My nerd friend Chuck Lundberg has written a good article about ethics and risk management for lawyers and law firms during pandemic. It’s a good read, and contains a good reminder (courtesy of the Los Angeles bar):

“In light of the unprecedented risks associated with the novel Coronavirus, we urge all lawyers to liberally exercise every professional courtesy and/or discretional authority vested in them to avoid placing parties, counsel, witnesses, judges or court personnel under undue or avoidable stresses, or health risk. . . Given the current circumstances, attorneys should be prepared to agree to reasonable extensions and continuances as may be necessary or advisable to avoid in-person meetings, hearings or deposition obligations.”

If anything, this “social distancing” will help us realize that most of us, including our adversaries, are normal human beings who don’t have to be jerks about everything. (And those who feel they have to be jerks? We’ll continue to keep our social distance, thank you.)