Lawyer Working Remote

Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from the Reinventing Professionals podcast, hosted by legal tech speaker and consultant Ari Kaplan, provided to Legaltech News. 

Ari Kaplan: Tell us about your background and the genesis of both Loom and eDecree.

Mona Datt: I graduated from university with an engineering degree in 2000 and worked as an engineer until 2006. By then, I had started a couple of companies and kept shutting them down because I just couldn't take the plunge. After I got married, I decided that I was finally going to start a company and stick to it so I created a transcription company, which provides dictation support to law firms in Canada. It was a way for me to really learn how to run a business because as an engineer, I had never done sales or built a company from scratch.

Back in 2006, the market was not ready for outsourcing dictation, at least not in Canada, because the law firms wanted their personal assistants to complete that task. We did, however, begin receiving requests for transcription from court reporting companies performing depositions and discovery matters. So, we started to approach court reporting firms in Canada and in the U.S. about electronic transcription and began receiving electronic recordings on tape.

It has been an interesting transition over the last 15 years as we've seen the recording process move from tape to USB to online streaming. In 2015, there was quite a bit of buzz around the legal tech space and we saw an opportunity with Loom Analytics. We wanted to release a product providing litigation intelligence to Canadian lawyers, including data related to win-loss rates, damage awards, and settlements, among others, which we now call Court Analytics. In October of 2019, such as law firms, insurance companies, or logistics companies can build out their own data analytics solutions for data collection and reporting on a no-code platform.

Kaplan: How did you adapt your teams to the mandatory work from home orders?

Datt: Loom is a software company and eDecree does all of its projects manually. It is laid out like a call center and all of the work has to be typed onto a computer. There is no automation and we do high-security work and handle matters for several Justice Department sectors. eDecree was never structured to offer a flexible work environment. Our staff was hired to work in the office. Loom, on the other hand, has always offered staff the flexibility to work from home if they need to.

We started to get concerned back in January and by early March, we were running tests and rotating work-from-home cycles to see how well our staff would adapt. As a result, by March 16, everyone had at least two days of experience working from home and had migrated to Webex Teams.

The first week was a complete write-off as we were providing full-time tech support every day. By the second week, although several staff members still could not work, most of our team was performing well. I initially considered options for expanding our staffing footprint without adding to our real estate, but by week three, I completely changed my mind because the eDecree team was too isolated.

Kaplan: Did your clients experience any disruption in service?

Datt: No. We work for law firms, court reporting companies, and several government agencies. The government work did not see a slowdown at all. Law firms and court reporting companies, on the other hand, experienced a serious slowdown.

Some discovery is taking place, as are depositions and arbitrations via Zoom, but not everything so a lot of people are holding off until they can meet in person. As things are starting to open up, we are starting to look on the other side and ask how we can get back to a new normal so that clients are not disrupted.

Kaplan: How are you preparing to return to a physical office space?

Datt: We are purchasing masks, hand sanitizer, and spray bottles with alcohol so that staff members can clean their personal equipment, including keyboards, mice, and headphones. We now have signage on the floor indicating how far apart one should to sit or stand, on walls instructing team members how to apply and remove their masks, and handwashing reminders. We are spacing desks out so where nine people used to sit, we now have five. We also ask them to wipe down all packages that enter the office.

The challenge is replicating the social aspect of working together because virtual gatherings are not the same as being able to sit across the table from somebody and chat. Most of the staff actually wants to be back at work.

Kaplan: How do you recommend that other companies transition back to work?

Datt: Start by having an open conversation with your team members about whether and when they want to come back to an office, which will give them the freedom to raise any concerns. This is critical because we do not want our professionals to come in overwhelmed by stress and anxiety that they will lose their jobs if they stayed home.

We also want them to feel comfortable advising us that they are not feeling well because if there is the slightest chance that someone is ill or was exposed to COVID-19, you may need to shut your entire operation back down. Also, monitor your inventory of protective equipment, including masks, hand sanitizer, and other cleaning supplies. We have an online daily health check-in that individuals complete before they leave their homes in the morning, which will be converted into a mobile app that will advise them whether they should be staying home based on their responses.

In fact, we have told our employees that if they have any potential indicators for COVID-19, they should not feel compelled to come into work and will not lose any income. We are going to continue to support a work from home environment. Ultimately, open conversation is essential and it is important for staff to know that it is okay to take a day off.

Ari Kaplan regularly interviews leaders in the legal industry and in the broader professional services community to share perspective, highlight transformative change, and introduce new technology at ReinventingProfessionals.com. Listen to his conversation with Mona Datt here.