It’s a really tough time to be an independent craft brewery.  Despite headlines saying that alcohol sales are skyrocketing, and while that is true, small craft breweries have essentially seen two out of three of their main sources of income cut down to nothing.  More specifically, small breweries have almost complete losses in taproom sales and distributed sales.  According to the Brewers Association, brewery on-site sales are down 68% (most are reporting drops in excess of 70%) and on-premise distributed beer (kegs to retailers) are down 91%.  These are bad numbers for the future of independent craft beer.

Recognizing the issue, most state alcoholic beverage control agencies have enacted emergency rules or relaxed enforcement of certain rules to allow small breweries to try to survive until the market returns.  These include relaxations of tied-house rules—rules designed to keep the three tiers of the alcoholic beverage industry (manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers) separate and free from undue influence among the tiers.  Some of these regulatory relaxations include conduct that was previously outright illegal in some jurisdictions.  They include “to-go” sales from the brewery to the customer (usually curbside or limited contact), delivery of beer, free delivery, longer hours of operations, charitable promotions, production of hand sanitzer, returns of alcoholic beverages, and many more.  Before COVID-19, these activities were prohibited in many jurisdictions.

And while people seem to be drinking more during the great quarantine, those increased numbers aren’t translating to independent craft breweries as much as one might think.  As one of my former clients recently put it, “Any day where we approach breaking even is a good day.”  This is so because, despite government efforts to help, taprooms are closed and restaurants aren’t buying kegs.  This leaves small breweries at the mercy of to-go orders and merchandise sales.  Those numbers simply don’t add up.  I’m afraid we will see a rapid extinction period for many small and independent breweries.

The interesting legal angle, to me at least, is how will the state regulating bodies justify a tightening of the relaxed rules once COVID-19 is contained?  By relaxing regulatory rules during the crisis, the agencies recognized that their normal rules are burdensome on small breweries and that those rules needed to be loosened to help small breweries stay open.  So once COVID-19 clears up, what is the regulatory purpose for tightening the rules back up?  The primary purposes of most states’ alcoholic beverage control rules include temperance and preventing vertical and horizontal integration.  It seems unclear that discontinuing privileges provided during the crisis, like delivery or to-go orders, would further either temperance goals or integration prohibition.

While I expect regulating bodies to in fact tighten their rules when this is over, I expect to see pushback from small breweries at the state and local levels to maintain some of the privileges that the regulating bodies themselves saw fit to relax when breweries really needed them.  I will address these justifications and arguments against them in a law review article over the summer.  Look for it next law review cycle..

For most of President Trump’s time in office, we’ve had to worry about his aggressive use of the executive power and his penchant for pushing or exceeding the limits of his authority. Unfortunately, we now are suffering from his failure to use the authority he actually possesses to protect us from the coronavirus pandemic.

The problem of presidential inaction is not addressed very well by the Constitution. The Framers worried more about checking and balancing elected officials than about spurring them to action. Fortunately, many governors and other public officers have stepped up to fill the void. But that doesn’t help in the states or cities where elected officials have been slow to act. Nor does it solve the need for a federal government that can mobilize and coordinate a national strategy for fighting a pandemic.

Over many decades, we’ve seen an ever-increasing centralization of national power in the Oval Office, and that has left with us with too many of our public policy eggs in one basket. We need to decentralize the power of the executive branch, and one important way to do that would be to have a public health agency with the stature and independence of the Federal Reserve. Just as the Fed can act on its own to protect our economic health, so do we need a federal agency that can act on its own to protect our physical health.

The past few weeks have been hectic. Ever since COVID-19 started spreading throughout the world, nothing has been the same. People are scared, angry, and sometimes both. Most of us have either had to start working from home or lost jobs as a result. In the coming months, we will all be forced to make changes. They will be uncomfortable, and they will be disruptive.

As one of my professors told us when we began transitioning to an online class, nobody asked for this. And she’s right. None of us asked for our classes to be converted to an online format halfway through the semester. We didn’t ask to be legally mandated to stay home. We didn’t ask for our jobs to be lost or lessened as a result. But it doesn’t matter what we asked for. This is our reality. We will have to adapt in order to thrive in it. And that is exactly what we should plan to do.

