03/19/2020
The following message was sent to each of our clients:
First and foremost, rest assured that our attorneys and staff are continuing to work diligently on all matters despite the spread of Covid-19. However, please note that the firm has taken certain steps to protect the health and safety of our staff and clients as well as their families. These steps were implemented on March 13, 2020 and will continue until further notice:
(1) Staff and attorneys are generally working from home via cloud-based systems, which, for the most part, the firm already had in place. We have a rigorous off-site work policy, intended to protect your data and personal information.
(2) If you call the office, you are likely to be directed to voicemail. Please know that we are checking voicemail regularly during business hours and will return your call promptly.
(3) For the time being, all client meetings and new consultations will take place via phone. For meetings involving more than two parties, such as settlement conferences, Collaborative meetings, and mediations, we will be offering video conferencing via Zoom.
(4) In-person meetings will take place only when there is not another alternative (for example, the ex*****on of estate planning documents). If an in-person meeting is essential, social distancing will apply, and pens and other surfaces will be sanitized regularly. Clients are encouraged to bring their own pens for signatures. No in-person meetings will take place if any party is exhibiting symptoms such as a fever or cough.
(5) If you have documents to share with us, please do so electronically where possible. Confidential documents (documents containing complete Social Security numbers, for examples) should be shared via Caseway, the confidential document portal of our case management system. If you have confidential documents to share and you do not have access to your Caseway login information, please call the office or email [email protected]. If you cannot share documents electronically, we do have a secure dropbox on the front porch of the office, and it is being checked regularly.
(6) For the signing of documents including pleadings and settlement agreements, we will continue to utilize hellosign.com. Hellosign.com provides a legally valid system for signing the majority of documents that we work with.
(7) As of March 16, 2020, the Monroe Circuit Court has or will reschedule all non-essential hearings previously scheduled to take place between now and April 10, 2020. We are regularly checking our open matters to provide up to date information regarding the rescheduling of hearings. In addition, the Indiana Supreme Court has issued an emergency order allowing attorneys to appear remotely for non-evidentiary hearings and status conferences. Our courts have indicated that they are allowing telephonic or Skype participation liberally. We have not yet received general guidance from other counties, but we are continuing to monitor the policies of the court systems of surrounding counties.
We are thankful to have the technological resources and systems in place to continue to serve our clients seamlessly, with the above adjustments, and we look forward to resuming in-person contact as soon as it is safe to do so. Please do not hesitate to contact our office with any questions or concerns that you have about these policies or how they impact your case.
