While it is difficult to envision any "bright spots" or "silver linings" of the pandemic, the surprising ability for various industries, including the legal industry, to rapidly adapt to working out of an office setting has given attorneys and the courts the ability to test and consider options that could and should survive the pandemic.

• Saving Travel Time—Billable hours have and will continue to be what financially sustains an attorney and a law firm. With there being only so many hours in the day, the time it takes an attorney to commute to his office naturally has an impact on his ability to bill more hours. To the extent that an attorney's client base has remained consistent with pre-pandemic levels, with the attorney being able to start billing at the same time that he would have been beginning the commute, billable hours should have increased, or at the very least, he would have accomplished more in one day. While there are certainly limitations on what can be done from home, with certain tasks being easier to accomplish in an office with a larger workspace, research and drafting can be done in the same manner whether in the office or in the home office. While it will vary depending on the type of practice and area of law, allocating certain types of assignments to a "work from home" day could actually increase productivity.
• Remote Court Appearances—The biggest challenge for litigation attorneys and litigants has been how to replicate the courtroom experience on a remote conference platform. Determining how to introduce evidence (including submitting possible exhibits in advance), question witnesses and make compelling arguments is an ongoing concern and discussion. The best way to present surprise cross-examination exhibits that, strategically, cannot be provided to the court and opposing counsel as part of an electronic upload of documents days prior to a hearing is still a mystery. However, there may be certain intermediate court proceedings, such as status conferences, that may be more suited to a remote platform than to an in person proceeding.  Conducting those proceedings via Zoom, Ring Central or other remote platforms can eliminate travel and waiting time, saving the attorney and litigant significant time and money (not to mention the reduced dry cleaning costs for not having to wear suit pants).
• Frequent Check Ins—not having the ability to pass a colleague in the hallway multiple times a day has forced us to make an extra effort to maintain consistent and frequent contact with our colleagues. Being together in an office setting made us take for granted that our colleagues were accessible.  Working remotely has forced us to make appointments to speak to another attorney, a paralegal or support staff who was within earshot or a loud bellow in the office.  By having to take an extra step and exert greater effort to communicate with a colleague or to assemble a team, the time spent talking during the designated call or zoom is better planned and more efficient.  Critically, having to take a deliberate step to coordinate a time to talk ensures that we are also taking the time to consider who would benefit from being a part of the conversation and how assignments are going to be delegated and handled.
• Become Technologically Savvy—Undoubtedly, those firms and attorneys who had already implemented cutting edge technology in their practice were better suited to quickly radically transform their day to day operations. The idea of the "paperless office" that had seemed to be impractical or overly ambitious is now essential. Establishing and maintaining a thorough and methodical scanning and electronic file maintenance system ensures that an attorney, paralegal or support staff member can work wherever and whenever so long as they have a laptop or tablet and access to the internet.

Implementing advanced technology in law firm practices is not limited to only the newest technology, but software or features of a program that have been around for years that may have been ignored can prove to be vital when working remotely. The "track changes" feature of Microsoft Word, for example, provides a far more efficient method for circulating and commenting on drafts rather than printing a document, making handwritten changes that may be indecipherable to the next reader.

• Creative "Vacations"—While the concept of a true "vacation" may be foreign to most attorneys, the better planning and more adventurous attorneys have taken the opportunity to reinvent the concept of a vacation during the pandemic. Few attorneys likely took any significant time off from work in 2020. However, many may have relocated for extended periods of time to more favorable climates. So long as billable time was comparable, court appearances were maintained and regularly scheduled zoom calls were attended, attorneys who were most adept at planning vacations found ways to maintain their practice with actual palm trees in the background, rather than a fake tropical zoom background, without being considered on vacation.
• Formalizing the Client Intake Process—Over the past 10 months, attorneys have hopefully seen a steady stream of new clients. The more fortunate of those clients may have seen their matter begin and conclude during the pandemic, with the result that they may have never met their attorney in person. In the pre-pandemic era, initial client meetings generally took place in person, with a clear understanding of when the client was "on the clock" and the attorney-client relationship commenced. With initial meetings and consultations now taking place by phone or by Zoom, the same method likely used for the initial contact, there is a grayer area as to when the client was being charged and when the communication became privileged. Attorneys no longer have the ability to end an initial call when the potential new client is divulging too much too soon by explaining that those issues are better reserved for the initial in person meeting. The ambiguity that has arisen in the initial contacts reinforces the need to maintain a strict procedure for screening and accepting new clients using support staff for initial conversations to ensure that the potential client understands the purpose of the initial contact with the attorney (which should take place after conflicts are cleared) versus a designated time for a full consultation.

The YL Editorial Board members: Leigh Ann Benson, Rachel Dichter, Scott Finger, Sarah Goodman, Tom Gushue, Jae Kim, Kandis Kovalsky, Bethany Nikitenko, Rob Stanko, chairman; Jeffrey Stanton and Shohin Vance