Dear Clients, Friends, and Colleagues:
 
There are a lot of people who are justifiably concerned about the recent Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.  Understandably our clients and colleagues are wondering whether recent events will affect whether they will be able to contact and meet with us.
 
Obviously, the closure of Utah school districts in the state, restrictions placed by the federal and state courts and administrative agencies on access and in-person hearings, and other similar restrictions will have some impact on lawyer availability and may cause decisions, hearings, and trials to be delayed.  These events will also sometimes affect our staff and lawyers who have families that may become ill or need other special assistance.
 
Fortunately, the leaders of our firm have sought out and incorporated technology that makes it easy for every Crook & Taylor Law employee to have secure and complete access to client files, communications, and firm resources from anywhere a person can connect to the internet.  Accordingly, Crook & Taylor Law clients and vendors and court and agency personnel should have very little problem contacting Crook & Taylor Law attorneys and staff members in any circumstance.
 
Given the advice, warnings, and recommendations that our local and national leaders have given us, Crook & Taylor Law will be doing the following in the short-term:

• Unless a staff member or attorney must attend to their own or their family member's health, he or she should be available at all regular business hours (at their normally scheduled work times) by telephone or video conference.

• If you need to meet with us, our preference will be to do so over the phone or via video conference.  We have asked our lawyers and staff to restrict in-office and face-to-face meetings as much as possible.  

• Because of recent orders and instructions received by federal and state courts and agencies, most hearings will be conducted telephonically.  We will let you know what that means in your particular case if you are affected.

• If opposing counsel on a case needs a reasonable extension of time, as always, we will liberally grant those unless there is an immediate need to prevent harm to our clients.

• We will take common-sense measure like social distancing and other hygiene measure to assure our workplace is as clean as reasonably possible.

If for some reason, we must close our physical offices---which we do not anticipate---our clients and friends will likely never know because we will be working just as we usually do.  We will answer our phones, respond to emails, and respond to text messages.  The only thing that will be different will be that we cannot physically meet.  Even then, if necessary we will likely be able to make safe arrangements to do so.
 
We are confident that this situation will pass soon and that all of us will be able to accommodate changes that will assure the safety of our most vulnerable fellow citizens and friends.  
 
If you have any specific questions about our policies, please do not hesitate to contact us.  Most of all, stay healthy and be safe!