Springfield Business Journal_2021-02-22

SPRINGFIELD BUSINESS JOURNAL · 13 FEB. 22-28, 2021 cases in Missouri. I did see a case where Walmart got sued for that very situation. The problem with those lawsuits … is it is so hard with the pan- demic to prove where you received the COVID. Just filing a lawsuit is some- times enough to create a poor business situation and forces the business orga- nization to make a decision. If you do what basic (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) requirements are, I’m not real concerned. It makes for good news. It makes for good information, but I haven’t seen any successful law- suit. I think the risk is low if you take the reasonable precautions. Dunville: We’ve been having a lot of inquiries about whether or not impos- ing certain requirements, whether it be masking, encouraging vaccination and questions of that nature, whether or not requiring that of employees is violat- ing their rights. That’s probably where you’re likely to see a little bit more action. We’re so early in this and with the speed of litigation throughout the last year, there is no real outcomes to be reported. Overall, I think that it’s just a matter of taking reasonable precautions. Olson: What advice would you have for employers on how to best protect themselves and how to protect their employees? Dunville: Consult with legal counsel. [Laughs]. It’s going to depend on the nature of the employer, the kind of operations they have and some of those circumstantial factors. I’m not sure that I would give a blanket piece of advice except to make sure that you are operat- ing to ensure the safety of your work- force and your customers and not taking any actions without fully evaluating the consequences. Groves: The (Equal Employment Op- portunity Commission) has come down with guidance that says it’s OK in light of the pandemic to require everybody to have their temperature taken when they walk in. The EEOC has actually come down with guidance, I believe, that has said it’s OK to require vaccination. Now, the problem is there really are some people that may have reason not to be vaccinated and may have some health issues. That, I think, is where the em- ployer’s going to incur the greater part of liability is if they completely ignore individuals who may be the exception, as opposed to the rule. Most of us can probably get vaccinated and nothing will happen. It’s the same thing with wearing masks. There are some people that have asthma issues. You just have to decide how you’re going to deal with those. Lawsuit environment Olson: What other trending types of suits are you seeing? Groves: I don’t know that we’re seeing it here yet, but I think it’s been on an in- crease across the country. That’s the cy- bersecurity … or the ransomware. We’re seeing more and more of that litigation nationwide. Again, I haven’t seen any particular lawsuits in our area yet, but I think there is some increase in cyberse- curity litigation as we go forward. Olson: That would be determining, in the case of a breach, who is liable? Groves: That’s exactly right. Did the employer take enough steps to avoid the breach? One of the adjust- ments you have to make is when you have people working at home, you can’t just put them on their computer and let them do whatever. You’ve got to have the secu- rity protocol in place. Douglas: As CO- VID came on, my instinct was, “Oh, here we go again.” We’re going to have a 2009 dip and everything’s going to be lower. We’re going to have a recession, demand for products and services is going to drop. As usual, I’m wrong. Real estate is crazy high demand. This might be some sort of an urban to rural flight, but it does seem like we have a lot of out-of-state buyers, just a lot of competition for real property, farms. That just completely took me by storm. My guess is that it’s from out of state and other people out of the area coming in and just seeing the value in having space and land, or maybe getting away from a city environment that they’re in or other transportation. For whatever it is, our area has com- pletely boomed. Now, I’ve got a lot of real estate clients who are really happy with the fact that everything’s gone up in value. Dunville: Maybe not as much now as early in the pandemic – there was obviously a lot of questions about enforceability of contracts and enforceability of leases, in- terpreting force majeure clauses, where there’s an act of God, like a pandemic. I think I spent about a month doing noth- ing but that at one point this year. The booming real estate market in southwest Missouri right now, it’s created a lot of situations where people are, even in suc- cessful transactions, needing a lawyer to step in and assist. That certainly seems to be the persisting trend. Becoming partners Olson: An observation inside the industry locally is recent partner changes. What does that signify? I’m curious, too, if young attorneys coming into the industry still set that as their goal. Dunville: Overall, it’s a sign that the legal in- dustry is healthier here. There’s plenty of oppor- tunity and our need for people. At Neale & New- man, certainly just in the time since I’ve been here, we’ve had a number of senior partners who have retired. There is always some level of plan- ning for the future, just like you would in any business. For younger attorneys entering the field … I would not recommend that they come out of law school and have their sights set on becoming a partner instead of getting out and finding an area of law practice that suits them and then finding the people and the environment that they can perform it best. Once you’ve found that, then think about whether or not you want to be a partner there, because if you go the other direction, you might find yourself in a permanent position at a place where you aren’t going to be able to be at your best. Groves: Most of our partners that leave … have been our managing members. They’re not leaving for other firms. They leave for a particular client. They go to become general counsel or an officer of another company of one of their clients. I’ve actually talked to people now that they don’t want to be a partner in a law firm. Part of that is work-life balance. Olson: Is that OK for the industry? Groves: I think it hurts the litigation industry. If you’re doing transactional work, you have to spend some overnight hours getting things done. Don’t get me wrong at all. But when you’re prepar- ing for a jury trial, you may be spending a great deal of time … getting ready for that jury trial and working really hard. At least what we’re seeing is people are not as interested in becoming litigation attorneys and doing that type of work. Douglas: I kind of grew up thinking … you want to get somewhere and land and stay there a long time, you know, get your roots deep and so forth. I don’t think a lot of the younger folks seem to have that same mentality, and I don’t think it’s necessarily good or bad. But I think it will make for an interesting dynamic. Twenty years from now, it’ll be interesting to see. New talent Olson: I was looking up some trends in the industry, and I found in the American Legal Magazine that the top trend for this year is embracing new talent strate- gies. What does that mean for your firm? Douglas: You do have a different level of motivation, maybe a different value base, maybe a different commitment level. When you’re looking at these young folks … you think one size fits all. This’ll motivate them. It’s going to be the pay, or it’s going to be the benefits or all these things, or it’s going to be the partner track, and I don’t think that’s at all true. ... What seems like is more in play, that question of what is it they actually want and value, and would motivate them to be at their best. … It’s the custom approach. You just really don’t know, but you’d better figure it out. You’re not going to do well if you’re not going to attract new talent and bring them up to be the folks that are carrying the ball. Dunville: For us, this year has been a lot about adaptability and flexibility. When you are recruiting talent, it’s good to be able to tell people that if we’re forward looking. Excerpts by Features Editor Christine Temple, ctemple@sbj.net , and Web Editor Geoff Pickle, gpickle@sbj.net . UP NEXT: Sports & Business March 29 Supporting Sponsor LAW April 26 Ed u c a t i o n June 28 B a n k i n g & F i n a n c e May 24 To u r i s m CEO ROUNDTABLE SECOND QUARTER