Lawyers are not generally thought of as “innovative,” but we are. Our profession is built around solving problems and creating systems that endure. By taking this time to innovate, we can adapt to our current situation while preparing ourselves for the future.

As a law student, I have had to adapt along with my classmates. But I have one advantage: I have been working remotely since May. My classes are definitely different, but I have been communicating virtually for almost a year now. I have had to make my own schedules and avoid distractions at home. I have had to face unique challenges that are just part of life when working remotely.

Another advantage I have is that OU Law offers one of the best technology and innovation programs in the country through its Digital Initiative. Between online training and certifications such as the LTC4 program, several hours of lunch and learns, and a top of the line collaborative learning lab, OU Law gives me the tools and training I have needed to succeed.

Seeing as how we are all facing these challenges together, I wanted to share some of the things I have learned. My hope is that there is at least one thing that can help you, whether you are a student, professor, or practicing attorney, as you adjust to this new reality.

Scheduling

As I said before, working from home means that you will have to deal with distractions. Kids will want attention. Pets will want attention. Your phone will want attention. And it is easy to give in to those temptations. After all, you’re at home, you’re comfortable, and you’ve been working hard (even if you’ve only worked a few minutes).

What I do is write my schedule out. Actually, I write it out several times. For instance, I add priority events, meetings, or deadlines on my iCal. This way I can set alerts and reminders to ensure I stay on task throughout the week. Next, I roughly outline times of each day for certain tasks. Based on my productivity habits, studying and hard work is usually scheduled for mornings. Afternoons are reserved for work. Evenings are reserved for relaxation or preparation for the next day. Finally, I have a journal that allows me to schedule every hour of my day from 6 am to 9 pm from Best Self Co. Not only does my journal allow me to freely plan each day, but it is also structured for me to practice my affirmations and reflections at the beginning and end of the day.

You may not need to schedule everything as I do. You might be used to having onecalendar and being accountable to it. But, if you are like me, the more you repeat that promise to yourself that you will work on one thing at a specific time the more likely you are to follow through with it. And that makes all those little distractions just a little less tempting.

Communication

Obviously, we are almost all going to be keeping our distance from other people for a while. That means that emails, phone calls, and video calls just got a whole lot more important.

Emails should be reserved for formal and non-urgent matters. When you need to communicate something in detail, write an email. If you need to write something that the recipient needs to see soon, send a text. This way, your emails will not needlessly interrupt someone while they work and you won’t be sitting at your computer waiting on an urgent email response. If you are interested, here is an interesting article about how disruptive email can be and some suggestions on how to curb the impact.

I have found that it is helpful to have a reliable set of headphones or earbuds that you can conduct phone calls with. You don’t need AirPods, but even regular apple headphones have worked better for me than holding the phone to my ear. The biggest difference I have found is that it is easier for me to understand people when they speak. Even I get tired of me saying “what did you say?” so it is very important that I be able to hear and understand who I am talking to.

Finally, I think it is about time we all become familiar and comfortable with video calls. I’m not talking the ‘dressed from the waist up’ kind of comfortable though. No, what I mean is that we need to practice being on screen. For students, a lot of our classes are being held in these environments. For attorneys, video calls can be used to give clients a better way to communicate. While video calls are not the same as in-person meetings, they do allow us to interact more holistically while still preserving freedom and flexibility with our schedules.

Conclusion

Most of the challenges that you will face when working or studying remotely will be focus driven. A lot of things are going to pull your attention away from things you should be doing. Your children, spouses, pets, and thinking about our current situation will distract you. I don’t think it is possible to get rid of those distractions. But I do believe that we can structure our environments and routines to limit the impact of distractions.

By becoming familiar with the technology we have to embrace, we will be less frustrated with it when it eventually does mess something up. We will be able to troubleshoot more effectively and get back on track with our day. By having a detailed schedule and affirming our tasks to ourselves we can be more accountable even when nobody else is around. And by embracing our use of technology to communicate we can reduce the amount of confusion created by misunderstanding one another.

