Welcome Back – Covid 19 Update
This is the first of what I hope to be a regular series of blogs created by the office for our website. I think it’s appropriate that we should undertake this new venture at a time when our society is hopefully beginning to emerge from what is, a once in a lifetime pandemic.
Our office, like most small business, has not been unaffected by the negative impact of the pandemic. When Covid 19 hit last year we were totally unprepared on any number of levels for the disruption which it would cause to our practice.
Thankfully, I have to say, that with the help of the local enterprise office, we were able to significantly upgrade our computer hardware and our website which meant that what had once seemed to be entirely impossible, namely working from home, became feasible and indeed, the norm. In common with most businesses, we adapted and adopted Zoom and other methods of communications which frankly, we didn’t even know existed up until then.
Of course, the pandemic has had an impact on society in general and this leads to an impact on the work which we, as a small to medium size firm of Solicitors, carry out on behalf of our clients.
In the immediate aftermath of the lockdown in March 2020, it is fair to say that the amount of people contacting us with a view to preparing Wills and Enduring Powers of Attorney increased significantly. I believe that we all became only too well aware of our mortality and what had once been put on the long finger by people, suddenly became urgent. Indeed, like most other firms of Solicitors at the time, we became adept at witnessing Wills in people’s homes, on the bonnets of cars and in various other unusual locations.
Following the initial shock, we managed to all slip into a routine of working from home or, at least, working separately and apart within the office. This type of working continues to this day and I doubt very much if we, like a large number of businesses, will ever go back to a full-time working week where everybody spends the totality of their time working from the office.
One of the great things that this pandemic has taught us is that it is possible to give people flexibility when it comes to their places and hours of working.
With regard to myself, I have to say that working from home full time would frankly not suit me. I miss the buzz of being in the office surrounded by other people and I also miss the interaction with my clients. With that said, it’s nice to have the facility to communicate with clients remotely and in this regard, Zoom, MS Teams and the old reliable Skype come into their own.
In short, therefore, I hope that this is the first of a series of blogs, touching on various aspects of life which affect us as suburban lawyers trying to do the best for our clients on a daily basis.
Covid 19 Update – how we are working
So, I’m delighted to say that, whilst the office is now operational fully Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm i.e. normal working hours, we have managed to combine that with the flexibility of our staff to work from home where possible.
Of course, this successful transmission could never have been achieved without the flexibility of our staff, all of whom, without exception, have gone to extraordinary lengths to help us in continuing to provide the services to our clients without any discernible loss of quality.
I therefore, wish to thank them sincerely in this, my first blog.
All the best,
Sean.
Tallaght Solcitor
O’Brien Ronayne
