By Ari R. Lieberman.
Similar to virtually all industries and businesses, COVID-19 hit the legal world hard and drastically altered the practice of law. However, our firm has quickly adapted, learned from the pandemic and embraced innovations to make our practice even stronger. We are also seeing the New York implement new technologies to move cases forward and protect the rights of litigants.
While the challenges we face are unprecedented, they are not insurmountable. At the Grandelli Law Firm, we are committed to offering the same high quality legal expertise to resolve our clients’ personal injury claims in a timely manner with the compensation that is rightfully deserved.
Before the pandemic struck, civil litigation typically required many court appearances for conferences, discovery matters and to hear motions. While the pandemic has prevented these appearances from happening at the courthouse in-person, the pandemic has not prevented the progress of our cases.
Many judges are hearing conferences and motions over video-conferencing. Additionally, depositions have continued to be held over Zoom, WebEx and Skype. Our firm has also participated in virtual Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR), including mediations and settlement conferences.
We have also utilized this technology to meet virtually with our clients. For many clients, this is a convenient way to meet and saves time from traveling to our offices. These remote meetings also enable us to meet with our clients while complying with State and Federal guidelines for fighting the pandemic. We will remain available to continue to meet virtually as our #1 priority remains the safety and well-being of our clients. In fact, even after we have cleared the dangers of COVID, our office will continue the use of virtual meetings for the convenience of our clients.
We are also seeing the courts to begin limited in-person proceedings, especially with regards to criminal matters. As New York continues to see a decline in hospitalizations and infection rates, we are hopeful that the courts will see a continuation of hearing cases and pushing civil matters forward in a manner that is safe and consistent with recommendations from health professionals. For example, it is possible that there will be social distancing guidelines in the courthouses with lowered capacity in the buildings and mandatory temperature checks.
To be sure, it remains unclear when civil trials will resume, and when they do how they will be different from trials before the pandemic struck. However, we remain committed to aggressively pursuing our cases to a favorable outcome for our clients and will be vigilant in monitoring the progress of the courts and the pandemic.
