Which Law Firms Have the Best COVID-19 Resource Centers? Here is our Opinion

With the World Health Organization (WHO) announcing the coronavirus as a global pandemic and implementing social distancing and quarantine standards, law firms are going the extra mile in communicating with clients and prospects to ensure they understand all of the associated legal and business implications of COVID-19.  Our team has been reviewing law firm websites to determine which firms are excelling in providing timely and useful information on their COVID-19 resource centers. While many law firms do a good job keeping their visitors informed, below is a list of law firms that, in our humble opinion, are providing unique insights and resources on their website.

Orrick

Orrick is posting daily to their COVID-19 resource center, adding timely content to answer client questions about everything affecting their businesses. They have designated resource pages for various countries,  a US state-by-state guide (which include statuses of state orders, state legislation, and status of US courts), FAQs, and health information. The resource page also includes blog content as well as webinars, some of which are eligible for New York and California CLE credit. One of their recent webinars covered mitigating against predatory pricing and protecting IP in a remote working world.  This is an important topic for businesses right now.

Skadden

Featured on the Skadden law firm homepage is an announcement from the firm recognizing the impact of COVID-19 on the global economy as well as on their colleagues, clients, families and friends. It is clear that protecting the health and well-being of their clients is at the forefront of the firm’s priorities. Their resource page covers a plethora of legal issues companies could be facing or should be thinking about. Their vast collection of latest articles and webinars is well catalogued. Featured webinars range from Preparing Securities Disclosures During the COVID-19 Crisis to COVID-19: Employment and Cybersecurity Considerations. Furthermore, the recent article written by their attorneys, COVID-19: How To Prepare for Potential Future Disputes, is particularly informative.

DLA Piper

DLA Piper’s resource center includes a global repository of insights, events, and contacts to deliver guidance to their clients during these difficult times. The center includes articles and insights on heavily impacted industries, including shareholder meetings, corporate governance, Asia’s data protection frameworks, and supply chain disruption. Their public company considerations piece contains excellent recommendations companies should be considering.

The firm also provides an option where viewers can subscribe to the ‘Daily Digest’, an email alert that shares the latest COVID-19 news, updates, and webinar invitations. If you missed it, DLA includes links to download past webinars, including: ‘The Open COVID Pledge and other IP reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic’.

Baker McKenzie

Baker McKenzie tastefully revamped their homepage to highlight their ‘Beyond COVID-19 Resilience, Recovery & Renewal’ resource center. The resource center includes news, trending topics, and thought leadership content written to help inform visitors how their industries are being affected, and how they can adapt their business and build their recovery plans. In partnership with Oxford Economics, they published a whitepaper, Beyond COVID-19: Supply Chain Resilience Holds Key to Recovery, to help businesses gain more insight. Their content is client centric, focused on helping businesses forge a path forward. They’ve also set up a dedicated Coronavirus team email, prominently displayed at the top of the page, and the page makes it very easy to share on social media, with social sharing links displayed at the top of the resource center.

Balch and Bingham

Balch and Bingham’s COVID-19 resource center has become the main focus of their home page. From the page, users can navigate to the latest blog posts concerning the pandemic and its unexpected consequences on business owners and employees. The bulk of their articles dive into litigation, regulatory and policy issues, including the CARES act, with blogs titled, The CARES Act: Which Small Business Loan is Right for Your Business? and First Alabama Lawsuits Filed Over COVID-19 Insurance Denial.

Bracewell

Bracewell has created a dedicated COVID-19 resource page that brings together their experience across all practice areas and industries to provide practical, strategic advice to clients during this difficult time. Right from the start of the resource page, clients can navigate to an active resource entitled, Agency Responses to COVID-19, that includes daily updates (a timeline) highlighting government regulations. The firm also created a COVID-19 media hub containing written content on legislative updates and links to recent podcasts, including: CARES Act Implementation, Phase 4 Plans, and the 2020 Election.

Crowell & Moring

Crowell & Moring has been very actively engaged in a number of ways to help inform people on the legal and operational challenges caused by COVD-19, focused around the outbreak. Their coronavirus resource center lists the practice areas where clients and prospects face their most immediate concerns, with links to the bios of the attorneys that specialize in those practice areas. It also includes easy access to their resources, guides, and on-demand webinars, along with a COVID-19 Tool Kit for New Contractors that answers frequently asked questions. The firm is also promoting a timely and important upcoming webinar: Business Disruption in a Pandemic: What Commercial Office Lease Issues Do You Need to Consider?.  The firm also highlights all of the week’s new coronavirus content with weekly recap emails.

Jones Day

Business owners across the board can stay up-to-date on emerging issues related to their industry by visiting Jones Day’s coronavirus resource center. Their insights cover a breadth of practice areas, including an excellent article on Singapore’s Temporary Measures Act that provides details on how Singapore is providing relief and protection for businesses and consumers. Jones Day has also teamed up with the American Telemedicine Association to present a webinar series on the opportunities and risks for telehealth during and after COVID-19.

