COVID-19: Update from Merovitz Potechin LLP

By Merovitz Potechin on Saturday March 14, 2020.

Update: March 26, 2020

We hope that you and your family are healthy and safe. We intend to keep you informed as the situation with COVID-19 evolves and provide you with the most up-to-date information regarding our office procedures and how we are keeping our clients and staff safe.

Since our last update, we have shut down both our Ottawa and Manotick locations and all lawyers and staff are working remotely from the safety of their homes. We want to assure you that although our office is closed, we remain open for business and continue to serve our current and new clients. Over the last few days, we have been able to set everyone up with the tools they need to work efficiently and safely. The Government of Ontario recently announced a list of essential businesses to remain open during this time and “professional services including lawyers” has been deemed an essential service. Furthermore, “businesses providing mailing, shipping, courier and delivery services”, “land registration services” and banks/credit units have also been deemed an essential service. This will allow us to continue to meet our clients’ needs.

Due to the office closure, a few changes have taken place:

• Meetings will no longer take place in person. We are equipped to hold meetings via online platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Skype and Zoom. If you have any questions on how to set up a meeting with your lawyer, please contact them directly.

• We have a temporary reception location which will be the main site for deliveries. If you require delivery information, please call 613-563-7544.

• We are doing our best to exchange documents electronically. We encourage our clients and business partners to, whenever reasonably possible, save the document as a PDF and circulate it via email.

• We will facilitate paper documents located at the office when absolutely necessary and on a case by case basis, while maintaining social distancing.

While this is a big adjustment for everyone, we are pleased knowing that we can still provide essential services to our clients.

We want to thank our staff, our clients and the entire community for doing your part during this unprecedented time. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Chuck Merovitz at 613-563-6690. We are constantly monitoring the situation and will continue to post updates as things progress.

For the most up-to-date information about COVID-19 in Ottawa, please visit the Ottawa Public Health website. For more information regarding COVID-19 in Canada visit the Health Canada website. You can find a list of all essential services on the Province of Ontario website.

Small businesses or entrepreneurs looking for support and information during this time can read our recent blog post “Special Government Initiatives to Assist Canadian Businesses Impacted by COVID-19.”

Update: March 13, 2020

Due to the continued spread of COVID-19, Merovitz Potechin LLP has been and will continue to be taking precautionary steps to ensure both our staff and clients remain safe. The health and well-being of our employees and clients is of utmost importance to us. We are constantly monitoring the situation and following recommendations by Ottawa Public Health. We continue to remain informed about the steps businesses should take when people are in close contact and we are providing our employees with the most up-to-date information as outlined by Ottawa Public Health and Health Canada. We are taking steps to ensure our office environment is clean and healthy by practicing social distancing, limiting social gatherings, conferences, travel, shared supplies and meetings.

Our offices will remain open at this time and lawyers and staff will continue to provide quality services and support to our clients.  We are allowing employees who are able to work from home to do so. If necessary, we have the technology in place to ensure that our lawyers and staff can work from home, allowing us to provide secure and uninterrupted service to our clients.

For the most up-to-date information about COVID-19 in Ottawa, please visit the Ottawa Public Health website. For more information regarding COVID-19 in Canada visit the Health Canada website.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Chuck Merovitz at 613-563-6690. We are constantly monitoring the situation and will continue to post updates as things progress.

Please take care and stay healthy.