With Dallas County taking the lead on Monday, more counties in Texas have issued shelter-in-place or stay-home orders to slow the spread of the coronavirus, prompting firms to temporarily close offices and have employees work remotely.

The counties announcing orders effective on Tuesday evening include Harris County, Brazos County, Galveston County, Bexar County, Travis County and Williamson County. With the orders, residents in Texas' largest cities will be under stringent rules.

While lawyers and staff at many law firms in Dallas have been working remotely for a week or two, the order that went into effect at 11:59 p.m. on Monday imposed stricter limits affecting firms.

The "Stay Home Stay Safe" order announced by Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins orders people to shelter in place through April 3, except for essential needs such as going to the grocery store or the doctor, and orders businesses not deemed essential to close or work remotely.

As of Monday morning, there were 155 cases of the coronavirus confirmed in Dallas County and four deaths, according to information from Dallas County.

In the March 22 order, law firms are essential businesses "when necessary to assist in compliance with legally mandated activities."

The Dallas County order is the strictest in the state, but roughly follows orders in New York, California and Chicago, where firm operations were already affected. At a press briefing on Sunday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he was not issuing a shelter-in-place order for the whole state, because many Texas counties have no diagnosed cases of COVID-19.

Timothy Durst, partner-in-charge of Baker Botts' Dallas office, said about 75% of lawyers and staff were working at home last week, but the office will now temporarily close when the order goes into effect. He said some lawyers and staff came into the office on Monday to pick up items they need to work at home.

The only person who will go regularly to the Dallas office, Durst said, is a courier who will pick up mail and take it to the home of the employee processing mail.

Durst said the firm had some practice at getting ready for the strict shelter in place, because of similar orders that affected the firm's offices in New York and northern California.

While the Dallas County order characterizes legal services performing "legally mandated" activities as essential, Durst said the firm considers it a "work-from-home order." If a matter crops up that would require a lawyer to work elsewhere, he asked lawyers to let him know and he will have the firm's general counsel work through it.

Noting that everyone in his office has the equipment to work at home, Durst said he has a hearing in an intellectual property case in Waco set for this week, but he will be handling it remotely from Dallas.

At Wick Phillips, managing partner David Drez said the firm tested its IT structure two weeks ago, and took steps to prepare for the possibility of a shelter-in-place order.

Jolee Fay, director of operations and human resources at Wick Phillips, said lawyers and staff have been working at home—except for skeleton crews—for more than a week and will continue to do so under the new order.

Fay wrote in an email that one challenge for firms relates to on-boarding new lawyers. "It is difficult, but not impossible, to integrate the talent we have recruited when there can be no face-to-face contact," she wrote.

In an email note to clients, Thompson & Knight managing partner Mark Sloan wrote that the firm has already been working remotely, with skeleton crews in all nine offices, but the firm has temporarily closed its New York and Dallas offices until further notice because of government orders.

Sloan wrote that the firm's entire workforce is working remotely, and Thompson & Knight is confident in its ability to serve clients "through any crisis."

Carrington Coleman Sloman Blumenthal announced on Monday that the firm will be working remotely after the close of business on Monday, although many lawyers and staff had already been voluntarily working from home.

The firm said because the Dallas County order exempts law firms in the case of legally mandated activities, the firm will not be prohibited from attending to deadlines or court orders that require a lawyer's presence in the community.

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