One of David Letterman’s most oft-used bits was a semi-regular Top Ten list, which supposedly originated from his show’s “home office”. The home office was, at various points, Sioux City, Iowa; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Oneonta, New York; Scottsdale, Arizona; and a host of others. Of course, it was a fiction, a part of the joke, since Letterman’s show was produced solely and entirely in New York City.
That joke’s not quite as funny today, in the era of the coronavirus. Following the Ohio Department of Health’s order that Ohio residents should stay at home beginning March 23, 2020, nearly every home in the state of Ohio has become a home office – including ours. The physical offices of Babbitt & Dahlberg LLC closed today, temporarily, while the state of emergency is in place. From here on out, we’re working remotely from home.
What does that mean for you and your case? Well, we’re figuring that out too.
Even though it seems like the rest of the world has ground to a halt, we know that your family law matter hasn’t. Most Ohio courts are closed for in-person proceedings, and are either continuing scheduled hearings to later dates or conducting them via telephone or video conferencing. To the extent that we’re able and a particular court is willing, we’re going to proceed with hearings as normally scheduled, just electronically. We’re finding that despite their common closures, each court is handling things a little bit differently, and we’ll adapt to each one as we go.
Jay and I will continue to be available by phone and email, just as if we were physically in the office. Our main phone line will continue to be answered during regular business hours, and our voicemail will still be available afterwards.
And we’re learning new tricks, too. We’re making arrangements to be available to clients by video, for those times when face-to-face meetings are required – even remotely. We’d already embraced a mostly-paperless practice, and with your help, we’re going to continue to expand our efforts in that arena.
Life – your life – has to go on. We’re still here to help. If you’ve got questions about your family law matter, don’t hesitate to give us a call.
