Risk-aversion is the focus of many professions. Health care professionals treat patients with the goal of obtaining maximum medical recovery. CPAs advise clients with the goal of obtaining financial well-being. The practice of law is no different. Lawyers pull from their experience and background in particular areas of the law to properly advise clients on their legal rights. Planning for the unexpected is key to preventing untoward results.
The vision of forming the Biggs, Pettis, Ingram & Solop law firm was simple – bring together attorneys with a wide array of legal expertise while remaining focused on providing cost-effective litigation services and transactional advice to our clients. By having attorneys who specialize in such areas as business formation, planning, financing and governance, construction and government contracts, labor and employment contracts and liability, insurance coverage, and tax liability – to name a few – we could effectively assist governmental entities, businesses and individuals with almost all legal endeavors. We never intended to form a law firm during a pandemic. We did intend for the vision of this firm to be effective, even during a pandemic.
When I was first approached about forming this new Jackson law firm, the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) was but a whisper. As we planned for a move in late January of 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared a public health emergency for COVID-19. By the last weekend of February 2020, lawyers with my old firm – attorneys David Barfield, Lara Ashley Coleman, Julie Herlihy, Michelle High, Barry Jones, Jim Pettis – and I moved to the 111 Capitol Building, a location occupied by attorneys Bob Biggs, Travis Conner, Scott Giblin, Stan Ingram, Otis Johnson, Chris Solop, Stephen Stack, and Lynn Thompson. Business and life were still semi-normal when our first official day as Biggs, Pettis, Ingram & Solop began on March 2, 2020. Business meetings and court proceedings were still in-person, mass was still in-person, my children were still in school, and my wife was at school teaching a class of kindergarteners. By April 3, 2020 at 5 p.m., when Governor Reeves’ statewide shelter-in-place order (Executive Order No. 1466) became effective, COVID-19 had changed all sense of normalcy.
I now attend meetings and court proceedings, and even take depositions, via video conferencing or telephone conferencing from a spare bedroom in my house. During the week, my children attend virtual classes from different corners of the house. My wife has converted a portion of our bedroom to resemble a kindergarten class to record lessons for her students. On the weekends, we attend church via Facebook. Similar to most, we are practicing social distancing to “flatten the curve” of COVID-19. But how did we get to this point and how has the vision of Biggs, Pettis, Ingram & Solop held up over the past month?
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, more laws, regulations, and/or orders were enacted and/or handed down during the three-week period between March 13, 2020 and April 3, 2020 than are typically provided in a full calendar year. Purely by way of example:
•March 13, 2020 – President Donald Trump declared a national emergency due to COVID-19.
•March 13, 2020 – In its first of seven Emergency Administrative Orders, the Mississippi Supreme Court mandates that all state courts shall remain open but prohibits the “aggregate gatherings of over 200 people.” In re: Emergency Order Related to Coronavirus (Covid-19), Emergency Admin. Order, No. 2020-AD-00001-SCT, pg. 1 (Miss. Mar. 13, 2020).
•March 13, 2020 – The Chief Judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi enters a Special Order continuing “all non-essential civil and criminal matters set for hearing or trial in any federal courthouse” between March 13, 2020 and March 31, 2020. Special Order, No. 3:40-mc-00011, pg. 1 (S.D. Miss. Mar. 13, 2020). The Court also established procedures “[f]or all matters deemed essential.” Id., pg. 2.
•March 13, 2020 – The Chief Judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi enters a Standing Order providing in part that “[a]ll proceedings, civil and criminal, scheduled or typically undertaken in person should be continued or conducted by video or telephone conference to every extent possible.” In re: The Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), No. 3:20-MC-9, pg. 2 (N.D. Miss. Mar. 13, 2020).
•March 14, 2020 – Governor Tate Reeves declared a state of emergency for the State of Mississippi.
•March 18, 2020 – The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) was enacted, which covers various employee leave and/or benefits issues that are to remain in place from April 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020.
•March 24, 2020 – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division “announced its first round of published guidance to provide information to employees and employers about how each will be able to take advantage of the protections and relief offered by the FFCRA when it takes effect on April 1, 2020.”
https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20200324
•March 27, 2020 – The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act was signed by President Trump and provides financial relief for businesses and individuals affected by COVID-19.
•April 1, 2020 - The aforementioned statewide shelter-in-place was signed by Governor Reeves, which is effective from April 3, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. through April 20, 2020 at 8:00 a.m. “unless rescinded, modified or extended.” This Executive Order No. 1466 requires that “all individuals currently living in the State of Mississippi are ordered to stay at home or in their place of residence except as allowed in this Executive Order.”
I.b.i. It requires that all non-essential businesses and non-profit entities (as “identified in Executive Order No. 1463 as Supplemented”) in Mississippi “shall cease operation and all activities except Minimum Operations as defined.” ¶ I.d.i. It also defines what shall be deemed “Prohibited Activities” (¶ I.f.), “Essential Activities” (¶ I.g.), and “Essential Travel” (¶ I.h.), with violations of Executive Order No. 1466 being punishable “subject to the provisions of Miss. Code Ann. § 33-15-43.” ¶ III.b. § 33-15-43 provides that “[a]ny person violating any provision of this article or any rule, order, or regulation made pursuant to this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be punishable by a fine not exceeding Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or imprisonment for not exceeding six (6) months or both.”
https://www.sos.ms.gov/Education-Publications/ExecutiveOrders/1466.pdf
Additionally, the Mississippi Department of Revenue extended the “deadline to file and pay the 2019 individual income tax and corporate income tax … until May 15, 2020”. The federal extension is to July 15, 2020.
“I not only use all the brains that I have, but all I can borrow.”
― Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson held the office of U.S. President from 1913 to 1921. During his two terms, President Wilson saw our country through the First World War and three waves of the Spanish flu from the Spring of 1918 through the Spring of 1919. He likely had little experience with war or a pandemic prior to facing the problems while in office. As evident from the foregoing quote, however, he was smart enough to rely on quality advice from others.
I am a litigator by trade. In my 17 years of practicing law, it has been my honor to represent Mississippi counties and municipalities, large businesses, small business, and individuals in a wide variety of civil disputes. Experience has taught me when to stay in my lane.
The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting responses have greatly impacted everyone in Mississippi, especially those individuals and small businesses that are not able to work remotely. Many people wonder whether their business is essential under Executive Order Nos. 1463 and 1466, how they can best protect employees if they are authorized to remain open, and whether they are eligible for a loan under the Paycheck Protection Program of the CARES Act and/or unemployment benefits and, if so, in what amount. The answer to these and many other questions are typically dependent on the underlying facts of each situation. Over the past few weeks, some of my clients have posed questions or concerns I cannot answer. Every time this has occurred, I have obtained timely, accurate and reliable advice and/or solutions from one or more of my current law partners.
The scope of law – whether on a national or state-wide basis – is constantly changing, regardless of COVID-19. It is in the ability to provide timely, accurate and reliable advice and/or solutions for clients that the vision of our new firm has proven effective, even during a pandemic.
Jason E. Dare is a partner of Biggs, Pettis, Ingram & Solop, PLLC, and can be reached at jdare@bpislaw.com or 601-987-5307
