Business Continuity Plan
Last Updated: December 8, 2022
Understanding that clients will continue to have concerns about how the coronavirus or other threats impact their estate planning or other pending cases, and their relationship with our firm (including in-person appointments), we want to provide you with up-to-date information and reassurance that you deserve.
Use of our Physical Offices
Our physical office located in Folsom is operating during normal business hours. We currently encourage all appointments to be held virtually other than signing appointments. However we are able to accommodate in-person meetings to meet our clients’ preferences. Our Truckee and Laguna Niguel locations are open on a “by appointment only” basis. Please call or text to notify our receptionist if you need to stop by (for example, to drop off documents), so that we can be sure to be available to assist you.
We prefer to have all initial consultations, design appointments, and review appointments by Zoom. We have learned that these appointments are actually more productive when we can share materials with you, and clients tend to feel more comfortable when meeting with us from the comfort of their own home or other familiar location to them, such as their office. We take great pride knowing that we were exceptionally well-prepared to serve our clients remotely, and continue to do so as much as possible.
If you schedule an “in-person” appointment, you will be required to comply with the following guidelines:
Face coverings are optional at this time.
We have a large office, with plenty of space to move around. Please use the space to continue to keep a distance, especially during cold and flu season.
No in-person meeting will be permitted for anyone that has experienced any COVID-19 symptoms (as defined by the CDC). We will trust each person entering our office to monitor their own health and reschedule appointments if they have any symptoms.
Single-use pens (you may keep them), water bottles (we are sorry environment!) and single-use notary ink will be used for all appointments.
We are continuing to schedule appointments as video conferences or phone calls, except when meeting in person is necessary. For our clients who are less familiar with certain technologies, our staff is experienced at guiding you through the process.
Access / Disaster Recovery
We keep all files backed up in a secure offsite location and generally have access to those files 24/7. Our staff members live in multiple geographical locations with full access to client files to continue operations even if there is an emergency situation or threat to one of our offices. If there is one thing we know we are good at, it is working remotely, problem solving, adapting to change and being flexible.
Remote Signing Appointments
If you are not comfortable with an in-person appointment for signing your documents or for our clients that are physically unable to do so, please know that we understand. We have developed a streamlined method for conducting signing appointments in other manners and consistent with best practices, and we have a number of alternatives for conducting legally compliant signings. In fact, we have been so active within the legal community in this regard, that Heather Johnston was asked to speak to the members of the Sacramento County Bar Association Probate Section, the El Dorado County Bar Association, and the Placer County Bar Association Probate and Estate Planning Section (all by webinar, of course). Additional details are available on our Events page.
In addition to the actions that we are taking with our office and client appointments, we are actively following state and federal legislation that may make these processes even easier.
Court Openings and Delays
Most courts where we appear allow for in-person, remote, or telephone appearances, and will accept filings via in-person, mail, or efiling. Wherever possible to reduce additional expenses for our clients, we prefer to submit filings by mail and appear remotely for hearings. In addition, nearly all courts provide “tentative rulings” prior to the hearing (though some do so 10+ days in advance, and some only post the day before). Be aware, however, that due to court staffing shortages and frequent closures over the last few years, timelines have expanded, with many courts scheduling out 4 months or more.