Spring 2020 Gavel 268650 SBAND Gavel Magazine_web | Page 26

ABA HIGHLIGHTS
RESOURCES FOR LAWYERS
DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC
utilities, rent, or interest on mortgage debt
will be forgiven.
D A N T R AY N O R
ABA Delegate
The American Bar Association’s (ABA)
Committee on Disaster Response and
Preparedness is no stranger to dealing with
hurricanes and tornados. Throughout the
years, the committee has called on lawyers
and bar associations to assist when natural
disasters have struck. The group’s mission
statement highlights the effort to educate,
provide resources, and ensure the rule of law
in times of disaster.
Their response to the COVID-19
Pandemic is no different. The ABA’s
Disaster Committee set up a special ABA
Coronavirus Task Force to identify legal
needs arising from the crisis and make
recommendations to address those needs.
The task force created a website that
includes CLEs providing practice tips for
working remotely; a compilation of court
orders and rule changes; and various ways
lawyers can help those in need.
The ABA’s GP Solo site includes an
explanation of the CARES Act, which
provides extensive monetary relief to
support small business operations, including
small and solo law firms. Significantly,
the CARES Act includes $349 billion
in forgivable loans to most organizations
with less than 500 employees to help them
pay their employees and keep them on
the payroll. Every dollar spent on payroll,
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With many Americans losing their job
and health insurance coverage, the ABA’s
National Health Law Program includes
advocacy to expand access to “health rights”
for those in need. Similarly, the National
Consumer Law Center provides a toolkit
for consumer protection and for those
facing eviction. The ABA’s criminal defense
lawyers advanced a Fines & Fees Justice
Center with recommended policies to assist
jurisdictions across the country in dealing
with COVID-19.
The ABA Board of Governors adopted a
resolution urging bar admission authorities
in each jurisdiction to adopt emergency rules
to authorize 2019 and 2020 law graduates
to engage in the limited practice of law,
if the July 2020 bar exam is cancelled or
postponed because of the pandemic.
In North Dakota, the State Board of
Law Examiners expressed its intention
to administer the July exam on schedule.
Backup dates for the bar exam on Sept. 9-10
were also announced. The examinees will
be limited to 85, with a preference given to
those who apply early or graduate from the
UND School of Law.
The ABA Standing Committee on Disaster
Response and Preparedness has authored
“Surviving a Disaster: A Lawyer’s Guide
to Disaster Planning” as a comprehensive
resource on disaster preparation. This
publication is among a great collection
of information for disaster preparedness
resources, including videos and free CLEs.
The ABA Legal Technology Center suggests
best practices and checklists for computer
backup, disposal, and disaster preparedness.
The Law Practice Management Section
suggests security advice for solo practitioners
along with aftermath recovery. Disaster legal
hotlines can be created for mass disaster
situations.
The ABA offers resources to protect lawyers
and law firms from the impacts of disasters
large and small on the ABA’s website, www.
americanbar.org/disaster.
ABA Days Cancelled
While the pandemic caused cancellation of
the ABA’s Annual Fly-In to Washington,
D.C., the group continued its advocacy
digitally with virtual contacts with the nation’s
lawmakers. Topics for 2020 included advocacy
for Legal Services Corporation funding, access
to legal services for homeless veterans, public
service loan forgiveness, and rural access to
broadband.
ALI Annual Meeting Cancelled
The pandemic caused the American Law
Institute to cancel its Annual Meeting set
for San Francisco. In cancelling the 97th
Annual Meeting, ALI President David
F. Levi noted it was only the second time
in the organization’s long history that the
organization has cancelled the annual meeting.
The last and only other time was in 1945 due
to the demands of World War II. At the time,
Director William Draper Lewis explained that
war conditions and government restrictions
prohibited any large meeting not directly
connected with the war effort. President Levi
acknowledged the similarity with the travel
and meeting limitations imposed on all of us
with the need for “social distancing.”