5/18/20

LEGAL ETHICS &

COVID-19
Mary Grace Guzmán
Guzmán Legal Solutions
marygrace@guzmanlegalsolutions.com

Guiding Rules and

Statutory Codes
• California Rules of Professional Responsibilities and Conduct
• Rule 1.1— Com petence
• Rule 1.3— Diligence
• Rule 1.4— Com m unication
• Rule 1.4.1— Com m unication of Settlem ent Offers
• Rule 1.15— Safekeeping of Funds and Property of Clients and Other
Property
• Rule 3.1— M eritorious Claim s and Contentions
• Rule 3.2— Delay of Litigation
• Rule 3.3— Candor Toward Tribunal
• Rule 3.4— Fairness to Opposing Party and Counsel
• Rule 5.1— Responsibilities of M anagerial and Supervisory Law yers
• Rule 5.2— Responsibilities of Subordinate Attorneys
• Rule 5.3— Responsibilities of Nonlaw yer Assistance
• California Rules of Court 9.7— Oath of Civility
• Business & Professions Code 6068
• http://w w w.calbar.ca.gov/About-Us/New s/COVID-19-Updates

Planning for your virtual

office

• If your firm is moving to a remote/virtual office,

create a plan to regarding mail, phones, document
preservation, and maintaining confidential
information.
• Mail
• Establish a protocol for how mail will be
handled. Forward mail to your home, regularly
visit the office to collect mail (2 to 3 times a
week), expect eventual delays in mail.
• Identify who will have specific responsibilities.
• Remember the managing Partner is ultimately
responsible for the firm and their employees

1
 5/18/20

Planning for slowly opening your doors

Create a modified schedule
rotating who is in the office If you have an office and staff, rotate days when the team is in the office.
and who working remotely

Establish a protocol
regarding who may visit the This includes establishing clear rules regarding circumstances where individuals will not be
office and how visitors will allowed in the office, example cough/sneezing. You may want to invest in purchasing disposable
be greeted masks to provide to your employees, clients, and third parties.

Regular cleaning procedures Create a procedure regarding cleaning common spaces, how often the spaces will be cleared, and
of common spaces who will clean the common space.

Communicate with your

client

• M ain goal is to m anage your Client’s expectations. Expect clients

express their fears and frustrations, do your best to not take this
personally
• If depositions, arbitrations, or m ediations are scheduled w ith the
expectation that the Client w ill appear, ask Client about health
considerations. You m ay have Client w ho is not of an “at-risk age”
group, but m ay have a hidden autoim m une concern w hich has not
been com m unicated because it is not relevant to the case.
• If you have not done so already, send all of your clients a letter or
em ail advising them of any anticipated delays in their m atter.
Exam ples: postponem ents of court hearings, trials, depositions,
disbursem ent of settlem ent checks, adm inistrative hearings, and
m ediation/arbitrations.
• Send subsequently provide updates, as you learn new
inform ation.

Communicate with your

client cont’d

• Include a notice of office hours and expected delays in

email signature.
• Managing Phone Calls
• Forward landline to Cellphones.
• Include a voicemail message regarding potential
delays and update regularly as you learn about
changes in court openings and closures or your
office hours and availability
• Communication is key to help avoid frustrated Clients.
• Anticipate that your Clients may ask for information not
related to their case, such as community or government
services. Stay informed about these services and do not
hesitate to provide clients with this information.

2
 5/18/20

Managing your calendar

Deadlines Stay on top of your calendar and related tolling of deadlines.

Expectations Continue to manage your client’s expectations of their case’s progress or lack there of.

Anticipate a snowball effect in all aspects of your legal work, especially with the courts
Anticipate reopening.

• If you do not have this already, subscribe to an

online/cloud-based service to house and share
Document documents between employees. Clio, Practice
preservation Panther and other case management services
offer this option, but you must use a third-party
and other cloud service such as Dropbox or GoogleDocs
• If you are taking physical files home, create a
issues tracking system such as chain of custody list
and when necessary identify an individual who
will be responsible for the maintaining this
information.
• Advise employees of how you expect files to be
handled, because files contain confidential
client information that must be preserved.

