I’m often accused of having a positive attitude and that’s probably right. I always look for the lesson in a bad situation and this pandemic is no different for me.
Before I go all “glass half full” let me acknowledge that this Pandemic is a nightmare. People have lost lives, businesses and hope. It’s awful and this Blog is not intended to diminish those losses at all.
Some of the “upsides” from this Ontario’s lawyers perspective are as follows:
- Video & telephone call Court & Tribunal appearances have reduced legal fees for our clients and increased the efficiency of the process.
- Suddenly the Courts in Ontario have moved into the online era: it’s way past due.
- No one feels guilty about working from home, we are all doing it from time to time.
- My Gif game is significantly stronger than pre-pandemic due to our MS Teams chats in the firm.
I do miss wearing my Robes to Court, but honestly, it’s not terrible litigating from my desk, even if that desk is on the shores of a lake while I’m camping (thank-you excellent internet and custom video background with our firm logo) or at my home office.
It’s also not terrible embracing working from home a few days a week: this has increased my productivity on non-commute days and has me looking forward to them, rather than feeling like I was not setting a positive example for the rest of the firm.
Finally, working in a socially distanced manner has also made me appreciate our awesome Team even more than I did before: everyone does their best to get the job done, regardless of where they are working.
I hope that you’re able to find a positive for your own business out of this Pandemic.
Inga B. Andriessen, JD