The Coronavirus has been all everyone could talk about ever since news about it broke out in late December of 2019 when a cluster of cases in Wuhan, China was reported. Only a few batted an eye until a few months ago when the virus has rapidly spread across the globe. Tens and hundreds of countries have had several cases of the novel Coronavirus in their respective vicinities. In fact, the World Health Organization has already declared it a pandemic.
As the threat of COVID-19 becomes more and more imminent, companies are beginning to close down their offices and asking their employees to work from home. Office workers are being forced to adapt to the situation, shifting from an office-based setting to working in the comfort of their homes. All industries have been affected — financial services need to utilize modern technologies to continuously serve the public, health coach diplomas need to be retrievable through online courses, retail shops are beginning to look into e-commerce, etc.
Of course, these efforts are all necessary to keep the employees safe and prevent the further spread of the Coronavirus. But the shift has been more challenging for professionals in the legal industry whose daily routines involve attending client meetings, being present in court, and working with teams to accomplish forms and briefs. But legal work can be possible in solitude with the use of the right tools. Here’s what lawyers need to work remotely.
Microsoft Office
Chances are, you probably already have the essential Microsoft Office applications like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, installed on your computer. We use them all the time, even in the office setting, for purposes of writing documents, making records, creating presentations, reporting to the board, etc. Make sure to have these installed on your home computer so you can still carry on with your tasks as you did in the office.
Communication Platforms
The imminence of the Coronavirus has discouraged social interactions and mass gatherings to prevent the further spread of the disease. Taking away employees from an office setting means sacrificing fast and easy face-to-face communication. But this doesn’t mean that you can no longer hold client meetings or collaborate with your team. With the advent of the Internet, digital communication platforms have become prevalent. There are many tools such as Email, Skype, or Zoom to help businesses stay in touch with their employees and resume business operations.
Team Workspace Platforms
Although lawyers seem to work solo, there is actually a heavy need for communication and collaboration among coworkers, clients, and other third parties. Hence, the need to work remotely really takes a toll on how lawyers can accomplish tasks and work on cases. This is why there is an evident need for team workspace platforms that can help members coordinate on tasks and work together.
There are a lot of team workspaces available today, such as Trello where you can organize your to-do list and share them with your team. There is also Slack for easier communication and assigning of tickets. Make sure everyone you need to collaborate with has access to a digital platform where you can organize your workload efficiently.
If you think about it, law firms are in a much better place to work remotely, compared to other industries. Most of the work, such as reviewing cases, doing extensive research, and preparing legal documents are quite often solitary. As long as the right tools are utilized, remote work is 100% possible for professionals in the legal industry. Perhaps this type of agile working method can be adopted even after the end of the pandemic threat.
