Category: Industry Insights

For Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, a nonprofit that provides free civil legal assistance to low-income clients and families, the COVID-19 pandemic may have forced the offices to close, but the organization couldn’t let a crisis stop its work.

The group provides free legal help in 21 counties for those who have civil legal issues that affect housing, elder law, public benefits, consumer fraud, healthcare, children’s well-being, special education and relief from domestic violence. So they knew they had to help. But with stay-at-home orders limiting their options, and the courts closed, the big question was how to help during the pandemic.

The Missouri unemployment rate was surging — it had been less than 4 percent in March but jumped to nearly 10 percent in April. In raw numbers, instead of a few thousand initial unemployment claims every week, there were tens of thousands — even a couple of weeks when the count passed 100,000, according to the Department of Labor.

“Our client group is among the most vulnerable,” said Latasha Barnes, an attorney with the nonprofit organization. “And now our potential eligible client group had expanded significantly. We had so many people losing jobs who now needed public benefits and just don’t know what to do — people who probably hadn’t had to worry about housing stability or income stability. So not only are we navigating a public health crisis, but now people are having personal financial crises, and that really makes everything more complicated.

A community partner recommended offering virtual services for those who might be struggling during the pandemic, and the idea for webinars was born, said Louisa Gregory, associate director of development for special events and digital media.

The effort sparked a social media outreach that has become more successful than the staff at Legal Services of Eastern Missouri ever dreamed,w reaching more than 40,000 people and growing.

Finding the Right Podium

Legal Services of Eastern Missouri crafted its virtual outreach strategy carefully – though, of course, quickly. Barnes had been planning a series of in-person legal education and services clinics in collaboration with community partners. She considered canceling, but a community partner suggested trying Facebook.

“We do recognize that some of the most vulnerable may not have access, but we thought the more we could disseminate broadly the better. Maybe it would trickle down to some who may not otherwise have access,” Barnes said. “It grew from may not otherwise have access,” Barnes said. “It grew from there.”

In addition to broadcasting via Facebook, staff members scheduled live events during times when the organization’s page already had the most activity. The live events were recorded so others could revisit or share them. The sessions were timed based on when the target audience was most likely be available, considering homeschooling, work demands, and limited bandwidth.  They paid $12 per week to boost the posts on Facebook to enlarge the audience, Gregory said. In addition to individuals, the events also targeted social workers, community activists and community organizations who serve a similar population to provide additional information needed by their clients.

Becoming a Trusted Adviser

The so-called Money Monday series, in partnership with the St. Louis Regional Financial Empowerment Coalition and Money Smart St. Louis, sought to address various topics in light of COVID-19. Many government policies had temporarily changed; many people faced challenges they’d never before encountered.

When the planned four-part series neared its end, community partners asked for more, particularly as stay-at-home orders were extended.

“So many things were changing. People just wanted to have somewhere to turn to and that they could trust for the information,” Barnes said.

They tapped other subject-matter experts within Legal Services to provide comprehensive and up-to-date information. To date, there have been 13 broadcasts, with more planned as needed. Topics have included food stamps, stimulus checks and tax breaker credits, housing/eviction policies, small-business resources, family law and domestic violence, estate planning, pandemic-related scams, unemployment benefits, student loans, special education, small business re-opening resources and other COVID-related topics. 

In addition to archiving the broadcasts online and making them available on YouTube for broader reach, Legal Services of Eastern Missouri offers links to presentation slides, fact sheets and other relevant resources. Maggie Probert, director of development and communications, said a professional who came across the webinars when researching housing issues related to COVID-19 called the material the most helpful she’d found.

“She then investigated the rest of the webinars on the other issues and is using them as resources, too,” Probert said. “While this is not the intended audience, it’s a great secondary audience and an outcome that helps build a reputation for the agency.”

Other organizations have piggybacked on Legal Services presentations, featuring the nonprofit’s staff members on their own broadcasts. For example, Tishaura Jones, St. Louis city treasurer, has done two sessions with Legal Services of Eastern Missouri staff for her Tips with the Treasurer series. 

Brittany Hubbard, paralegal and legal services coordinator, monitored the chat section during the live presentations. She said she began recognizing the same people returning for multiple sessions on different topics, and there were many grateful comments. 

