"ESSENTIAL: I AIN'T NO FORTUNATE SON.!"

On March 12, 2020, I walked out of my office to do something fun with my grandkids.

My office, a cheerful, well lighted, welcoming place, with a school house desk and coloring books for children,  has not been open to the general public since.

Attorneys have been deemed "essential" under the governor's limiting orders. And simply means it is okay for me to drive the one-mile to my office, slip in, lock the door and do a little work. It is also a gradual path to ruination, mine.

My staff has been with me a very long time. Their service is measured in decades. They each have people at home who may have comorbidities. Thus, while it is just peachy that I am "essential" I cannot have the general public in here breathing, sneezing or coughing onto my people.

So the obvious first step was to assign everybody to "work from home." That may work fine for some law offices but when the core of our mission is to sit down with people who are being troubled by government action, there is no meaningful "work from home." 

Eventually there came a time when one staffer would come in for certain number of hours every day and do document production. During these times, we could not have clients, other staff, delivery personnel or literally anyone else in the office. This virus is dangerous and I could not risk cross-contaminating my people.  Locked Doors, no more than one person with me at any time.

Inevitably, visual apps and schemes were not sufficient and I literally needed to look into someone's eyes. I devised a separation room and arranged those meetings at a time when no staff was in the office. This "separation interview" works but I can only do it two days a week, when there is no one here to cross-contaminate and I can only do two a day because it takes three hours to do a one hour interview. First, I disinfect the separation room. Then I mask up and have the meeting. Then I immediately disinfect the separation room again. The operative word here is "I." Staff doesn't do it. My wonderful cleanup crew doesn't do it. I do it because it seems wrong to ask my staff to take that risk.

Since my practice is standing up for humans against the government, my inability to meet with the usual number of humans per week reduces the possible number of humans who can hire me each week. This has financial implications for me.  Worse, right now there are more people with Government Hassles than ever, yet I can only see four a week.  It seems contradictory.

Those who know me are aware I am very private about financial matters, investments and generally what anything costs. But I now have data for two months, March 12 through May 11. For these two consecutive months I have grossed exactly one seventh of the amount it takes to keep my office operating, staff, equipment, library, specialty insurance, travel, continuing legal education, outside investigative and process services. So, for the privilege of being able to drive to my office, I get to pay out of my pocket 6/7ths of what it costs to keep my office flying each month.  

When I opened my office in 1975, I made net money my first month and never looked back.  I am unfamiliar with the concept of a law office not netting out.

Nobody has been laid off. Nobody's hours are reduced. Every paycheck has been full and timely. I have not asked my landlord for any concessions. When it comes time for him to pay his real estate tax, the county is not going to give him any concessions. I have not cut off any essential library because it is, after all, essential.

I have had a good professional life. I can do this for a while, if I must. When we come out the other side, I want to be there for the people who need drivers licenses, nursing licenses, and defense in court for DUIs, drug crimes and even sex crimes.

I discuss in other forums people whose business is not "essential" and they give me the distinct impression that they think I do not understand because I am "essential."

I am essential, all right. I am essentially taking gas just like everyone else who works for himself. If your shop or restaurant or foundry is closed please do not think that I have not walked miles in your moccasins. The only difference in your experiences and mine is that I get to travel legally back and forth to my office while I'm getting hosed.

The answer is not gathering a bunch of people together and creating disease risk. The answer is persuading the executive branch of Illinois government that we can open up safely and responsibly in a way that limits the likelihood of retransmission.

So, for those of you who think "you don't understand. You're a lawyer and your business is open as essential," I can pretty well bet you that you would not want to trade cash flow places with me. I can hate it at the same time I acknowledge the threat is not a hoax.

Be Strong.  Be independent.  Be Vocal.  But don't be dangerous.