Atlanta Firms Go Remote: Updates During the Coronavirus Crisis

In response to the coronavirus threat, most large Atlanta firms rolled out remote work policies starting this week that will apply at least through the end of the month.

The Daily Report has started a list, found below, of Atlanta firms’ remote work policies for lawyers and staff. We are updating the list as we get word from firms. To add your firm to the list or to provide other information on how your firm is handling the public health emergency, please email Meredith Hobbs at [email protected].

At Morris, Manning & Martin, which instituted a mandatory remote-work policy, managing partner Simon Malko said on Wednesday there were only about 15 or 20 people in the firm’s Buckhead headquarters, which ordinarily houses over 200 attorneys and staff on six floors. He said he is still on-site—one of just three people on his office floor—but in his office with the door closed.

Policies range from allowing work from home on a voluntary basis to stricter policies either “strongly encouraging” or requiring all lawyers, other timekeepers and administrative staff to work remotely.

Starting March 16, the largest firms in the city, including Alston & Bird, King & Spalding, Eversheds Sutherland, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton and Troutman Sanders, asked all of their lawyers and staff to work remotely—with only a very small core staff of essential personnel on the premises.

The big firms have not closed their offices, stating they need to keep them open to support attorneys’ work for clients but there is only a skeleton staff on the premises. That generally includes the chair or managing partner with the CFO, IT director and other key department heads, plus a handful of staff who are scanning and distributing mail via email and otherwise keeping operations running smoothly. They are often on a team that’s rotating those duties to minimize the number of people in the office.

Partners who are used to having a secretary down the hall have quickly learned how to make PDF files, so they can coordinate edits to client bills via email, instead of walking down the hall with a marked-up draft. Lawyers and other timekeepers, like paralegals, generally have firm-issued laptops, but administrative staff often do not, so firms must either supply them laptops or help them install a VPN connection to the firms’ system on their home computer.

So far, the Daily Report has not learned of any firms that have turned off the office lights and locked the door, except for public-facing legal-aid organizations. If your firm has, please let us know.

Alston & Bird

The firm instituted a comprehensive remote work policy, effective March 16. “We have asked everyone to work remotely through at least the end of the month—and then we will assess, based on the latest public health information,” Alston’s chairman, Richard Hays, told the Daily Report on Monday.

“All of our lawyers and timekeepers have laptops that mirror the capabilities they have in the office—and we have a robust IT infrastructure,” Hays added. “The hope and the effort is to be socially responsible—to take the steps we need to take to knock this thing out, while at the same time being available to our clients.”

Atlanta Legal Aid Society

Legal Aid closed all physical offices to the public on March 16 and instituted a mandatory remote work policy for all employees. The legal nonprofit is handling new client intake remotely, and phone lines from its five metro Atlanta county offices are being routed to receptionists at home, executive director Steve Gottlieb said in an email.

“Luckily, our wonderful IT director and case management system administrator snapped into action and are making it possible for our staff at all levels to create a virtual office at home,” he said. “It is important that we remain accessible to our clients during this pandemic which will undoubtedly affect our clients in intense ways.”

Legal Aid currently plans to reopen its offices to the public on Monday, March 30, but will continue to assess as the situation unfolds.

Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation

AVLF closed all locations on March 16 for at least one week, and the staff is operating remotely. That limits some services to the public as outlined in a FAQ. For instance, the group has closed its walk-in Safe Families Office at the Fulton County Courthouse, which aids those experiencing intimate partner violence. Instead, staff attorneys are helping people obtain protective orders via phone. AVLF also has canceled or postponed March trainings and events.

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner

Bryan Cave has asked all lawyers and staff to work from home, with a skeleton staff in the office on a rotating basis to maintain essential functions. As of March 19, Atlanta managing partner Eric Schroeder estimated that 95% of the office’s personnel were working from home. “We have enough people here [in the office] to get done what needs to be done, but almost everyone is working from home,” he said, adding that the policy is in effect indefinitely.

Carlton Fields

“We are encouraging our lawyers and staff to work remotely and to conduct internal and external meetings virtually,” the firm said in a March 17 email. “We are operating at full capacity, and we will continue to provide uninterrupted and high-quality service using the technology and protocols we have put in place.”

Drew Eckl & Farnham

Drew Eckl instituted a mandatory remote work policy on March 16, except for a skeleton staff of about a dozen people: managing partner Joe Chancey, department heads and records staff to scan and distribute mail. Chancey said they are working from separate offices and maintaining at least 6 feet of distance.

Eversheds Sutherland

Eversheds Sutherland on March 17 tightened up the voluntary remote work policy for its U.S. offices that it had rolled out on March 16 to restrict all but essential personnel from working on-site. “We took a stronger stance today [March 17] to say that, barring a real need to be in the office, we expect all employees to be working from home with a handful of operational staff [on-site],” said Eversheds Sutherland’s U.S. co-chair, Mark Wasserman.

The trans-Atlantic firm, which has U.S. headquarters in Atlanta, adopted remote work policies for its Asia offices in January, when the coronavirus outbreak started in China, followed by those in the UK, Europe and the Middle East. “We will review the situation on a week-by-week basis but anticipate our teams will be working remotely for the next several weeks,” according to an email from the firm.

Kessler Solomiany

The family law firm started a voluntary remote work policy on March 16, which it is assessing regularly, firm leader Randy Kessler told the Daily Report on Monday. The firm’s office is officially open, but its 20 lawyers and staff all have the ability to work remotely.

Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton

“While our offices remain open, we are strongly encouraging firm attorneys and professional staff to work remotely,” the firm said in a March 16 email. The policy is in effect for as long as circumstances dictate.

King & Spalding

King & Spalding implemented a two-week remote work policy for attorneys and staff, effective March 16. Offices remain open and rotating teams are providing core administrative support, such as reception, mail and copying. The firm will determine whether to extend it as developments unfold.

Morris Manning & Martin

Morris Manning on March 16 implemented mandatory remote work for at least two weeks. Offices are still open, but with only a handful of essential staff on the premises in rotating teams.

Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart

Ogletree has asked lawyers and staff to work remotely, effective March 17, and is using a rotating team of lean staff onsite in its Atlanta headquarters.

Swift, Currie, Mcghee & Hiers

As of March 16, the litigation defense firm was on a remote-work basis, with just a skeleton crew to handle mail and IT in its 100,000 square foot Midtown office. That included managing partner Terry Brantley—but he closed his door and affixed a note asking people not to come inside. “It’s easier to be more cautious,” Brantley told the Daily Report, expressing a wish that everyone would shut their activities down as much as possible. He encourages frequent hand-washing, lunches brought from home and a quick exit to the garage.

Troutman Sanders

Troutman asked lawyers and staff to work remotely as of March 17. “Essential on-site services will be maintained in each office,” the firm said in an email.

Womble Bond Dickinson

“As a firm, we are strongly encouraging people to work from home, have postponed or canceled firm-sponsored events, and have stopped all nonessential travel. We have the technology infrastructure in place to allow us to operate as normal while working remotely,” the firm said in a March 16 email.