The audience for the presentations keeps growing with the number of views increasing weeks later. “People continue to use the resources,” Gregory said.

As courts reopen and the organization eases back to in-person community events and legal clinics, the past several weeks will have lasting effects. “We will continue to use this platform for outreach because it’s been so effective,” Probert said. However, she emphasized that virtual outreach won’t replace personal events.

What we love: Like many organizations, Legal Services had to quickly embrace virtual events – but it did so in a truly thoughtful and empathetic way. 

While many U.S. businesses were flocking to Zoom, Legal Services opted for Facebook Live, which it knew would have broader access to its potential client base. The Legal Services team also timed its sessions for its clients’ convenience, not their own – and made recordings
readily available.

The non-profit also made smart and economical decisions regarding their promotions, paying just $12 per week to amplify their message.

The takeaway: Meet your audience where they are.

As the COVID-19 pandemic escalated, darkening workplaces and businesses with stunning speed, Whitfield & Eddy Law hurried to set up effective communication among its now-scattered workforce.

Part of the aim was simple: Keep everyone connected, informed and even cheerful amid a tidal wave of anxiety and uncertainty. But it quickly became apparent that those efforts also would influence the future of the firm in whatever “normal” would emerge.

Grappling with the Initial Whiplash

Marc Hollander, the firm’s director of client relations and marketing, was out of town — like many who had scheduled early March spring break trips — when the crisis intensified.

But he quickly returned, researching pandemic-survival initiatives that could take on a Whitfield & Eddy flavor. By the end of the first week of working from home, Hollander had set up a Facebook page for staff members. 

Particularly in the early days of stay-at-home orders, the page became something of an oasis. Amid heavy news and uncertainty about both physical health and that of the economy, the page offered a “light-hearted and fun” outlet, Hollander said.

“I just tried to remind people every couple of days — thinking of you, what’s going on, let’s have some fun,” he said.

Hollander wove humor into the posts he used to communicate with staff members, getting them to discuss what their home offices looked like, their pet “co-workers,” their culinary creations (including sharing recipes), how the runners in the group were adapting their workouts, and even pandemic hair or facial hair styles. Sometimes, he posted pictures from old happy hours or socials to remind them of the “normal days,” and sometimes they’d poke good-natured fun at each other like they had in the office break room or hallway.

“It just gets everyone together, laughing,” Hollander said.

Of course, Facebook interaction isn’t for everyone. Roughly half of the firm’s 50 staff members joined the Facebook page, but the outlet was at least available — especially during a time when people were spending more time on their electronic devices. People appreciated the efforts and had felt isolated without the work environment, despite being around some
family and friends. 

“You spend 40, 50 or 60 hours a week with these guys, and they are family in that sense,” Hollander said.

Becoming a ‘Zoom Ninja’

As scheduled events pivoted to virtual meetings, Zoom became a vital tool — and one with which many weren’t familiar. Hollander aimed to become a “Zoom ninja” so that he could quickly bring attorneys up to speed, enabling them to interact, do online happy hours, or move forward with planned presentations.

He also has used the tool for weekly work-from-home check-ins with staff. The half-hour meeting over lunch has been a time for staff members to share how they’re doing. When attorneys — including those who are semi-retired — heard about it, some of them wanted to be part of one, too.

A side benefit of the staff check-ins has been the ability to sense that something requires more discussion and follow up one-on-one. Such a conversation may include “how are you doing, how are we doing, what’s happening that we may not know about from an attorney-staff position,” Hollander said. Those touch points are key in retaining staff, making sure they are able to succeed given the circumstances, and keeping the workplace running smoothly, he said.

Adapting to Changing Needs: Looking to the Future

The energy with which Americans embraced virtual interactions and Zoom meetings of various sorts waned as stay-at-home orders stretched on. As a National Geographic article elaborated, video calls offer an “elegant solution to remote work, but they wear on the psyche in complicated ways.” The phrase “Zoom fatigue” quickly jumped into the common lexicon.

As circumstances shift, Hollander keeps adapting Whitfield & Eddy’s efforts at creating valuable touch points. The Facebook group will continue, but Zoom check-ins are becoming less frequent, Hollander said. Plans to return to the office remain somewhat fluid; however, loosening restrictions and summer weather are offering people other outlets. 

