Change is Inevitable

I read an article about change and loved it. I thought I would share the thoughts in it and I added my feelings about it.

The year 2020 posed many challenges for many people. Many people were forced to change in ways that no one thought was possible, but so far 2021 has posed the same challenges. Change is not a new thing. Change is constantly around all of us. Many individuals oppose change and want things to be the same as it has always been, but that is not possible. Change is inevitable. I know I was worried about how the changes due to Covid-19 would affect my job. But I am not really afraid of change. I try to embrace it.

For me change is and has been exciting but it can also be scary. It can cause stress whether that be good or bad change. Attitudes towards situations (such as change) often control the outcome of the situation. We in the legal field had to adapt in a lot of ways since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. In-person activities moved to telephone and virtual meetings. As lawyers, we had to push through and keep the legal field moving but in a way that were never done before. We had to change the way we operated, and some lawyers were flexible with the change, meanwhile others more rigid about the change. I learned so many new things and ways to use technology. There were some attorneys that simply closed their doors. While I see the changes as good in many ways.

In the mist of the pandemic, the legal field had to catch-up with technology and adapt new ways of functioning. Even though some of the changes that had been implemented during the pandemic have been seen as frustrating, isolating, and limiting, there are many changes that has been seen as an improvement to the ways lawyers operated. These changes have given the legal field any option: to keep the implemented changes that have improved operations or go back to the way things were before Covid-19.

Some of these changes have really benefited clients too in ways they may not understand. While face to face is good there was so much wasted time. Time spent driving and sitting is now more productive. What used to be a two to four hour court appearance paid by the hour is now sometimes only twenty minutes. Twenty minutes is so much less expensive for the client than two to four hours. It means we as attorneys can get other work done too and have a normal work week. I no longer have to do hours of work on the weekend or in the evening or early morning because of the hours of wasted time driving and sitting. It has been a benefit for both me and my clients. During one recent mediation, when the mediator was worth the other side of the case my client folder her laundry and did things she normally has to save for the weekend when she is not working. I worked on emails and paperwork on other files. She saved money and time by mediating by zoom. I made the same amount of money but from several clients and not just her. We still resolved the case.

It is obvious that the Covid-19 pandemic has been devastating in many ways, however, resilience shows that it can be possible for changes to be positive and can be learned from. Michigan Bar Journal. Change is here to Stay by Molly Ranns. April 2021 issue.

The attorneys at Kathryn Wayne-Spindler & Associates are experienced attorneys who change with the times to meet the needs of their clients.  Contact the Milford, Michigan law office of Kathryn Wayne-Spindler & Associates at 248-676-1000 for assistance. The attorneys of Kathryn Wayne-Spindler & Associates practice law throughout Southeastern Michigan including Oakland, Wayne, Washtenaw, Genesee and Livingston counties as well as four mid-Michigan counties Clare, Gladwin, Ogemaw and Roscommon. The attorneys handle cases in Milford; Highland; Hartland; White Lake; Wixom; Commerce; Walled Lake; Waterford; West Bloomfield; Linden; Fenton; Flint; Grand Blanc; Holly; South Lyon; New Hudson; Howell; Clare; Gladwin; Houghton Lake; Higgins Lake; and many more Michigan communities. And soon to be opening another office in Dadeville, Alabama.

For more information, please see article “Change is Here to Stay” by Molly Ranns in the Michigan Bar Journal, April 2021 Edition.