The American Bar Association has set up a task force of volunteer lawyers and judges to help co-ordinate legal help for citizens impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The move comes as the impact of the virus continues to grow in the US with today's symbolic decision by the Supreme Court to suspend oral arguments until at least 1 April coming as law firms step up their response by implementing widescale remote working.

On Friday, Baker McKenzie announced that all of its US offices will be closed until at least 31 March, hard on the heels of a similar announcement by Reed Smith.

The ABA Task Force on Legal Needs Arising Out of the 2020 Pandemic will include up to 20 representatives from US legal organizations.

It is being led by James Sandman, former president of the Legal Services Corporation, the nation's largest funder of civil legal aid for low-income Americans. He is also former managing partner of Arnold & Porter and past president of the District of Columbia Bar.

The task force will include experts in disaster response, health law, insurance, and the legal needs of families with the aim of protecting basic human needs such as food, shelter, medical and employment benefits, criminal justice, civil rights and social justice. 

“As the pandemic spreads, thousands of Americans will need help – not just with medical issues but also with legal issues including lost jobs, evictions, insurance claims, family emergencies and obtaining government benefits they need to survive,” said ABA President Judy Perry Martinez. 

Last week, Martinez sent a letter to leaders of the US Senate and House of Representatives, urging them to ‘include associations, nonprofits, and other tax-exempt organizations within any federal aid packages or supplemental appropriations measures you pursue’. 

She said the ABA, which generates around $35m annually from meetings, had already been forced to cancel 16 major events at a significant financial loss.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court said it was suspending oral arguments currently scheduled for the March session (March 23-25 and March 30-April 1) 'in keeping with public health precautions'.

A statement said: "The court’s postponement of argument sessions in light of public health concerns is not unprecedented.  The court postponed scheduled arguments for October 1918 in response to the Spanish flu epidemic. The court also shortened its argument calendars in August 1793 and August 1798 in response to yellow fever outbreaks."

On Friday, Baker McKenzie joined Reed Smith in implementing remote working for a large proportion of its workforce; a policy that looks set to become the norm in both the US and Europe, now the centre of the pandemic.

Bakers has closed all of its US offices as well as its Toronto base, with staff working remotely until at least 31 March.  “The firm has already managed office closures seamlessly and remote working arrangements in Asia Pacific and EMEA, due to the impacts of COVID-19,” it said in a statement. “While we are truly global, we are making these decisions based on what is best for our people locally at home, which these office closures reflect.

It also emerged on Friday that an executive legal assistant at national US law firm Davis Wright Tremaine, who was based in its office in Bellevue, Washington, was found dead on Thursday after she has left work on Tuesday morning with flu-like symptoms.

Further reading:

Staff welfare, supply chain and privacy: the coronavirus-related issues keeping GCs awake at night

'I have realised how powerful technology now is': an Italian lawyer's take on Covid-19