A key concern now for Hollander is a group that has in some ways been lost in the shuffle: new college graduates. Recruitment efforts, alongside retention initiatives, determine the future of the firm.

Hollander recently had to cancel an event welcoming new clerks. He has been reaching out to new clerks at least every other week via Facebook Messenger, asking how they’re doing, congratulating them on graduation, and encouraging them to study for the bar exam.

“Clerks coming in for the summer are going to have the worst experience ever if they work from home with no interactions or events,” Hollander said.

His stopgap solution? Seek out regular webinars on how to best make use of virtual meeting tools. He’s also considering engaging a third party to run a virtual event for the clerks.

“These are things that need to be on our radar because we can’t be those lame, stodgy old people that did not engage through that time,” Hollander said.

For law firms, the recruiting period truly begins from the moment a clerk walks through the door. It’s years before a new clerk becomes a partner, and that formative period determines the next leaders in the firm.

“It’s a really long interview process,” Hollander said. “We want to make sure we keep that tap open.”

What Firesign loves: In times of stress, people need to feel a part of something bigger than themselves – and Whitfield & Eddy rose to the occasion for its lawyers and professional staff.

The firm did so many things right, but we love that it built in regular and predictable events that people can count on, such as lunch meetings. This brings an element of normalcy to unmoored calendars. It also widely recognized that people get more out of work than just work; it created a virtual water cooler for levity and socialization.

The takeaway: Market to your internal audiences, too.

In the fall of 2020, Firesign published an e-book entitled “Connecting in a Crisis” that highlighted five law firms working to connect with their clients and communities in new ways during the pandemic. You can access the complete book using the download form on this page.

After more than a decade together at an Am Law 200 firm, a team of intellectual property attorneys sensed a shared chemistry and vision, so they — along with four trusted staff members — left the comfort of a large firm to strike out on their own.

It all sounds pretty straightforward, except that Avant Law Group, LLC debuted on April 15. That’s right — smack in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, stay-at-home orders and an economic shutdown. But the three partners, joined by a patent agent, technical specialist, paralegal and office manager, are far from having buyers’ remorse.

“If we could have timed it, we would have done it earlier,” said Justin Poplin, principal. “This group doesn’t doubt much.”

By mid-April, the Avant team fully understood the upheaval wreaked by the pandemic. Yet they didn’t put their plans on hold. 

“Ultimately, the decision was made before everything started,” said Anna Quinn, another Avant principal. “But I think once you’ve started down that path, you don’t have a desire to turn around. At the end of the day, I don’t think anything really changes. You still have to have the same things.”

So they forged ahead even as the world took a sharp turn sideways.

Sure, some of the logistics got a bit more complicated —learning new systems, opening files, and collaborating and meeting with clients remotely. 

“But it was a minor thing,” Poplin said. “It didn’t really change the things we do – just how we communicate, perhaps.”

On a Tuesday, the team worked doing what they know at one place, and on a Wednesday, they opened up doing what they know under a new name.

The Superpower of the Boutique Firm

The same metrics that made opening a boutique IP firm appealing under normal conditions also offer Avant key advantages during a unique and pervasive global crisis —to the point that the firm anticipates adding attorneys in the near future.

“We could go all day on this one,” Poplin said. “That’s what made this decision.”

The three principals enumerated multiple benefits, but they all boil down to a key advantage of the boutique firm: agility.

“If you think about it, initially you might say, ‘Hey, starting a business in this time is perhaps not the wisest decision,’ ” said Hissan Anis, the third principal. “But for us, after we had jumped in the water, we found out that this was actually not the worst time to make this decision.”

As economic uncertainty continues, companies more closely evaluate what they’re paying for everything — including whether they really need to pay a big bill to a big law firm, Anis said.  And Avant’s pitch, he said, is that they’re the same people who were at big firms, but now they are available at a better rate.

“That has more traction now than maybe when the economy is humming,” Anis said.

Overhead is distinctly lower, Poplin said, and the red tape involved with offering clients alternative pricing options is nonexistent. Previously, some alternate billing arrangements couldn’t be done because the software couldn’t handle it, and alternative fees required the approval of about five steps of committees.

