It is easy to find clichés and contrived language to open this blog—I had to think hard about starting my message without underestimating the stress under which we are all operating and the difficulties this new era presents the likes of which none of us have experienced.  While we deal with the impact of COVID 19 on our personal lives, practices and the lives of our friends, colleagues and particularly our families, our clients’ needs are ever pressing and the ability to meet those needs is particularly challenging when face-to-face meetings are no longer possible.  The questions arising under these circumstances have been unusual and include: “If a stay-at-home order is instituted what does that mean to my ability to pick up my children for timeshare?” “Do I have a say in where my spouse leaves my children during his/her timeshare?” “If we are unable to sell the marital residence during this time what does it mean to my staying in the home? Do I have to stay?”  

Complicated situations are made more difficult by new realities.  The emails we have exchanged in our Collaborative world make it clear many of us are thinking through how to collectively cope, assist one another in coping and how to best manage situations for our clients.  On-line meetings are the biggest change in how we “process” the Collaborative Process. I participated in three three-hour team meetings in the past two weeks each with interesting challenges. I want to share with you what I learned.  

1. Test your online access prior to the meeting.  Three professionals waited almost 20 minutes for a fourth professional to figure out how to use Zoom despite assistance being offered days in advance.  The fourth professional advised at the end of 20 minutes she did not have video capability on her computer or phone.  
2. During one meeting the “private chat” was utilized by a client who claims she was chatting with her attorney.  She was in fact chatting with the neutral facilitator and despite being repeatedly told she was directing her attacks on her spouse, including the use of foul language, to the facilitator, it continued for three hours.  Clients in the Zoom meeting should be advised to make sure they are only “chatting” with their own attorneys.
3. Visuals during the meeting.  In all the meetings clients repeatedly “disappeared” from the screen.  In one meeting both clients were on from their cars and simply moved out of the cameras’ view.  In other meetings my client continuously left his seat to walk around the room. It makes it difficult to conduct team meetings when we cannot see our clients. It was particularly difficult when one of the car-based clients started frantically driving during the call—clearly in extreme distress—to the consternation of those of us viewing what was happening.  It was made worse when his car stopped at the home of a mother of two of his five out-of-wedlock children—while his wife was on the call. A decision should be made in advance how to handle these situations including client arguments that are less likely to happen when we are all sitting in one space.
4. Good document preparation.  It is useful to have all necessary documents distributed in advance of the meeting and an opportunity to raise questions in advance.  Controlling conversation is not easy for the facilitator on a Zoom call. The more the professionals we can address in advance of the Zoom call the more smoothly the meeting will run for the benefit of our clients.  
5. Understand the mechanics of Zoom.  We can reposition screen shots of our colleagues from the right panel to center screen when the financial neutral is screen sharing the E/D Chart.   The right panel visuals are difficult to see and not all participants can be seen at the same time without scrolling down. Lighting in participants’ rooms is important.  Without proper lighting people are barely visible which makes watching for facial expressions and reactions next to impossible. The host of the Zoom call can send any two or more participants into a private caucus room and later call them back.  Use it. The “rooms” allow for private conversations as if we were in a conference room and split into two rooms.
6. Confirm at the outset of the meeting that both clients are alone and will continue to be alone. Remind our clients about Collaborative Principals regarding confidentiality.
7. How will the team handle a client hanging up during the Zoom call?  Take a time out while the client’s attorney attempts to reach the client by phone or text?  Discontinue the meeting and reschedule? Plan. It has happened.
8. Where will the clients’ children be during the call?  Can they hear what is transpiring? Again, advanced planning is key.  Children should not be privy to the Zoom meeting.
9. Dogs.  Barking dogs are cute. For about 15 seconds.  Then they become annoying. My dog loves to finish the bottom of my coffee mug. I either must finish my morning coffee before my first Zoom call or mute my call before I reach the bottom of my cup. Ruby’s howling has interrupted more than a few calls just for her sip of java.  Or an Amazon package being delivered.

Wishing you all great success, a healthy few weeks ahead and sending a virtual hug to all I would have been hugging had we been meeting in person.  Take this as an opportunity to reconnect to those we do not normally reach out, read the books we never have time to read, clean those nooks and crannies, and know we are all thinking about one another.

Rebecca Fischer is an accomplished Collaborative family law attorney who practices exclusively in areas of law affecting families and children, including probate, guardianship, trusts and estates. Ms. Fischer, who is AV Rated by Martindale-Hubbell, was named as a Florida Super Lawyer for the past six years, and she was listed as a Top Rated Lawyer by the Miami Herald in 2015 and 2018.