JAMES L. CHOSY of U.S. Bank We Must Manage and Lead1185 Town Centre Drive, Suite 101, Eagan | 651.209.3600 | www.CrutchfieldDermatology.com S E A L O F APPR O V A L Great News! Expert skincare from the comfort and safety of your own home. You can visit personally, with Dr.Crutchfield, a board certified dermatologist and Mayo Clinic Medical School Graduate with 25 years of clinical experience. We specialize in the treatment of Acne, psoriasis, vitiligo, eczema/rashes, and all other skin concerns. You can schedule an appointment using Zoom, Skype, Facetime, Google Duo, Cell Phone and even land lines! Fast, Easy, Fun and now covered by most insurance plans! Call 651.209.3600 or email us at Appointments@CrutchfieldDermatology.com and we’ll take it from there!FROM THE Publisher In June, 2020, amid the peak of CO- VID-19 cases, our State and coun- try struggle to unite in accepting our collective failures in addressing racial injustice. Large protests were sparked by the video circulated recording the death of George Floyd while in the custody of four Minneapolis Police Officers on the evening of May 25. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner concluded the manner of death was homicide. Rioting and looting was ex- tensive in the Twin Cities in the days that followed the incident. As a result of the large protests, health officials anticipate a spike in further transmission of the deadly coronavirus that has largely shut down our economy already. As this issue goes to press, over 110,000 Americans have died as a result of the virus, including over 1100 Minnesotans. Rioting has been extensive near the initial po- lice incident area turned memorial, and throughout the nation and world. State Attorney General Keith Ellison has taken the lead over the case and all four Officers have now been charged. This issue of Attorney at Law Magazine includes circulation to, and content intended for corporate counsel and company leaders. Included as well is an updated submission from Chief Justice Lorie Skjerven Gildea regarding the legal system providing access to jus- tice amid the pandemic. We’re also presenting the MABL Statement on George Floyd. That, and some images that we captured from the memorial site and the destruction nearby along Lake Street. Cer- tainly, there will be a lot of legal considerations ahead. Welcome corporate counsel readers to this special issue of At- torney at Law Magazine. As is the case with our regular subscribers, we’d love to hear from you regarding what’s happening in the legal sector and who is driving such matters. Best, David Seawell PUBLISHER 763-742-2805 DSEAWELL@ATTORNEYATLAWMAGAZINE.COM Attorney at Law Magazine is published by: Target Market Media Publications Inc. David Seawell PRESIDENT & CEO INSIGHT MEDIA, INC. EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE Howard LaGraffe VICE PRESIDENT Caitlin Keniston EDITOR Susan Cushing Veronica Jauregui ASSISTANT EDITORS Jaqueline Dávila GRAPHIC DESIGN Shonette Gatson Z. Peter Sawicki James E. Snoxell James L. Young CONTRIBUTING EDITORS James L. Chosy Amran A. Farah Chief Justice Lorie S. Gildea Rick Hendrickson Mark Lanterman Leykn Schmatz Jeff Storms CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Eclipse Productions PHOTOGRAPHY Copyright ©2020, Target Market Media all rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part is strictly prohibited. Advertising rates on request. Bulk third class (standard) mail. Although every precaution is taken to ensure accuracy of published materials, Attorney at Law Magazine & Target Market Media cannot be held responsible for opinions expressed or facts supplied by authors. Corporate Office : 5828 North 7th Street, Suite 200 Phoenix, AZ 85014 Phone (480) 219-9716 www.tmmpublications.com • info@tmmpublications.com TARGETMARKETMEDIA Northern Alabama | Atlanta | Chicago | Dallas | Ft. Lauderdale Jacksonville | Los Angeles | Miami | Minnesota North Carolina Triangle | Ohio | Philadelphia | Phoenix | San Antonio Salt Lake City | Middle Tennessee | Washington D.C. Released in 1964, the third verse of Minnesota native Bob Dylan’s song, The Times They Are A Changin’ , asks that senators and congressmen heed the call. The verse ends: The battle outside ragin’ Will soon shake your windows And rattle your walls For the times they are a-changin’ ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE · MINNESOTA · VOL. 9 NO. 6 4TABLE OF Contents 12 6 Access to Justice in the Time of COVID-19 By Chief Justice Lorie S. Gildea 10 Pandemic IP Panic By Z. Peter Sawicki and James L. Young 12 We Must Manage and Lead By James L. Chosy 15 The Digital Challenges of COVID-19 By Mark Lanterman 16 Dream Team: The Multifaceted C-Suite That Guides Robins Kaplan Through COVID-19 and Beyond By Shonette Gaston 18 “Reopening” Churches – Balancing Rewards and Risks By James E. Snoxell 20 ‘They Will Fight for your Rights’ By Leykn Schmatz 21 On Your Own: Don’t Throw Away Your Shot By Jeff Storms 22 MABL Statement on George Floyd By Amran A. Farah 26 Keeping Oneself and Firm Members Safe from Violence By Rick Hendrickson SPECIAL SECTIONS 28 Talk of the Town 22 AttorneyAtLawMagazine.com 5A ccess to justice is one of the first promises of Minnesota’s Constitution. The Minnesota Judicial Branch exists to up- hold that promise, and the judges and staff who serve in our state’s