This adjustment will take time and collaboration. None of us will be able to adapt on our own. I wanted to share some of the tips or tricks that I have used over the past year for exactly that reason. I hope that there is even one thing in this post that you can implement and improve your study or work habits.

If you are an OU Law student (or any law student) and would like to share how you have adjusted to working and studying remotely, please reach out to us in the comments or contact us here. We want to hear from as many readers as we can so that we can tailor any future content to your requests and what you want to be covered.

In this article, I outline what the near future will look like for law firms and legal departments, what people want from leaders during times of crisis, and four commitments leaders need to address as they plan to lead through a crisis.  

What the next two to three months will look like

As of this writing (March 16, 2020), we can make some predictions about what the next two or three months will look like for law firm and legal department operations.  The Covid-19 virus will continue its rapid spread throughout the United States and Europe, roughly doubling known cases every three days.  Many states have already closed their schools and universities.  Gatherings more than 50 people are prohibited in some states.  International travel is restricted and the U.S. government just announced that they are considering domestic travel restrictions.  “Social distancing” is the new catch phrase. The list of law firms that are closing their physical offices increases by the hour, requiring lawyers and professional staff to work from home.  

Clients are also experiencing significant business disruption.  Every industry sector is being affected by the crisis, as witnessed by the deluge of  Corona virus emails I receive on an hourly basis.  Many clients are moving towards closing physical offices and setting up work from home systems.   Clients will prioritize their operational and legal needs, focusing on business continuation issues, delaying some cases and transactions until the dust settles.  Some matters and regulatory work will continue through the crisis, and certainly new matters will arise that need immediate attention.  Many courts will shut down or move to emergency staffing levels.

It is unclear how long the crisis-induced recession will last, but if we can look to China and South Korea as models, it is possible that the crisis might be limited to the first half of 2020, with only lingering effects in the second half.  

Many law firms will be operating in virtual mode.  While this will certainly test the IT infrastructure of firms, it will also bring challenges in teamwork, communication, oversight, time reporting and a range of productivity and management issues.  

Underlying all of this are strong emotions of anxiety and fear by many people, adding to the significant mental health stress already experienced by legal professionals.  

What people need from leaders in times of crisis

Researchers Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner wrote in “The Leadership Challenge” that people primarily look for four characteristics in a leader:  honesty, forward-looking, competency and inspiration.  Let’s start here.

Honesty:  In times of crisis, people want their leaders to tell them the truth and be transparent about the situation and the challenges they are facing.  They want to trust their leaders, but to do so, they need to feel like they are getting the whole story and are being kept in the loop as things develop.  Tell the truth and be open about the risks, opportunities, and how you need each person to contribute to the effort.   

Forward-Looking:  People want to know that their leaders are looking down the road, anticipating the challenges that are coming their way, and that they have a plan to deal with those challenges.  This is particularly important in this dynamic environment.  It doesn’t mean that  you need to have a crystal ball, but you need to be talking about the future, what people should expect and that your plan to deal with it.

Competentcy:  In times of uncertainty, people want to know that their leaders are competent to carry out their plan to deal with the myriad of challenges facing the organization.  They will judge leaders not on their experience or oratory skill, rather their ability to act decisively, delegate to other competent leaders, and illustrate that they have the capacity to effect action through the crisis.  

Inspiring:  People look to their leaders in times of crisis to encourage them to reach beyond themselves and meet the challenge.  In a health crisis such as this, leaders should appeal to professionals to not only “go home and work”, but to higher levels or collaboration, client service, and community service.  

I’ll add a few other characteristics: stability, care for others, and integrity.  During the great recession, some firm leaders acted without these characteristics, showing their “true character” to professionals and staff. While people didn’t voluntarily leave their jobs during the recession, some firms experienced very high turnover and lateral moves once the economy recovered.  

Stability:  People look to their leaders to be both stable and provide stability. While it might seem like most people would welcome a work from home situation, many people are unsettled by the disruption to their routine.  Many lived through the last recession and are afraid of losing their job, healthcare coverage, retirement savings and dreams of the future.  They look to their leaders to assure them of stability and predictability.

Care for Others: People look to their leaders to care for them.  They want to know that their contributions are valued and that they are important to the leaders of the organization.  Take some time to care for others, and encourage a community environment.

