Wolch Wilson Jugnauth takes the well-being of our clients, and any health risk to our staff, very seriously. With the Province of Alberta releasing a strategy to ease social distancing restrictions, with an aim of reopening the broader economy and society, we are using this opportunity to update you on our COVID-19 policies to date and going forward.

In response to COVID-19 being declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020, we directed our staff and lawyers to work from home as much as possible as of March 12, 2020. However, we maintain the exact roster of lawyers and staff today as we did before. We never shut down, and everyone in our office remains available and eager to assist current and prospective clients. Our physical office has also maintained regular hours with a ‘skeleton crew’ meaning usually one staff working in the front and one lawyer in their private office.

Working from home is nothing new for us as our focus is always on the high quality of our product and service. We have always encouraged our lawyers to work wherever they are most productive without pressure to put in ‘face time.’ With that philosophy, and a partner who is formerly an information technology and networking professional, we were at the forefront of using secure technology to work remotely long before COVID-19, and are experienced in relying on encrypted communication services for privileged discussions when meeting a client in person is impractical. In working with you remotely we do not use free cloud services, which are often hosted outside Canada and subject to foreign laws, or insecure file sharing for any potentially sensitive data.

Throughout the pandemic it has still been necessary to have some meetings in person to protect our clients from legal prejudice, and we will continue doing so with a high standard of precautions. We continue to have an anti-virus air filter in our waiting area that captures even coronaviruses in their aerosol state – it is rated to cover an area larger than the public space in our office. We also sanitize boardroom seating and public surfaces using high alcohol content disinfectant before and after the few meetings that do occur, have stopped shaking hands, and sit at an appropriate distance. If you are attending our office we expect you to call or email ahead to ensure: 1) that meeting in person is necessary, 2) to answer some basic questions about possible exposure, 3) wear a protective mask if possible, and 4) to use the hand sanitizer that sits on the reception kiosk on entry and exit.

We expect you will find our attention to detail, drive to provide you the highest quality of service, and dedication to tailoring diligent, strategic legal advice to your personal needs, remains unaffected by public health concerns.