April 1, 2020 – Gov. Tony Evers issued a “Safe at Home” order effective one week ago. Legal services are exempt from the order – lawyers may leave their homes to provide legal services, and clients may leave their homes to receive legal services.

But law practice is anything but business as usual. For one, lawyers and law firms must still practice social distancing by using technology to avoid meeting in person “to the greatest extent possible,” including virtual meetings, teleconferences, and remote work.

Thomas Burton, a solo practitioner in Eau Claire, said the bank building in which his office is located is closed, but he’s using the bank’s drive-up window to sign wills.

“I cannot physically have clients come in even if I want to right now,” Burton said. “It is okay though, I am fully set up to operate virtually, and I have switched to phone or video consultations. The client can stay in the car.”

Burton said he and another person can serve as witnesses and the client can sign the will from a distance of at least six feet, fully protected from the elements.

“I plan to use this for situations where the client feels they really need to get this signed now, for other situations perhaps we can wait until after April 24th. However if this order gets extended or social distancing becomes the new normal, perhaps we will be using this method for many months,” Burton noted.

Uncertainty During this Time

Odalo Ohiku is a solo practitioner in Milwaukee and says the biggest challenge is coping with the uncertainty. “It's hard to steady the nerves so you can actually focus and plan for the unknown,” he said. “So, I have just been taking it step-by-step, week-by-week and doing the best I can to ‘plan’ ahead with the amorphous information I have.”

Ohiku says clients are trying to adapt to what may be the new normal, at least for the near future. “I am doing my best to keep them informed regarding their cases as well as passing along information I receive from our courts. I have also incorporated video-conferencing because sometimes it just helps to see a face,” he said.

He has a tip for other lawyers. “Don’t panic. Do your best to stay calm and repurpose all that nervous energy into tapping your existing networks and zeroing in on hidden opportunities,” Ohiku said.

Up north, in Superior, uncertainty is also a concern. “My biggest challenge is the uncertainty of everything going on around me,” said Johanna Kirk, a solo practitioner in Superior. “I am navigating the need to keep my business open while being hit over the head with the reality that clients, not all, but some, do not see me as a priority place to spend their money in uncertain times. School closures created new challenges on my time, expertise, abilities and patience.

“The shutdown of local businesses means only two are left open in my building and there is talk of locking down doors which means mail may not get to me next week. Each day seems to bring something unexpected, usually not law-related.”

But Kirk is working through it, and it helps that she went to a paperless office years ago. “Handling matters primarily over the phone or e-mail is nothing new to me,” she said.

“As a true solo without staff, I consider myself blessed to be able to go to my office to work daily. A few of my methods have changed – having clients e-mail me photos of documents instead of dropping them off, helping clients get onto a conference call for court hearings, a lot more phone instead of face-to-face time.”

Kirk says she’s trying to keep things in perspective and stay connected. “The personal representatives who used to hear from me once a month are now getting weekly e-mails,” she said. “If they are working from home, or not at all, now is a great time for us to spend time focused on completing an inventory or estate account.

“I am calling business owner clients just to check in and see how they are doing with closures, employment questions, contract or lease concerns. I am doing all I can to continue showing my clients, and the public, that what I do is valuable,” she said.

The Court System

The Wisconsin Supreme Court and the circuit courts in each county have issued emergency orders, suspending in-person hearings through April 30. Instead, hearings may be conducted through videoconference or telephone.

Prosecutors and public defenders are working through it. Robert Barrington is the managing attorney for the Dodge County District Attorney’s Office. He said communication is the biggest challenge.

“Probably the biggest challenge right now is effective communication with our staff, victims, the courts and defense counsel,” he said. “Everyone was thrown into this situation without any time to plan the response.”

He said some of the staff is keeping the office open to the public, by county mandate, while the rest of the staff is working from home.

“Courts are necessarily moving hearings and we’re trying to keep up with notifications and rescheduling of victims and witnesses,” he said.

“Everyone is grappling with new technology in the courts so that we can meet our legal obligations to protect constitutional rights while holding offenders responsible. Obviously, there is a huge learning curve,” he said.

Barrington is well-positioned to navigate the challenge. In 2015, he was named a Wisconsin Legal Innovator for integrating an electronic filing system to go paperless.

“Sitting here at my house with my laptop I have every complete case file in our entire office at my fingertips,” he said. “I can generate pleadings, and sign and file them from here.

“Law enforcement officers swear-out complaints over the phone and electronically sign them,” Barrington said. “The same goes for search warrants and subpoenas.

“We’re able to provide discovery electronically. There is literally nothing in my office that I need to prosecute cases that I don’t have here at home.”

At the State Public Defender’s (SPD) Office, one of the biggest challenges is maintaining access to clients, courthouses and jails.

“We're also trying to make sure that juvenile, mental commitment, and revocation cases are able to meet the strict timelines that are required,” said Adam Plotkin, the SPD’s legislative liaison. “In a situation like this, we are also keenly aware of what is important for staff safety, creating limits on client contact for instance.”

“While all of our offices are still open, we are operating on minimal staffing to ensure that people can work remotely to the extent possible,” Plotkin noted. “Technology can provide some solutions but can create as many problems as they solve. As long as courts are operating and our clients liberty interests are at risk, we will continue to provide representation as zealously and ethically as possible given the circumstances.”

State Bar Here to Help

Just like many of you, State Bar staff quickly pivoted to working remotely – without missing a beat. This means you can continue to lean on the State Bar for the services and support you need, including our Practice411, Ethics Hotline, and WisLAP services.

The State Bar is working with our state Supreme Court, the Governor’s Office, and various state agencies to resolve the many issues affecting the court operations and our justice system statewide. Many of you, for example, are impacted by various emergency orders restricting local circuit court calendars and procedures.

In addition, at the State Bar’s request, the Supreme Court has temporarily eased CLE rules. Through the end of the year, you can now get 30 credits (instead of 15) through on-demand programming.

The State Bar has developed coronavirus-related CLE programming, and is hosting free, one-hour virtual town hall meetings for members in various practice areas. The town hall discussions are available on-demand, if you missed the live session.

Members can access to town halls through the State Bar’s COVID-19 webpage, which includes court and government orders, and other information.

Real Property, Probate, Trust Law, and Estate Planning is today at noon. Health & Insurance is tomorrow, and Friday is the Taxation town hall. Members of sections have been volunteering to moderate and guide the discussions.

The State Bar also started a Coronavirus & the Law Blog, which serves as a repository of blogs written by the members. Those interested can subscribe to get notifications when new blog posts are added.

In addition, the State Bar is hosting a Coronavirus & the Law Elist so members can ask questions and share information to help each other. 

“Working remotely calls have significantly increased since the outbreak of COVID-19. Attorneys are also turning to the Practice411 e-list for practice management advice, so that, too, has been a great resource for lawyers with questions,” said Christopher Shattuck, who manages the Practice411 program.