Integrity:   Say what you will do and do what you say.  Walk the talk.  Lead by example.  Leaders that have integrity stand above those that don’t.  

The Role of Leader in a Crisis

Your business continuity plan outlines what your firm needs to do to serve clients and be open for business during a crisis.  Here are some ideas on how to lead during this time.  Make a crisis leadership plan by considering four commitments:

1.  Commitment to Yourself and Your Family

You may have heard the airline analogy, “put your oxygen mask on first before helping others” when referring to self-leadership.  Leaders need to be in good physical, mental and emotional condition to lead others.  Get sleep, eat healthy, practice good hygiene, meditate, and clear your head before making decisions.  Address the needs of your family and those around you so they can be supportive and a source of balance in your life.   In your plan, write down what you need to do to sustain yourself and your family during this time.

2.  Commitment to the Organization

During times of volatility and uncertainty, leaders need to:

– Set the tone.  Recognize fear and anxiety, but remain confident, hopeful and focused. 

– Communicate frequently, to the point of over-communication.  Consider an “all-hands” video meetings for firm updates.  Use email, social media and one-on-one phone/video chat. This will become increasingly important as the work from home period extends into weeks or months.

–  Spend time listening to people at all levels of the organization.  Develop a “kitchen cabinet” beyond your direct reports so that you have an idea what is happening in different departments, offices, and practice areas.  Look for points of vulnerability that need to be addressed.  

–  Chart the way forward.  Develop a clear plan to serve clients and keep staff safe.  Be clear about what type of commitment, activity and attitude you need from each member of the organization to make the plan successful.  

–  Share your forward-looking vision for how the firm will continue to serve clients and take care of one another.  Share your strategy and priority of issues.  Tell people what to expect in the coming weeks and months.  Address their uncertainty.  When things change, communicate those changes.  Articulate what you expect as an outcome in a positive way. This is your vision.

–  Get things done.  If you are not a naturally organized person, deputize a chief of staff to help you.  Delegate tasks to competent managers. Hold them accountable in frequent one-on-one meetings.  Convene short status progress meetings so your executive team knows what each other is doing and so they can share best practices and identify areas of improvement. Re-emphasize your plan and what the organization needs for every individual to make it successful.  Find ways to support your team and direct reports.

–  Identify areas of vulnerability in executing the plan and develop alternative approaches.  Evaluate tactics by asking, “What should we start doing differently?  What should we stop doing?  What do we need to continue doing?” regularly.  

–  Seek feedback regularly so that you can adjust your tactics quickly.  

–  Celebrate success – when something in the plan works well, share the success with others.  We can all use some good news right now.  

–  Empathize with those experiencing hardship.  Some organizations will experience the illness and death of employees.   Reach out to their families and the organization with empathy, support and resources.  Be authentic and generous.

Write down your guiding principles for leading your organization during this crisis, as well as the key management tools and activities you will use to carry our your plan (such as 30 minute morning executive team calls, one-on-one accountability calls, connections to various departments and leaders throughout the firm, emails to key constituents, etc…).  

3.  Commitment to Clients

As a leader, consider how you and the firm will support your clients throughout the crisis.  This commitment is both operational (how to mobilize the firm’s resources to serve the clients) and personal (how you will connect with clients to evaluate current and future needs and the firm’s response to those needs).  

–  Identify the most important matters and cases in the firm.  With the cooperation of the primary attorney or point of contact, reach out by phone to these clients to listen to their concerns and offer assistance.  Key client contact should be a daily task. 

–  Communicate to all clients via mass email and social networks regarding your firm’s plans to continue service and protect the safety of clients and staff.  Keep them updated on changes to your plan.  Work with your PR professionals on messaging.

–   Develop internal management mechanisms to assure that client work is on track and meeting client’s needs.  These may include having supervising attorneys having more frequent video chat check-ins with their client teams, increased reporting to practice/industry group leaders on progress of key matters and the use of project management software and scheduling tools to assure that key deadlines are being met.  

As part of your leadership plan, write down the specific actions you will take to assure client care during this disruption and how you will personally reach out to key clients.  

