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Law360 (June 15, 2020, 10:28 PM EDT) -- Top legal professionals at over 100 corporations are increasingly optimistic about how their companies are handling the COVID-19 pandemic and the long-term impacts on their business, according to a study released Monday by Morrison & Foerster LLP.
While the legal professionals rate the current impact at 6.7 on a scale of 1 to 10, they say they believe the impact will drop to 3.7 within two years, according to MoFo's study, the second on the subject since March.
About two of every five legal professionals believe the novel coronavirus is having a "severe" impact on their business, down from about half in March, according to the report. Morrison & Foerster believes companies are increasingly adapting to the challenges brought by the pandemic, with increasing confidence about the ability of employees to successfully work from home, according to the report.
"The pandemic continues to have a dramatic and disruptive impact on companies and legal departments, and that significant disruption is expected to remain the norm for at least the next two years," said David A. Newman, head of Morrison & Foerster's coronavirus task force. "While the overall assessment of disruption is largely unchanged from the previous survey conducted two months ago, we are seeing cautious indications of optimism."
MoFo surveyed over 100 in-house legal professionals in late May as part of the study. Over 55% worked at companies with annual revenue of at least $1 billion.
Coronavirus issues related to employment and contract litigation dominate the thoughts of the legal professionals who were surveyed, as concerns over maintaining privacy and security rising when compared to a similar survey conducted in March, according to the survey.
"We've seen a significant increase in cyberattacks, phishing attempts, and scams that have occurred," said Miriam H. Wugmeister, partner and co-chair of Morrison and Foerster's privacy and data security practice. "Hackers and bad actors are capitalizing on the fear of the moment and the widespread use of unsecured wireless networks by unassuming employees."
While a majority of legal professionals report an increase in overall work in the wake of the pandemic, only 5% said they have increased their legal department staffing levels to address the need, which MoFo believes is a reflection of tight budgets and the amount of time it can take to recruit legal talent, according to the report.
About two-thirds of respondents also express concern over the threat of new lockdowns in the near future and what they perceive to be conflicting guidance and restrictions by government officials, according to MoFo.
"Many companies have established new practices for their employees and resolved issues arising from shelter in place orders," said Janie F. Schulman, an employment and labor partner at the firm. "The challenge now is to navigate the complex and sometimes conflicting guidance from authorities in having their employees return safely to the office."
--Editing by Peter Rozovsky.
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