic," said Peter Knight, Robinson & Cole's pro bono partner.

"We have always been a community-minded law firm and when the crisis broke out, our management tasked the pro bono committee with finding ways to help small businesses," Knight said Wednesday.

In addition to Robinson & Cole, other firms taking part in the initiative include Aeton Law Partners; Axinn Veltrop & Harkrider; Day Pitney; Finn Dixon & Herling; McCarter & English; Murtha Cullina; and Shipman & Goodwin.

To date, about 25 small business leaders and entrepreneurs have taken advantage of the clinic, said Knight, who is hoping an additional 100 people participate in the next 12 days.

Knight said the concerns raised include questions on employment matters as it relates to COVID-19 to contracts and commercial leases and information on loans and grants.

Meanwhile, Day Pitney, which ranks 164th on the Am Law 200 with about 254 attorneys in 13 offices, sent clients to its COVID-19 Resource Center, which answers questions and offers information on reopening during the current crisis and summarizes the various reopening orders coming out of the office of Gov. Ned Lamont.

In addition, many of the firm's partners have been working with their clients since mid-April in preparing to open. That involves answering a whole host of legal questions, said Day Pitney's Susan Huntington, the business unit leader for health care, life sciences and technology.

Stephen Cowherd of Pullman & Comley/courtesy photo

"We have quite a few attorneys here that had prior careers in-house, including myself, and because of the experience and risk management experience, we are using those skills to work with clients to develop reopening plans," Huntington said.

Huntington said the questions include employers wanting to know what to do if a customer comes in without a mask. The answer, Huntington said, is that unless there is a medical emergency in which the customer has a doctor's order not to wear a mask, there are no exceptions.

"They just can't let that person on the premises and, in a worst-case scenario, they might have to call the police to help deal with the situation," Huntington said.

The health care attorneys at Pullman & Comley, which has 89 attorneys in five offices, have been working to address the legal issues with ambulatory surgery centers opening during the current crisis, according to Stephen Cowherd, co-chairman of the firm's health care department.

There are about 60 surgery centers in the state and Cowherd said that while they are considered essential and could have already opened, many waited to open on Wednesday, the day of the state's first-phased opening.

Cowherd said the firm held a May 7 webinar in which Pullman & Comley attorneys answered questions for upward of 80 participants.

"Questions included how do they make a safe environment for the care for patients and staff." Cowherd said. "They wanted to know things like do they need to screen patients and staff before they let them into the facility. They don't have to, but it's recommended they do."

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