4.  Commitment to Communities

Our organizations rely on the communities where we live and work.  Look for specific opportunities to help others – both institutionally and personally – on a daily basis. Consider how your firm can re-allocate resources in order to:

–  Replenish local food banks.

–  Provide pro bono legal services for individuals and small businesses affected by the downturn.

–  Buy gift cards from local restaurants and vendors who typically rely on your staff for business.

–  Provide discreet aid to individuals and families that are experiencing hardship.  

Your leadership plan should include specific items to support your communities and their changing needs throughout the crisis. 

Opportunity to Build Loyalty

An attorney once told me a story about why he is so loyal to his firm.  Early in his career, he was severely injured in a motorcycle accident.  The firm’s managing partner took personal interest in his care and recovery.  His salary was maintained during months of rehab and his family received meals and emotional support from many people in the firm.  The firm supported him in his re-entry to client work over time.  He and his family feared the worse, but the leaders of the firm took personal interest in he and his family. “No matter what happens,” he told me, “I’ll be part of this firm.”

This crisis is an opportunity to build loyalty by showing strong leadership in your commitment to yourself and family, the organization, clients and the community.  The people in your organization will remember how you and the firm managed through this crisis, and will measure their commitment to the firm – both now and in the future – on how they perceived the actions of firm leadership.  

Mark Beese is President of Leadership for Lawyers, a consultancy focused on helping lawyers and other professionals become stronger leaders. He provides training, coaching and consulting in the areas of leadership development, innovation, and business development. Mark is an adjunct faculty at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and former adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership. He is a Fellow of the College of Law Practice Management and an inductee in the Legal Marketing Association Hall of Fame for lifetime achievement.  Mark has held senior leadership positions at AmLaw 200 and 100 firms, including Chief Marketing Officer for law firms Holland & Hart and Hodgson Russ.  His clients include many firms on the Global 50, AmLaw 200 and Big 4 accounting firms.  He is a frequent speaker at legal industry conferences including the ABA, LMA, ALA, PDC, INTA and legal networks.

For more information, visit www.leadershipforlawyers.com and www.designthinkinglegal.com.

Two years ago, I was thrust into a leadership role in a student group called Legal Launch Pad at Michigan State University College of Law. This was not something that I sought out, but I believed in the mission of the group and wanted the group to continue. When Professor Carla Reyes who runs the Center for Law, Technology & Innovation approached me with the idea of having a book club, I thought it would be a great idea. I was a bit concerned about garnering participation among students though. With class schedules, clinics, and internships vying for attention, it can be difficult to find a time that works for everyone who wants to participate.

As I was considering the problem, it occurred to me that one area that I have found lacking for law students is the opportunity to interact with those in the profession.* Although I have found a great community of legal professionals on Twitter, many students shy away from socializing professionally on social media. The idea for an online book club that could be open to students and legal professionals began to grow.  I believed that having a safe platform and a common interest could foster those interactions in an interesting way.

When put to Twitter, many suggested Zoom as a platform. However, the same issues that make it difficult to find a convenient time for students makes it even more of a challenge for professionals. So, I again looked at options. Students suggested Discord, but my experiences with that platform were less than ideal. Of the platforms that I interact with regularly, I have found that Slack is reliable, easy to use, and can be available any time. Thus, I made the decision and the new Legal Launch Pad Book Club Slack channel was born.

Legal Launch Pad Book Club logo

As I set up the channel on Slack, it occurred to me that the platform could also be a place to post jobs, career related questions, people to follow, and so much more. Seeing the channel grow and the interest there has been makes the effort worth the time it has taken.

Within a week or so of creating the channel, I was able to provide information about a job to someone who was looking for a position. There is no better feeling than seeing something that you believe in actually work in the way it was intended.

*This is a difficult task and I am not criticizing school efforts on this front. In fact, I have written about one such event here.

On February 26, 2020, Northwestern Computer Science and Law faculty gathered to share their interests at the intersection of law and technology. Each speaker had six minutes to talk. The event was organized by Northwestern’s Law and Technology Initiative and CS+X Initiative.

See below for my live tweets from the event.

I recently wrote an article about artificial intelligence and legal services for The International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) . You can find it at this link. 

