ACCEPTING NEW CLIENTS IN THE COVID ERA

Amongst the various aspects of our legal practice that have been impacted by the prevalence of the Covid virus also falls the activities involved with accepting new clients.  Commonly referred to in the legal community as “intakes”, this process of accepting new cases at our office typically involved a real life, face-to-face meeting between the new client and the attorney who would be handling that case.  It was an important part of the start of what can sometimes be a years-long process.

Because of the changing nature of safety guidelines and orders, and in order to accommodate the varied nature of our clients’ preferences and needs, we have implemented a few alternative options for gathering the information needed to start working on a case and lay the foundation of the working relationship with the clients.

For those clients who need a face-to-face meeting, we are able to conduct those by following safety protocols such as social distancing, the wearing of face masks or coverings, and increased surface cleaning, amongst other measures.  Of course, it feels different to refrain from shaking someone’s hand when you first meet them, or see them off after the meeting is over, but this is a minor adjustment of habit and pales in comparison to the potential risks it poses to ourselves and others.

We also offer “remote intakes” which can be conducted on a variety of platforms, including email, phone, FaceTime, Zoom, and the like.  This method of intake provides for the least amount of risk of exposure for our clients, some of whom are particularly concerned about contracting Covid while they are still suffering from the severe injuries that led them to contact us for help in the first place.

It is important that those people who have been injured as a result of the negligence of others continue to have the same quality and quantity of access to legal representation, Covid or no Covid, and Heiting & Irwin is committed to doing our part towards this end.