Alston & Bird

When you visit Alston & Bird’s website, their ‘Coronavirus (COVID-19) Task Force’ resource center is highlighted on the front page. The navigation bar that — front and center on the resource page — includes a ‘Subscribe’ section where people can easily   sign up to receive communications and announcements that will keep them up to date.. Their “Flash Updates” section is refreshed daily to include new blog posts, advisories, or webinars that help answer the biggest questions and concerns of clients and prospects regarding the coronavirus outbreak. Upcoming webinar topics include: New York Commercial Real Estate Finance Matters in the Time of COVID-19 and Mezzanine Loan Servicing in the Age of COVID-19.

Norton Rose Fulbright 

Norton Rose Fulbright has pushed out plenty of quality content, in a variety of media formats, to help various sectors stay up to speed on the legal implications of the coronavirus outbreak. Its resource page content highlights the need for corporations to be ready with solutions to address the host of new risk issues they now face.. Examples of the firm’s quality client centric content includes a 52-page report concerning COVID-19’s effect on US wind and solar projects, and a podcast featuring an in-depth discussion of its impact on the renewable energy industry. The firm is also running a series of online events and training for COVID-19 related issues.

Morrison Foerster

Morrison Foerster’s resource center has a particularly clean and easily navigable layout, with a left sidebar menu for visitors to check out blogs, webinar recordings, press + news, and “Task Force Members,” all correlated with the pandemic. It also has a dedicated Data Protection Authority Guidance page, broken out regionally by country, to help prospects and clients stay current on any updates/ changes to data protection guidelines. The guidance is updated daily, as governments continue to make sweeping changes to privacy concerns.

Wiggin & Dana

Wiggin & Dana’s COVID-19 client resources and updates page contains useful alerts authored by their attorneys, and other helpful information relating to the pandemic. Its hub includes resources for clients to stay up-to-speed on state and federal executive orders. The firm’s page is also monitoring and informing visitors on topics including business funding, environmental impacts, estate planning, labor and employment, and much more. The firm has links to a variety of blog posts written by their attorneys, including: Summary of Paycheck Protection Program Under Title I of the CARES Act of 2020 and Environmental Compliance During COVID-19 Response.

Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer

This New Jersey Law firm has created the Wilentz Coronavirus Response Team and Virtual Resource Center, dedicated to addressing the impact of the Coronavirus on both one’s business and personal life. Wilentz makes it easy for visitors to stay connected and keep abreast of important updates, decisions and resources, with a multitude of COVID-19 blog posts. The page includes a list of their practice areas with links to their own written content and legal alerts, like, Guidance for Employers Concerning Employees Returning to Work After COVID-19, Employers Must Comply with WARN Acts During COVID-19 Pandemic, and Paycheck Protection Program Reporting Best Practices. Their COVID-19 virtual resource center also includes curated links to reputable resources, such as a press release on price gouging consequences written by the Office of the New Jersey Attorney General. With so much misinformation on the internet right now surrounding coronavirus, it’s important to provide reputable outside sources.

WilmerHale

WilmerHale’s coronavirus resource center offers a collection of thought leadership from the firm’s legal authorities spanning a wide array of disciplines affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. The resource page includes webinar recordings on COVID-19 disruptions, a coronavirus ‘daily roundup’, and news and alerts. For example, the firm recently published: COVID-19: Immunity Under the PREP Act: When Does It Apply to Private Sector Efforts to Help Combat COVID-19? The firm also has a page dedicated to coronavirus court updates outlined by state, case-specific orders relating to depositions, as well as schedule extensions and other case scheduling issues in the wake of COVID-19.

Akin Gump

Akin Gump’s COVID-19 resource center showcases an interactive map that clients can click through to find the latest COVID-19 guidelines particular to any U.S. state. The firm provides daily updates on the coronavirus for those eager to enhance their businesses, and has assembled all of the valuable content on one hub. Website visitors can easily obtain information to help them navigate the coronavirus landscape with blogs like: Bay Area Expands COVID-19 Related Paid Sick Leave Ordinances, and their recent podcast episode: Coronavirus and the Workplace. Similar to most of the firms on the list, Akin Gump has highlighted its COVID-19 advisory legal team.

Takeaway

These law firms are doing an excellent job of helping clients and website visitors navigate the changing business and legal environment that has upended their daily lives. The COVID-19 website resource centers provide an array of in-depth information and insights to stay up to speed on the latest developments surrounding the pandemic. It’s clear that these 15 firms are invested in the success and well-being of their clients’ communities.

The firms all share one common theme: they are thinking like their clients. They are focused on addressing the needs of their clients and new prospects, and looking for ways to help them through this difficult time. A client-centric approach is the most important factor in building positive experiences and creating long-term relationships through digital marketing. In fact, research by Deloitte reveals that client-centric businesses are 60% more profitable than those that do not focus on the client.

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