A New Normal in the Age of COVID 19
There are no two ways about it: The world is a scary place right now, what with the continuation of the sweeping Coronavirus pandemic and global violence that has broken out for a variety of socioeconomic and political reasons. We’re not here to throw more gasoline on that fire of fear – plenty of outlets and organizations have accomplished that already; rather, we are going to shine a light of hope and salvation in these uncertain times with regard to our specialty, family law, and inform our valued client base that we are still here for them via teleconferencing.
McKean Family Law is taking advantage of teleconferencing and video conferencing during the Coronavirus outbreak in a variety of ways, from Google Meet and Zoom to WebEx and FaceTime. Of course, the immediate reaction is for clients to ask why we don’t just communicate by phone during the pandemic; the primary problem with this approach is that we cannot easily exchange documents during the conference, and we lose the in-person expression and gestures we all use and rely on.
Here are the ways McKean is managing our law firm remotely during COVID-19:
We’re Setting Clear Expectations with Clients and Staff – We understand that properly preparing our staff and clients for the transition from a traditional face-to-face law practice model to a remote work version starts and ends with (over) communicating. As such, we have established remote work expectations and procedures with our staff, including which virtual communication channels to use, how deliverables will be submitted, and how meetings will take place.
We are Making Sure Our Staff is Fully Equipped for Remote Work – In order to make remote work a reality for our firm, our staff has access to the appropriate equipment and technology; this includes every attorney, paralegal, and office manager having access to a computer, strong internet connections and secure telephone connections at home.
We’re Keeping a Pulse on Staff Productivity – With the eradication of in-person conferences, it’s a challenge to successfully coordinate communication, which is why we don’t let our staff lose time while operating from a home office. We set expectations for regular updates, encourage staff to be more communicative than usual via email, phone calls, Slack or Microsoft Teams and more.
“Meeting people in person has always been preferred in our line of work, but now these meetings are happening through video technology…we call that internal profile raising, and we are now accomplishing that with Skype and other video conferencing,” explains a McKean Family Law spokesperson.
McKean Family Law is located in Placer County, which has authorized professional offices to re-open as part of California’s Phase II reopening. We are carefully following the safety advice of state and local health authorities. Drop-ins are discouraged to ensure we limit the number of people in the office, and we continue to encourage phone or teleconference appointments in lieu of face to face meetings. If you do feel the need to have an in-person meeting, masks are encouraged at all times and will be required if we cannot maintain 6 foot distances. This would include situations where there will be more than one person present (for example, you have a support person with you, mediations with both parties are present, depositions with multiple people in the conference room, etc.). We are taking necessary precautions including daily disinfecting of commonly touched surfaces. We provide disposable masks and hand sanitizer for use in the office for your health and safety. Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns about the safety measures we are taking to “slow the spread”.
When it’s time to experience the family law Roseville has been waiting for, call McKean Family Law at (916) 666-7874. Our staff is fully prepared for all teleconference needs during this challenging time, and in following CDC recommendations, can assist you with your case in a safe, social distance-esque manner.