The Covid diaries: Day 9 - Glory be to the internet

A daily fly-on-the-wall blog about running a legal business during the Covid-19 crisis.

By Dónall Breen - 26 March 2020

Glory be to the internet. The coming weeks will see an exciting new aspect in running a law firm - how we interact with our clients in a self-isolating appropriate way.

Already it is happening. This week Darren held a webinar on the new Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme in the UK (UK Furlough as it is becoming known) and you can listen to the recording here. And next week we are running a webinar on the Acquired Rights Directive in Europe, see here.
 
Whilst we have done webinars before, and are well used to the format, organising the webinar today at very short notice was refreshingly straight forward. In future, where once we may have had a breakfast seminar or evening talk followed by drinks, we may increasingly start moving towards these online forums to share our knowledge and get to know what our clients are thinking. Virtual chats followed by very real drinks - from home! If you have any suggestions or ideas, let us know.
 
It has worked in the past, it can work going forward. Now all we need have to do is start practising our best radio voice by listening to BBC radio on a regular basis.
 
Helping us manage with all this change are a slew of new colleagues who are increasingly popping up in our conference calls and video chats. Let me introduce some:

• Edie - House Cat - An expert in furrlough
• Pippin – Cavalier - Pippin works across all areas of employment law but specialises in pawternity leave
• Bracken and Luna – Jack Russell and Cocker Spaniel - This dynamic duo job share in our Birmingham office, offering advice on various aspects of food and beverage selection
• Freddie – Border Collie - a newly qualified Good Boi, Freddie is currently learning the ropes by chewing them 6/8 hours per day
• Maple – House Cat - Maple will call you when she decides you deserve her advice
• Jenny – Collie - As one of the more senior members of our team, Jenny has come out of retirement to assist in any way possible but mostly in an emotional support capacity
• Bobby and Bruce – Tabbies - Another dynamic duo, these two work closely together to ensure one of them is always napping should a sleeping cat be urgently required
• Luna – Weimaraner - Luna likes long walks on the beach, long walks in the forest and long walks in any weather. Luna is praised by her clients for "relentless, unending, bottomless energy"

I am sure there will be even more joining as the time rolls on, but for now I ask you all to join us in warmly welcoming these new additions to our work routine.

If you would like to read our Covid diaries starting from day 1 please click here.