Katerin Traugh, executive director of Scarinci Hollenbeck in Lyndhurst, New Jersey.

Katerin Traugh earlier this month became the executive director of Scarinci Hollenbeck in Lyndhurst. Previously the controller at the firm and chief of staff to managing partner Donald Scarinci during the transition to remote work earlier this year, Traugh has been with the firm since 2017. Prior to that, she spend a decade in accounting and finance, the firm said.

"Katerin has the experience, the wisdom and the institutional knowledge of the firm to lead us through the COVID-19 crisis and take us to the next level when the world finally emerges from it," Scarinci said in a statement. "She has the right temperament and personality to inspire confidence and inject our at-home work force with the comfort of knowing that Scarinci Hollenbeck will not just survive, but that it will prosper during the difficult economic times ahead."

Traugh offered the below response to a question posed by the Law Journal about the ongoing changes in legal practice during the pandemic. The response was edited lightly for style.

What are the lasting operational advantages that will emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, and what will be the lasting challenges?

The COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown that resulted have changed the legal industry in many ways. First, attorneys and clients have now become accustomed to meetings by teleconference. While this was happening to some degree in the past, it was never entirely accepted by lawyers and clients. That has changed forever, and teleconferencing is here to stay.

The second most profound change to the legal industry is the realization that location does not matter as much as everyone thought. Attorneys can work from out-of-state locations and be just as productive as they are working from their law office. In some ways, attorneys can be more productive and efficient, and produce dollar savings for clients by not charging for travel time.

Third, as a result of the logistical issues that law firms have had to navigate around, and the massive personnel issues the new normal has created, there is much greater acceptance of the role of a qualified, non-lawyer executive director or CEO. The move toward professional management of law firms had been trending in the industry, but it's time has come. The midsize to large law firm of the future will most likely include professional management.