In a matter of mere days, as the extent of the COVID-19 public health crisis dawned on American society, the nature of law practice has been fundamentally altered. With social distancing, litigation practices that we have always taken for granted have become off limits. Courthouses have restricted access or closed for all but emergency business. Depositions—and travel to them—violate social distancing strictures. Law offices are empty as lawyers work from their kitchen tables—or wherever we’re hiding out in this new age of remote work. As a result, in the past week, the wheels of justice are slowing toward a grinding halt.
What is true for society in general is true for the business of law as well: “We all want things to go back to normal quickly. But what most of us have probably not yet realized—yet will soon—is that things won’t go back to normal after a few weeks, or even a few months. Some things never will.” So writes Gideon Lichfield, editor-in-chief of the MIT Technology Review. What will that mean for the litigation business after this crisis is over?
