Back to work again

In line with Government guidelines, our office is now open again and I just want to say a big thank you to all the staff who rowed in and helped to keep the show on the road during the lockdown.

Where our office is at, at the moment is that our office in Caherciveen is temporarily closed but our office in Killorglin is open

What we are doing to prevent the spread of Covid 19

We take our role in preventing COVID 19 very seriously. I adopt the following rule

• Our office cannot be the source of COVID-19;

• None of our staff should get it from our office; and

• None of our clients should get it from our office.

From what I have read, regardless if you are Bruce Lee fit, you still don’t want to pick up COVID 19 and I would be devastated if a client or a staff member got COVID 19 through our office or us not doing enough.

That is why I have conducted a detailed risk assessment and implemented training and protocols in the office to ensure that we cannot be the source of the spread of COVID-19.

All our staff have conducted detailed training on minimising the spread of COVID 19 and are familiar with our office policies.

Essentially we are still working from home as much as possible. So Mary Hayes and my solicitor assistant Orla Howe are working from home. I am also going to continue to work from home for the time being. Claire Joy in reception will continue to attend at the office, answer calls and be our point of contact.

If I or other staff members do attend the office, we will all regularly hand sanitise, wipe down surfaces and door handles, perform social distancing and other recommended practices.

Claire Joy in our office is our COVID 19 office champion. If you wish to see our policies or risk assessment please email Claire at cjoy@hcalaw.ie

What we are asking you to do

Even though our office is open we are asking all clients to consider whether they can conduct business with us remotely as much as possible.

So if you can work with us by phone, post, online face call (we normally use Zoom) email etc, then that is our preferred option.

Really we only need to deal with clients on a face to face basis for very sensitive matters (eg family law) or where certain original documents must be signed (eg wills etc). In the vast majority of cases your work can be progressed very efficiently without face to face contact. While that is good for service its bad for me as a service provider. Face to face contact really is the best part of the job.

However, if you do need to come into the office, you will have to regularly sanitise your hands, not touch our door handles if possible and give your details to Claire Joy in reception so that she can log your attendance in accordance with Government requirements

We are also requesting clients to bring their own pens, keep social distance and stay only for a short while.

Strange New Normal

This is all difficult and cumbersome and not what we want and certainly goes against the grain of what it is to be Irish. However, I appreciate your assistance on this.

I attended a very good seminar recently organised by the pro-active and publicly spirited solicitor Flor McCarthy of Clonakilty who has taken it upon himself to help colleagues get through the crisis. One of his speakers was a medical expert. She gave a powerful demonstration on hand hygiene and face mask hygiene. She made a very powerful statement during the presentation, where she said “Remember. Your hands are weapons”. This struck me very forecably.

I know everyone is finding the current circumstances difficult. I think that the Government have done a good job in flattening the curve. I certainly don’t want to do anything that would hamper that effort and I really appreciate your support as clients for the business generally and in helping in our efforts to stop the spread of Covid 19.

Best wishes and continue to stay safe. Colm Kelly