Document preservation
and other issues cont’d
• Electronic files not available on cloud
• Create a protocol regarding how electronic files will be handled especially if employees will
be using their personal computers
• Create a protocol how a file will be updated and maintained
• If a Client is dropping off physical files, have a protocol how you will receive the documents.
• Deliver to home
• Set a meeting place and time
• Encourage clients to deliver the documents electronically and maintain the physical
documents until a later date, if possible. At this point in your matter, you may only need to
review copies and not the originals.

3
 5/18/20

Court Openings and Local

Rules
• As of March 16, 2020, the California Supreme Court is granting court closures based on guidelines of local
and state health departments. Meaning that each courthouse is taking a different approach to the closures.
https://newsroom.courts.ca.gov/news/chief-justice-issues-statement-on-emergency-response-in-
california-courts
• If you practice in several counties, you will need to closely monitor closures and guidelines regarding how
each county court system will operate. Review local rules!
• https://www.courts.ca.gov/find-my-court.htm?query=browse_courts
• https://www.law.com/therecorder/2020/03/16/how-covid-19-is-impacting-california-courts-
roundup-of-services/?kw=How%20COVID-
19%20Is%20Impacting%20California%20Courts:%20Roundup%20of%20Services&utm_source=ema
il&utm_medium=enl&utm_campaign=newsroomupdate&utm_content=20200316&utm_term=ca&slret
urn=20200216130224

10

Court Openings and Local Rules Cont’d

• California Courts Cont’d

• Create a system to keep track of this for your clients and keep
clients abreast of the impact on their matters.
• Review rules and how each county intends to manage active cases.
Example: Contra Costa County will issue emergency temporary
restraining orders and guardianships, but the request must first be
made with your local police agency.
• Similarly, Federal Courts are closing on a jurisdiction by jurisdiction
basis. https://www.law360.com/articles/1252836/coronavirus-the-
latest-court-closures-and-restrictions

11

• IOLTA
• If your office has moved to a remote practice, create a
protocol regarding collecting mail, depositing of
checks, and notifying clients of disbursements.
Finances • Identify who will pick up the checks
• When will the funds be deposited
• If appropriate, when Clients will be notified of
funds.
• When possible, use mobile banking app and deposit
checks from your phone or other check processing
service.
• Note: Most banks have limits on how much may be
deposited in the IOLTA per day/week/month using
a mobile app.
• Anticipate banks to shut down and have a plan for
this.

12

4
 5/18/20

Finances Cont’d

• Disbursements
• Rule 1.15 (d)(1) requires an attorney to promptly notify clients and third
parties of the receipt of funds and property.
• Keep in mind, the rule is triggered when the attorney is in receipt of
funds. For those of us who subject to Shelter in Place, delivery to our law
firm addresses is a gray area of this concept, if you can have mail
forwarded to home addresses this will correct the problem.
• If possible, request that disbursements be wire transferred to trust.
• Advise Clients to expect delays in disbursement of settlement checks.

13

Mediation and Arbitration

JAMS and ADR Services are

handling mediation and Private mediators are engaging
arbitration on a case by case basis. video mediation, check with
Call your arbitrator/mediator for mediators.
guidance.

14

Be Civil

Remember • Remember we have a duty of civility and a duty to fairness to

opposing parties/counsel. Now is not the time to be difficult.

Do not take • Do not take advantage of the crisis to create unnecessary

delays or frustrations.

Ask • Ask yourself, “If I do X, will it help are hurt my client’s

interests?”

15

5
 5/18/20

Have contingency plans

Partner
• Partner with other counsel to cover each other’s cases, especially if you get sick.

Keep
• Keep case summaries to allowing another attorney to easily take over the case should you fall ill.

Create
• Create a plan on how you will communicate possible Covid19 exposure to clients, third parties and other individuals who need to know of their possible exposure.

Collect
• In a safe space, collecta list of bank account numbers, passwords, subscriptions, memberships, etc., and have family aware of where you are keeping this
information.
Update
• Update your billables and accounting regularly.

16

Final Thoughts

• Be prepared for changes in SIP orders.

• Take note of what is working in your practice and what is not working.
• Immediately communicate any changes in your law firm’s services to
clients and relevant third parties.
• Be aware of client’s and staff concerns regarding exposure to Covid19.

17