Coronavirus fears reportedly spur law firm changes
Officials probing how New York attorney contracted illness
Some major law firms are curbing the way they’re doing business to cut down the risk of spreading the new coronavirus amid concerns about how a New York attorney contracted the illness, according to reports.
New York State and local officials have said “disease detectives” are still working to determine how a 50-year-old lawyer from Westchester County contracted COVID-19.
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The married father of two was suffering an underlying respiratory illness, but had not recently traveled to any of the areas of high concern, such as China, Italy or Iran, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio told the media on Tuesday. But he had recently visited Israel and Florida, according to the reports.
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He is now in severe condition at an area hospital, according to the New York Post, and his wife, two children and the neighbor who drove him to the hospital have all tested positive, bringing the total official number of New Yorkers with COVID-19 to six, officials said Wednesday.
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A handful of local schools, including one attended by the man’s daughter and a New York City Yeshiva University attended by the son, have temporarily closed, officials said.
The man’s Manhattan-based law firm, Lewis and Garbuz, P.C., services clientele from across the globe, including “England, Italy, Hong Kong, and France to South Africa, Israel and the far East,” according to its website.
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A report by the New York Law Journal details how other law firms have taken action amid COVID-19 fears. Major firm Latham & Watkins axed an upcoming “global partners meeting” in New York, while other international law companies are shuttering their Asian offices, for the time being, telling their employees to work from home instead. Some law firms are also decreasing travel to COVID-19 hot spots.
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As of Wednesday, the virus has sickened more than 94,000 people and 3,200 have died.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.