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In Isolation
I have a client who has a small law firm that, until recently, consisted of herself, a part-time assistant, and me, her contract bookkeeper. With the advent of our county’s shelter-in-place orders about three weeks ago, her business slowed to a crawl. The courthouse wasn’t open for hearings or trials. Previously scheduled ones needed to be re-configured as teleconferences. Current cases were on hold. No new clients were calling, and she laid off her assistant.
When the assistant was still working, I worked there two mornings a week. After she was laid off, I continued working two mornings a week but was more flexible about which mornings. There was also less work, so my scheduled two hours for each visit became an hour.
The office is small. I work at a desk in a corner of a cramped lobby. The attorney has an office in the only other full room in the space. Behind and to the side of my desk is a hallway that contains the copier, a tiny refrigerator, and some supply shelves. At the end of that short hallway is the bathroom.
On Monday, April 6, I arrived at the office before the attorney. I retrieved the mail from an outside box, opened and reviewed it, and checked emails before she appeared in an unpleasant mood, retiring immediately to her office to work on the stimulus program’s small business loan — one of the…
