Lane Report: Dinsmore Attorneys Discuss State of Legal Industry During COVID-19

Dinsmore attorneys Roger Peterman and Shannon Egan spoke with The Lane Report on the current state of law firms and legal work in general during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read what they had to say below.

Roger Peterman, an attorney in the Covington office of Dinsmore & Shohl, said his firm has fielded numerous questions that revolve around the central theme of “What do I need to be worried about?” regarding COVID-19.

“As a firm, we haven’t missed a beat. There still seems to be a very high level of business activity occurring and there’s legal advice that’s needed for that,” said Peterman. “Even with courthouses closed, our firm’s business remained at a surprisingly high level.”

Peterman said he does a lot of municipal bond work, and in that particular area, “We’re really busy because interest rates are low and everyone wants to refinance everything.”

Shannon Egan, president of the Northern Kentucky Bar Association (NKBA) and an attorney in Dinsmore’s Cincinnati office, said the pandemic has "made this a very difficult year for the NKBA.”

“The pandemic had an immediate impact on our (bar association) operations. We quickly embraced video conferencing in an effort to keep our members connected and to continue providing CLEs (continuing legal education sessions). We moved our board and committee meetings to video conferencing. We provided … timely and thorough updates explaining ever-changing court operations as the pandemic progressed,” Egan said.

There’s nothing all that unusual about the fact that Egan practices in both Kentucky and Ohio, she said. The region has 2,471 attorneys, including those in Hamilton County, Ohio, where Cincinnati is located. The NKBA has 884 attorney and judge members. Of its membership, 262 have a home office in Hamilton County, Egan said.

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