Slowly the legal profession is venturing back into some degree of normality. Solicitors practices have undertaken the required risk assessments and are slowly re-opening their doors to the public. SHU Law hopefully won’t be too far behind but it will be a very different landscape for all concerned.
Visitors will no doubt be treated very differently with requirements to social distance and wear masks and staff, quite rightly, have to ensure that they too are kept safe. Thankfully there is a wave of appreciation from members of the public that this is now just something that we do.
Where the practicalities become more problematic is when social distancing impacts upon the amount of space required and the numbers of permitted visitors. At the moment some court hearings are taking place electronically but gradually listings will be coming back into place with measures in place to restrict the number of people in attendance, whilst still trying to ensure that public hearings can take place.
This clearly is new territory for all and with the effort and commitment of staff, clients and service users alike we are sure that we can all start taking steps in the right direction. However, the advanced (and often sped up) use of technology to still administer access to justice and give clients access to advice and assistance should not and must not be left behind. We’ve all learned something from this and accessibility is key. This can be no bad thing but we still need to remember that not everyone has access to technology so the legal profession clearly has place for both face to face services and those based around technology.
To keep up to date with the re-opening of our offices please visit our website www.shulaw.co.uk.