Here’s the first paragraph:

With the start of the new year, some in the legal industry predict that artificial intelligence (“AI”) will play an increasingly influential role in the delivery of legal services. Predictions like “2020 is the year we move from AI hype to AI in practice” and “2020 [will] bring a greater understanding of how [data analytics and AI] enhance, rather than overtake, the work of lawyers” are notable because they hint at how the discussion around AI’s role in legal-services delivery is maturing. This article explores how AI is currently used in the legal marketplace, AI’s limitations, and critical questions that lawyers should ask about the continued rise of AI.

Read the rest of the article at this link out and let me know what you think!

Thank you to Anne Christman and Brian Balistreri at ILTA for the opportunity to write this article.

This month of participating in the Video Per Day Experiment has passed so quickly. Here is today’s clip followed by a few thoughts:

As I mentioned, the experiment was quite enlightening. Here are some of the things that I learned:

  • Anti-glare coatings may be more for the people looking at you than the person wearing the glasses. Sorry about that glare, I did try to reduce it as much as I could.
  • Watching yourself on video helps to see your quirks (so many ums and closed eyes).
  • Having a plan before pressing record is essential.
  • Interesting people are everywhere.
  • Many issues and problems are universal.
  • The camera shows all the lines and wrinkles. It wasn’t all bad though–I look like my grandma and I think she would be proud that I continue to try new things.
  • Putting things out into the universe means that local people will see them too.  (Who knew?) The videos sparked conversations with several classmates.
  • It became easier to be on camera every day.
  • I am not a morning person, but it was easier to film in the mornings than at night. I will definitely use this knowledge for writing and other creative endeavors.

Would I do it again? Absolutely.

See more on the Video Per Day Experiment in my introductory post.

As my Video Per Day Experiment draws near the finish line, I reflect on a lesson that it is sometimes hard to remember:

As I mentioned in the video, I struggled with writing memos during the first year of law school. Of all the things that I thought would be hard, writing never entered my mind. Because I enjoy writing, I felt that I should be able to write. A kind professor pointed out that legal writing is different than other kinds of writing, and skill in other kinds of writing does not necessarily translate to skill in legal writing. I must say that the struggles had me second guessing my choices.

Since 1L year, I have written several memos. I won’t say that it has gotten easy, but it has been less of a struggle. When I sat down this week to write the memo for an assignment, it was significantly less of a struggle. I am thankful for that–it gives me hope that my legal writing will be perfected with time and practice.

When things come easy for us, we forget about the struggle that others face. We also tend to be less sympathetic toward others that are struggling. I hope that I hold onto this lesson as I move forward in life.

See more on the Video Per Day Experiment in my introductory post.

It’s not surprising that the House has impeached only three presidents, four counting Richard Nixon’s resignation before his inevitable impeachment. Nor is it surprising that the Senate has never convicted a president on impeachment charges. Removing a president from office is a drastic action that should be used sparingly. But it is remarkable how rarely the House or Senate has censured a president.

The only time the Senate censured a president was in 1834 with Andrew Jackson. The House has reprimanded two more presidents, John Tyler in 1842 and James Buchanan in 1860. Since then, however, whenever Congress considered censure, as it did with Bill Clinton in 1998 and Donald Trump in 2017-2019, legislators have declined to act.

It’s odd that Congress has used its censure power at about the same rate as its impeachment power, and that in recent decades, it has decided to impeach more often than to censure. Usually, mild sanctions are imposed much more often than severe sanctions. For example, misdemeanor prosecutions outnumber felony prosecutions by an estimated ratio of 4-1.

True, the Constitution does not specify a power to censure (as it does impeachment). But the Constitution does recognize the power of Congress to pass resolutions, and that power can easily encompass presidential censures.

With censure, Congress could respond to a president’s misconduct more quickly, without waiting for it to reach the level of a high crime or misdemeanor. And that should have a deterrent effect on presidents who are inclined to abuse their power. In addition, a censure would not have the effect of “undoing an election,” making it less problematic and more likely to overcome partisan loyalties to the president.

Presidential censures should not be adopted lightly, but they do deserve a greater role in the Constitution’s system of checks and balances.