Coronavirus: India's law firms allow Work From Home; Updates from JSA, Trilegal, Khaitan, Veritas, CAM, AZB, SAM, C&M, S&R, ELP, Vertices

As part of efforts to guard against the spread of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, India's top law firms are allowing their employees to work from home..J Sagar Associates (JSA) and Trilegal have completely moved to a work from home policy starting this week..All JSA offices will remain closed from tomorrow, Tuesday March 17 till further notice. However, in exceptional circumstances, an Equity Partner requiring access to the office for self or a team member may do so for as short a duration as possible.."JSA has taken an important step in closing ours offices from tomorrow till further notice to ensure the safety of all working with JSA and in the interest of the community at large. Work will, however, continue with attorneys working from home and from courts where necessary."Joint Managing Partners Amit Kapur and Vivek Chandy.JSA's tech team will be assisting its lawyers to make sure that facilities to work remotely are functional during this time. .Trilegal has also completely moved to work from home today.."All employees would be working from home starting today, and the technology to support the same is in place."Trilegal Press Statement.Khaitan & Co has given all of its employees across offices the option to work from home with immediate effect. The firm's offices continue to remain open. This option of work from home will stay in effect until March 31, 2020 or when further advice is given in this regard..“For us, the safety, security and well-being of our members has always been our priority. The culture and ethos of our firm is that of a close-knit family, that comes even closer and supports each other in times of crises. So, while we have adequate systems in place to ensure business continuity while we allow work from home in this unprecedented situation, we will do nothing that will compromise the safety and security of our members or their families.”Amar Sinhji, Executive Director, Khaitan & Co.Veritas Legal is moving to Work from Home model from tomorrow March 17, 2020..Social distancing is a key preventive measure during this crisis. We believe we owe it to our stakeholders to act responsibly. We, at Veritas Legal, are moving to a “work from home model” from March 17, 2020. We have also put into place what we find to be a comprehensive business continuity plan.Abhijit Joshi, Managing Partner.AZB & Partners, Delhi office has also announced to implement 'work from home' policy for everyone from tomorrow till March 21 while AZB's Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore offices will move to 'work from home' from March 18 for a week..Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas is also implementing "work from home" policy effective March 17, 2020..“In the interest of safety, we have moved to work from home from tomorrow. We are geared up to support our clients. We are not closed. Only working remotely."Cyril Shroff, Managing Partner.Chandhiok & Mahajan is working vitually from today while the Bangalore office has been working from home since March 2..We have upgraded and tested our infrastructure to have full ‘work from home’ capabilities, including for our interns. The litigation and insolvency teams are the only ones - at present - that are permitted limited access to our offices. Last week, we participated in two arbitration hearings over conference calls, and we are very grateful to the arbitrators and opposing counsel for acceding to our requests. The health and safety of our professionals, clients, their respective families and communities is paramount for us.Pooja Mahajan, Managing Partner.Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co is getting ready to move in this direction and allow all of its employees to work from home..“We have closely assessed our IT and infrastructural readiness and are prepared for a Work From Home scenario. Multiple exercises are planned to stress-test the robustness and effectiveness of our system, so that we face minimal disruption to our client service delivery once we roll this out, shortly.”Shweta Shroff Chopra, Partner.S&R Associates is implementing its "Work From Home" policy from today.."We have business continuity plans which will allow us to continue providing support to our clients. An internal core group has been monitoring this situation and we are taking all steps (including IT support) to ensure that lawyers work from home. These measures are meant to protect the health of our personnel and clients."S&R Associates.Vertices Partners has also moved to 'Work from Home' model from today..“These are times of a crisis unfolding and as responsible citizens, one needs to undertake whatever measures one can, within their control, to try and be precautious in their approach. For this, social distancing becomes a key measure. We, Team Vertices, are shifting to a “work from home model” from March 17, 2020, as the safety and well-being of our stakeholders are of foremost importance to us. ”Vinayak Burman, Managing Partner.In light of the COVID -19 situation and in the interest and safety of colleagues, Economic Laws Practice has instituted a work from home policy effective March 18, 2020..UKCA and Partners has officially implemented the work-from-home (WFH) option for all its lawyers and support staff. The WFH option will be available until March 31, 2020, and may be extended basis further developments..“UKCA and Partners, is committed to safety and protection of its staff, employees and clients."Manisha Chaudhary – Managing Partner.IndusLaw and Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan have also implemented "work from home" policy..PSL - Advocates & Solicitors too will be implementing a work from home policy from this week, in the interest of safety of all concerned. Most lawyers are already working from home and using the firm’s technology as collaborators (Microsoft Teams, Skype etc) to be efficient and connected. The policy will be implemented for a week and will be reviewed again depending upon the situation..L&L Partners is also working in this direction..[Read the communique issued by JSA]