Canceled events, deals months in the making that won’t get done, down payments that people want back. The pandemic has snarled business and legal issues in novel ways that make the usual precedents all but useless.
“That romantic notion that you become an expert in a field and dispense that specialized and acquired knowledge is fanciful to start with, and this situation underscores that,” says Jim Catanzaro, an attorney with Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel. “You’re dealing with novel issues, adapting what you do in light of what your client needs. That’s what good lawyering is.”
There are about 1,200 attorneys in the Chattanooga area, and the odds are good that every one of them has had to figure out new ways of practicing to accommodate the demands of the pandemic, says Lynda Minks Hood, president of the Chattanooga Bar Association.
The association has overhauled its website to put COVID-19 resources front-and-center, including information about how the Tennessee Supreme Court is slowly lifting the limits on in-person court proceedings after months of closed courtrooms.
“We wanted to have everything on our website so the attorneys have everything they need,” Hood says.