Calfee will be distributing a daily COVID-19 First Alert Compilation email, containing links to today's new First Alerts related to the novel coronavirus and its impact on organizations and individuals. "Breaking legal news" alerts may be distributed separately.
COVID-19 First Alerts for Thursday, April 9
Another Billion Back From the BWC at a Critical Time for Ohio Employers (written by Calfee's Workers' Compensation attorneys)
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced yesterday that he has asked the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) to give up to $1.6 billion back to Ohio employers to help ease the economic impact of COVID-19 on Ohio’s economy and business community.... READ MORE
Connecting Clients Results in a Life-Saving Act of Generosity
Over the past month, we have been sharing First Alerts to help our clients work through the legal issues they face as a result of the pandemic. Today, we want to share a heart-warming act of generosity made from one client to another. In the face of adversity, these are the situations that give us hope, lift our spirits, and remind us of the importance of the human connection.
Before 10:00 this morning, Calfee partner Trevor Alexander received a call from a client, the general counsel of a company that operates multiple nursing homes and skilled nursing centers, because they found themselves in a desperate situation and needed help. They were quickly depleting their supply of protective masks and equipment needed by their staff to safely care for at-risk elderly and ill patients, several of whom have tested positive for COVID-19, and they had just been told that the shipment of 800 masks they’d been expecting to be delivered from overseas tomorrow was now held up in Customs for at least two more weeks. Facing an immediate, critical shortage of essential protective equipment, they were
concerned about the health and safety of their employees and the people they care for in their centers. Trevor reached out to all attorneys at Calfee to ask if anyone had connections to a supply of essential protective equipment.
Laura Hult, another Calfee partner, immediately called one of her clients, a disabled-in-service, veteran-owned small business (with more than 50% of its employees having served in the U.S. military), to ask if they had any connections to masks. This client, who requested anonymity, asked how many masks were needed. The nursing home client had asked for only five masks, stating that they would reuse them. The veteran-owned client explained that they had an emergency
supply of masks as they are considered an essential federal government contractor and, as veterans, it’s in their collective DNA to plan ahead for such emergency situations. They assembled a total of 310 masks for donation. To avoid wasting time dealing with security and logistics issues, Trevor got in his car and personally picked up the boxes from the client donating the masks and delivered them, within three hours of the initial call, to the nursing home client. The veteran-owned client wanted no reimbursement or recognition, only saying, “Just tell them to take care of their people.” The GC was on a call with the medical directors of one of their nursing centers that has COVID-19 patients when Trevor walked in with the masks. After having told these same medical personnel earlier
this morning that their shipment, expected tomorrow, was being delayed at least two more weeks, the GC told us that he literally got a standing ovation from those front-line medical personnel upon hearing that hundreds of masks had just been received.
When Brad Liu, one of our patent attorneys, saw Trevor’s initial email to all attorneys this morning, he also went into immediate action. Because he has family and a strong network in China, Brad had been able to previously secure a shipment of protective masks directly from Chinese manufacturers and was expecting delivery today. Brad offered to donate all 200 masks to the nursing home client to ensure they have an adequate supply to keep their
staff and patients safe. The additional 200 masks were received by the nursing home client around 3:30 this afternoon.
We are honored to work with such generous and kind people. We are grateful to our client and Brad, who, sight unseen, donated their supply of safety equipment to others who found themselves in desperate circumstances through no fault of their own. And we are indebted to this particular healthcare client, and all of our healthcare clients, who selflessly serve those who are in desperate need of their medical expertise and care. While we cannot promise the type of amazing acts of heroism that we had the honor of experiencing today, if you do find yourself in need of something
– even if it’s wholly unrelated to legal services – please don’t hesitate to reach out to your Calfee attorneys. The network of clients and “firm friends” that we work with is truly amazing and, we have found time and again that they will go out of their way to help someone else whenever possible, no questions asked.
Calfee invites you to visit our COVID-19 Resource Center containing First Alerts to help guide you through the challenges faced by individuals and organizations as a result of the novel coronavirus outbreak. We are committed to helping you meet the diverse and complex challenges and navigate the disruptions caused by this pandemic. Please check the COVID-19 Resource Center regularly for the latest updates, or subscribe to receive the most up-to-date Alerts sent directly to your email inbox. Please whitelist info@calfee.com and news@calfee.com to ensure these emails are delivered directly your inbox and not your spam filter.
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