CIANJ Commerce Magazine September 2020 Live | Page 56

■ Annual Best Practices Guide
Continued From Page 52
LAW
Norris McLaughlin, P.A.
By John N. Vanarthos, Esq.,
Chairman
The thing that has worked
most effectively for us is
demonstrating for our clients
and prospects alike that we
empathize with their situation. It’s a frightening
world for all of us and being able to show
the kind of empathy that people need to feel
comfortable and reassured is so important.
We ended up going fully remote the weekend
of March 19, but what was key in the following
week and subsequent weeks was connecting
with clients. That personal outreach was the
difference between a paid invoice and a client
gone silent. It also helped keep our attorneys
top-of-mind as our clients grappled with the
constantly shifting policies and executive orders,
not to mention the legislative piece. Because
we made the effort to show our clients
that we’re here to help them figure this out,
we took on work related to pandemic business
operations that nobody could have predicted.
NPZ Law Group, P.C.
By David H. Nachman, Esq.,
U.S. Managing Attorney
NPZ Law Group, like many
of our clients, reinvented our
business models during the
COVID‐19 pandemic. The
practice of law is an “essential business” so
a small number of protected workers remained
on-site. Our staff turned to remote
work from home and traveled to our offices
(when necessary) to send U.S. and Canadian
immigration filings to USCIS and DOL. Advanced
“softphone” technology allowed NPZ
staff to return calls to clients from personal
cellphones with office caller-ID as opposed
to personal numbers. Nominal fees paid for
“softphone” technology were less than purchasing
additional desktop phones or new
work cell phones. NPZ staff dug in and continued
to deliver the highest level of service.
Our staff remained flexible with scheduling
virtual meetings with clients using Zoom,
WEBEX, etc. Partnering with our clients, we
worked hard to help them through unprecedented
times.
Offit Kurman,
Attorneys At Law
By Timothy Lynch, Esq.,
Managing Principal
Regular communication,
solid business planning and
our entrepreneurial business
structure is what helped us thrive despite the
economic challenges and uncertainty brought
on by COVID‐19. Firm management, with
guidance from federal agencies and local governments,
implemented new policies on an
as-needed basis to promote compliance and
safety for all attorneys and staff in every office.
Externally, our internal operating changes
were irrelevant to our clients as our ability
to deliver the services that they needed were
not impeded in any material way because we
adapted and evolved our technology platform
and prioritized our efforts to connect with
our clients virtually. By sticking to our entrepreneurial
business model, we were able to operate
almost entirely as business as usual. The
firm has added lawyers and hired more people
since the middle of April and expects to continue
to grow as more attorneys are looking
for firms that offer stability and growth.
LAW
Pashman Stein
Walder Hayden, P.C.
By Michael Stein, Esq.,
Managing Partner
We have adapted to meet the
changing needs of our clients
through increased use of
technology and alternative fee arrangements.
We continue to work remotely throughout
the pandemic, with rotating in-office staff to
provide our clients the same excellent service
they have come to expect. We participated in
one of the first, if not the first, Zoom trials in
New Jersey and appeared before the New Jersey
Supreme Court, and routinely conduct
meetings, depositions and mediations via
video conference. Our Pashman Stein Walder
Hayden attorneys continue to think outside
the box to find novel and creative solutions
to clients’ business and legal problems. Now
more than ever, the collaboration with our
clients and among our attorneys, and the
trust and camaraderie necessary for positive
brainstorming, ensures that our clients have
the benefit of our collective legal advice and
insights, with many different perspectives
considered.
Riker Danzig Scherer
Hyland & Perretti LLP
By Michael R. O’Donnell, Esq.,
Co-Managing Partner
Riker Danzig has always enjoyed
a very collaborative
culture, routinely engaging
with colleagues on client matters informally
throughout the day. So, this has been our
biggest cultural adjustment, connecting with
each other via teleconference and web conference
in place of the preferred face-to-face
interactions. We were already accustomed
to meeting with clients via teleconference to
some degree when it was determined to be an
efficient and effective option for our clients.
We now have found that we can effectively
conduct internal meetings via web conferencing
and have prioritized regular communication
within our practice groups to keep our attorneys
and staff connected and engaged with
each other. We have also found that, generally
speaking, location does not matter as much
as everyone thought. Riker Danzig’s attorneys
and staff have worked remotely and securely
throughout the pandemic, remaining available
to assist our clients without disruption.
Rivkin Radler LLP
Gregory D. Miller, Esq.,
Managing Partner, NJ Office
Like the rest of the world,
Rivkin Radler LLP has faced
many challenges as a result
of COVID‐19. Due to the circumstances,
nearly all of the attorneys and
staff have been working remotely for the last
several months. However, our dedication to
our clients and to the other members of our
firm has remained unchanged. We have been
addressing these challenges by adapting and
taking advantage of our remote IT platform,
and being flexible, and communicative has
allowed us to continue to produce the work
product our clients expect from us. Simply
put, the reason the firm continues to thrive
during these difficult times is because of open
communication with clients, coworkers and
the courts. As commerce and industry begin
to return to some sense of normalcy, we anticipate
that the challenges of the pandemic and
the lessons learned will keep the firm strong
and thriving in the future.
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