Employees and employers alike are understandably confused by the constant state of flux we find ourselves in during the final months of summer. Employment and labor attorneys need to be prepared for all situations in the next few months with the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19 and return to work mandates. 

Piled on top of the COVID vaccine conundrum, many states are facing an ongoing labor shortage, struggling with remote work protocols, and preparing for the potential passing of the  PRO Act.  

With so many problems to balance and with little room for error, employers are likely to turn to legal experts in droves for advice on how to best navigate the next few months. While employment and labor lawyers are trained specifically for these types of questions and scenarios, there's no denying that rulings and mandates are changing at an incredibly fast pace.  You must remain level-headed and project a confidence that lets them know that “I’ve got this!” 

Here are a few ways you can leverage technology to help you serve your clients, new and old, during such a tumultuous time. 

1. Be prepared for any situation through research
2. Stay organized for optimal performance
3. Maintain deadlines using a smart calculator

1. Be prepared for any situation through research

There’s clearly a lot to keep track of in the news, and it’s only going to get busier in the very near future. The coronavirus has flipped the landscape and employees have begun to stand up for their workplace rights at an increasing pace. 

Just imagine the confusion and potential lawsuits around long-haul covid, workplace discrimination, fights for parental leave as work/life balance and mental health takes center stage. You need to be ready for it all, and before you waste hours of your day researching a topic from the very beginning once a case comes your way, you can instead begin preparing for today. 

If you’re looking for a free way to stay savvy on a particular topic, one simple way to keep your finger to the pulse of any niche topic in the news is by creating Google Alerts. You can choose any topic in the world be it “Covid workplace laws in San Francisco” or “PRO Act” and have Google send you an email with the day’s relevant news articles, it’s like your own customizable newsletter! 

You can even set up specific parameters like sending multiple times a day, or one curated list at night. You can set up Google Alerts at www.google.com/alerts and while you won’t always receive academic journals and legal opinions, you will at least receive a baseline understanding of what’s happening as it pertains to your search. By making it a priority to expand your working knowledge at every chance you get, you'll prepare yourself for whatever you face in the future.   

2. Stay organized for optimal performance

Aside from staying in tune with the world’s happenings, you need to ensure your firm remains organized so that you can handle your current cases — and take on more work when it comes your way. Using a legal practice management tool like MerusCase helps your firm automate and streamline internal processes so you don’t skip a beat. 

Every action you take within MerusCase is linked to the exact case you’re working on, documents and case notes are all securely stored in the cloud, and you can access them from anywhere in the world.  

Files and forms can be cumbersome for employment and labor firms, using MerusCase reduces the stress of maintaining these forms with auto-population. You can instantly import relevant information such as client names and addresses, case numbers, case notes into any form with one click, saving you hours of tedium. Better yet, all your case documents are easily searchable!

3. Maintain deadlines using a smart calendar 

Plans have never been more up-in-the-air, and meticulously maintaining one’s schedule is the only way to keep track of upcoming events and deadlines. In a semi-virtual work environment, meetings can be set up in an instant —  filling up calendars with unused time which then leaves you with minimal hours in the day to complete tasks. On the flip side, last-minute cancellations of in-person meetings are on the rise, freeing up your schedule. With so much chaos happening on calendars, using a smart calendar that will shift events whenever there are cancellations or event updates will vastly improve your workflows. 

When it comes to keeping your cases streamlined with the courts, MerusCase’s court rules calendaring can’t be beat. While outside circumstances can’t be predicted, you will be able to create and maintain efficient, reliable, and accurate deadlines based on your case’s jurisdictional requirements. MerusCase court rules allows your firm to:  

• Double-check calculations: number/type of days, court holidays, and service type ramifications 
• Ensures all necessary events are considered within a jurisdiction
• Expedites data entry and recalculation 
• Promotes consistency  
• Minimizes costly scheduling mistakes 

A busy yet unpredictable fall is on the horizon for employment and labor attorneys. Taking the steps to prepare your firm for anything now will only help to serve your clients better when they need you the most in the future. MerusCase can help you maintain your operations through whatever comes your way this fall, get a custom demo today to learn more.