Growth vs. Fixed Mindset: How Lawyers Can Better Embrace the Changes Resulting From COVID-19
ARTICLE EXTRACT BY AARON BAER
Every day, I’m reminded that COVID-19 has caused massive societal change. Subways and streetcars are operating at minimal capacity, gatherings of friends and family remain restricted, and the majority of office workers are working from home. Dozens of companies have declared bankruptcy, hundreds of stores have closed permanently and millions of jobs have been lost.
A large number of people have been significantly affected by COVID-19 and have faced unemployment or other financial difficulties, serious illness or even death, and the madness of navigating full-time work while parenting children.
COVID-19 has also resulted in lawyers losing their autonomy – and this has led to great progress. Necessity has truly proven itself to be the mother of invention. Courts are hearing cases remotely, deals are being closed virtually and paper-based processes have been modified.
In some cases, lawyers who have been fortunate enough to stay employed have thrived. Many have embraced the benefits of working from home, and I expect those lawyers will continue to work from home at least several times a week for the indefinite future.
Unsurprisingly, there’s a second camp of lawyers. Those who can’t wait to get back to the office, to go back to their old way of doing things and to be done with video calls forever. To be sure, there may be good reasons for this. After all, Zoom fatigue is real and many of us are working from home in less-than-ideal circumstances.
