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Law360 (May 4, 2020, 7:45 PM EDT) --
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| John M. Stewart |
For Stewart, a litigator at Rossway Swan Tierney Barry Lacey & Oliver PL in Vero Beach, technology has always been a focus, and when he assumed the presidency last year, he hoped to get the bar to move forward on addressing how technology can help attorneys in their practice.
Now he's helping members around the state who are getting a crash course in videoconference technology as they adapt to social distancing requirements and try to keep work going during the pandemic.
"It's greatly advanced lawyers in the profession on the technology learning curve, and the judiciary and clerks as well," he said. "We're all now working remotely. That's been the silver lining for the profession as a whole. It will have some positive effects."
The technology has been there for years, he said, but attorneys — and often clients — were unwilling to shift to remote technology for a slew of things from real estate closings to depositions. Now they've been forced into it.
"For better or for worse, the profession has generally been driven by face-to-face and human interaction," Stewart said. "I think the biggest challenge was just a mind shift."
He's hoping that in a post-pandemic world, attorneys and judges might opt to use remote technology as opposed to in-person meetings or hearings to save both client expenses and attorneys' time.
For Stewart, who hands over the reins to Miami family law attorney Dori Foster-Morales on June 19, the pandemic has been a crash course in crisis management and communication, which are skills he says he had not needed to learn before.
"There's no script to follow," Stewart said. "There's no road map. Everyone is working to find the right path. Really, you're just triaging and handling the most challenging need at the moment, and you go to the next one and the next one and it really doesn't stop."
For Florida Bar members, the most pressing needs have been technological help and information about court closures and deadlines, which the bar has made readily available on its website. Stewart said the next thing they are working on is providing guidance on how attorneys can use various technological tools while also safeguarding client confidentiality.
Several Florida Bar sections also quickly came up with free pandemic-related continuing legal education programs like guides on how to work from home; how Florida's open records laws apply to virtual meetings; ways to generate business while on lockdown; and the CARES Act relief package.
Stewart also said the bar is trying to work with attorneys who are facing financial hardship and may have difficulty paying their annual bar dues, which generally need to be paid by July 1.
"We made it clear we're conducting business as usual as best we can, but if you need assistance, please let us know," he said.
Beyond the professional space, the bar has also acknowledged that attorneys are likely facing increased anxiety in these difficult times. On Friday, the bar launched the Florida Lawyers Helpline, which will connect attorneys to professional mental health counselors. The free helpline had been in the works already, but its launch was moved up two months to help lawyers deal with the additional stresses they're under now.
The help line is the project of Foster-Morales, who as president-elect has already been working on mental health initiatives for attorneys and intends to make mental health a primary focus of her year as president when she starts in June.
For Stewart, he's hoping that the lessons learned during the crisis about what works with technology and what doesn't stick for the long term, and that attorneys continue to implement them going forward.
"We need to make sure we don't roll back to zero — make sure we keep it at five and decide what's the natural growth from there," he said.
--Editing by Brian Baresch and Alanna Weissman.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
