The majority of attorneys who responded to a recent New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) online survey showed their practices have been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Of the 93% who reported the pandemic was causing an impact, more than 60% said the impact was significant and nearly 33% said it was moderate.
The attorneys reported they have been affected in a range of ways, including financial hardship because of a drop in clients and clients’ inability to pay; difficulty adapting to working from home; difficulty conducting legal work because of the physical shutdown of the courts; and the stress and strain to their mental and physical health and that of their staff and clients.
“Working from home is difficult, and the lack of access to the courts and having to try to do things remotely is really difficult,” wrote one respondent.
Another said, “working from home with my very young children here and homeschooling at the same” are the biggest challenges.
Many others said they are frustrated over not being able to meet face-to-face with clients and staff.
“Telephone and video conferences are better than nothing,” wrote one respondent, “but not nearly as good as in person.”
More than 75% said they were experiencing financial strain, and of those, nearly 36% said the strain was significant and nearly 40% said it was moderate. About 7% said their practice had not been impacted. Many said making payroll was a challenge, and they were concerned about having to lay off their staff.
They paint a grim picture.
“We have been cut off from income for two weeks. With courts closed until May and police not making new arrests, we are looking at bankruptcy,” one respondent said.
“Litigation is slowing to a halt, and commercial clients don’t have money to pay bills,” another said.
Another wrote, “the phones are silent.”
Some said they were furloughed, laid off or feared being laid off. Attorneys who were in the job market were worried they would not be able to find jobs.
“The job market is not looking very good, and the majority of the legal job fairs are cancelled. As a new graduate and newly barred (2019), I am very concerned about my prospects,” one said.
That said, the majority— 88% — said they have the resources they need to serve their clients and nearly 12% said they do not have the resources.
The vast majority of the respondents— nearly 80% — are solo practitioners or work in small firms. Nearly 11% work in medium-size firms with 15 to 40 attorneys, and about 10% work in firms with more than 40 attorneys.
About 325 attorneys answered the NJSBA’s eight-question survey. The Association is analyzing the results to determine the best way to serve its members through programming and advocacy.