Fate picked an interesting time for Scot Burton to become the first general counsel at Phoenix Senior Living—two months before the coronavirus fell onto the national scene and hit nursing homes especially hard.

Burton joined Phoenix, a client of his at Taylor English Duma, in December after 19 years in private practice. On March 9, the company barred any visitors from its 33 senior living centers around the southeast. By the end of that week, activities in vast parts of the United States had shut down.