“It may have been theoretically possible, but it wasn’t realistically possible,” Poplin said. “Now, we can do it.”

As a newly formed firm, Avant wasn’t tied to lengthy tech contracts or other commitments that might limit adaptability, and it wasn’t handcuffed by cultural norms or long-held ways of doing things that inhibited change. The partners have questioned everything as they decide how best to run Avant.

“We discuss: Are we doing something just because we’ve known to do it in the past, or is that really what works best for us?” Poplin said. “I personally hate the term ‘best practices.’ To me, it’s a copout; it means, let’s not think about it. … Instead of best practices, we think about, ‘What should our practices be?’ ”

For example, because the Overland Park, Kan.-based firm specializes in intellectual property, the partners chose software specifically tailored to the practice, rather than the generic software required at large and diverse firms. The software changes have exponentially improved the efficiency of Avant’s practice, Anis said. 

Also, “it’s easier to get three people on the same page than 300 people,” Quinn said, adding that firm leaders also can more easily bring staff into strategy discussions. “We can quickly figure out what makes our group flourish.”

Whether that means finding the billing solution that works best for the office manager or determining not to cut staff compensation during the economic decline, the parties involved with running Avant are able to set a united focus with unified goals — minus pressure to pay shareholders or force clients to pay set fees despite unique challenges.

“We can make sure everybody is winning,” Anis said.

What we love: The founders of Avant had faith in their vision – so much that they did not hesitate to launch during the most disruptive event of their lifetimes. 

They embraced the opportunities for creativity inherent in a fresh start; they have eschewed Big Law tools and infrastructure and actively seek fresh new solutions. The founders also wisely recognized that many companies may be looking for more flexible, economical solutions, and they stand ready to compete. COVID-19 will fundamentally change the legal marketplace, and lawyers who cling to old systems may risk obsolescence.

The takeaway: Do something big.

Sometimes, a simple desire to help drives business innovation. 

That’s been the case for Jason Morris of Round Table Law in Alberta, Canada. With a close family member involved in the home health care profession, Morris had a finger on the pulse of many medical professionals’ concerns as the highly contagious and deadly coronavirus spread. And the estate planning attorney realized one of those concerns landed right in his wheelhouse.

By adapting quickly, he figured out a way to adjust to the new normal, streamline his process to cut costs, and ultimately offer medical professionals deeply discounted help with legal documents such as wills or personal directives during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s making some people feel better,” Morris said.

Taking One Step Back …

Typically, estate planning work involves an in-person interview, drafting documents, a second meeting to review the documents, arranging a time to sign the documents, getting everything executed, and commissioning affidavits of execution among witnesses. But with social distancing guidelines to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, the process needed to change dramatically.

“It was partially an attempt to deal with the fact that business as usual wasn’t working with the law firm — it hasn’t for lots of people,” Morris said. “And there was also a desire to do something that would help with the larger problem we are all dealing with.”

… Then Two Steps Forward

Within a week, Morris pivoted so that he could accomplish nearly everything virtually. The most time-consuming piece was automating the client-intake process; he also arranged to conduct interviews online and created a step-by-step instruction guide so that clients — rather than Morris — could do the execution. 

Morris recently completed a master’s degree in computational law, which involves program languages used for automating legal reasoning. Morris said he realized that only affidavits of execution required a lawyer’s presence, and they weren’t required for documents to be valid. 

“It’s not critical to getting a person a will or a personal directive,” he said. “The rest could be done remotely.”

Morris even offered instructions for how to do the witnessing. The price: half the normal fee.

“If you’re a health care worker, dealing with peoples’ illness, that’s a lot of stress, and this is a way to say thank you to people who are dealing with that so we don’t have to,” Morris said. 

The new arrangement also made Morris more efficient at creating the documents: there’s no travel involved, and automated intake demands less of his time, as well.

His advertising has consisted solely of social media posts — posts that online contacts then share — and the Round Table Law website displays a banner at the top advertising the discount for health care workers.  

The business cultivated by those posts has kept Morris as busy as he can be, considering the growing number of hats he has been wearing: lawyer, master’s degree student, and home teacher to three children.

“It feels productive,” he said.