court system strive every day to provide an accessible place for Minnesotans to have their disputes resolved fairly and impar- tially, and their rights protected under the law. The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged our ability to fulfill that constitutional responsibility like never before. Our system of justice is based around close, personal interactions. Judges sit alongside court staff who record the day’s proceedings. At- torneys sit next to their clients to provide whispered guidance and representation. Witnesses are called to a shared stand and use a shared microphone. Twelve jurors squeeze into a small box to closely watch the proceedings and render judgment. Members of the public and me- dia sit next to one another on communal benches to monitor this very public process. On a normal day, this scene plays out in more than 100 court loca- tions across all 87 counties in Minnesota. Quite literally, thousands of Minnesotans enter a courthouse every day to seek justice, participate in cases, oversee the judiciary, or simply do their jobs. So what, then, do we do at a time when “close, personal interac- tions” have become prime vectors for spreading a dangerous virus during a global pandemic? How do we administer our very human system of justice during the era of social distancing? How do we bal- ance our constitutional responsibility to provide access to justice with the health and safety of those who participate in court proceedings? The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the Minnesota Judicial Branch to take unprecedented steps to maintain court operations while shift- ing almost all of our work outside of traditional courtrooms. Access to Justice in the Time of COVID-19 BY CHIEF JUSTICE LORIE S. GILDEA Our system of justice is based around close, personal interactions.” ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE · MINNESOTA · VOL. 9 NO. 6 6On March 13, just hours after Gov- ernor Tim Walz declared a Peacetime State of Emergency in Minnesota, I convened an emergency meeting of the Minnesota Judicial Council, our statewide policy-making body. Fol- lowing that meeting, I issued a state- wide order that kept courthouses open, but temporarily suspended work on certain case types and dis- couraged the public from making any non-essential visits to court facilities. Less than a week later, as the pan- demic’s impact on Minnesota came into sharper focus, the Judicial Coun- cil met again and determined stronger measures were needed. On March 20, I issued a new order that temporar- ily suspended most in-person court proceedings, limited public access to court facilities, and restricted court- house service windows to only tele- phone and email support. And judges and court staff began working from home unless needed at the court- house to conduct a limited amount of vital business. That order, which I extended as Governor Walz extended his state’s stay-at-home directive, has now been replaced by the stay safe order. Our courts are in a transitional phase now, beginning the process of reopening public service counters and public access terminals, while following rig- orous safety expectations outlined in our COVID-19 Preparedness Plan. As we entered the world of stay-at- home, we understood that we could not simply suspend cases for the du- ration of the pandemic. We needed to develop a solution that would allow us to continue processing cases and pro- viding access to justice even when all of us could not be at our courthouses. In mid-March, we developed a statewide Remote Hearing Work- group, composed of court admin- istrators and IT experts, to explore technologies that would allow our district and appellate courts to begin conducting hearings remotely, with judges, attorneys, parties, and others participating from their homes or of- fices. The Judicial Branch had some experience using remote hearing technology, especially in large, rural counties. But never had we attempted such a large-scale shift to “virtual” courtrooms. The Workgroup acted quickly to ensure that each court- house had the best possible technol- ogy and software needed to conduct virtual hearings, and that our judges and staff were trained to conduct these hearings from their homes or chambers. At the same time, the Workgroup developed an array of training materi- als to help attorneys, justice partners, and other court users adapt to our new reality. The Judicial Branch launched a webpage—www.mncourts.gov/ remote-hearings—to assist Minneso- tans who must participate in remote hearings and to provide information to members of the public who wish to access a remote hearing. What the staff of the Minnesota Ju- dicial Branch accomplished in such a brief time is nothing short of astound- ing. By the last week of April, our dis- trict courts were holding an average of more than 800 hearings per day, the vast majority of which were hap- pening virtually. The Supreme Court and Court of Appeals have also been holding our oral arguments virtually. I have tremendous admiration for the work of our judges and staff across the state who have helped lead this transformation of our courts and who have adapted so quickly to this new reality. I am also grateful to members of the Bar, and the rest of our state- wide justice community, who have been our partners in this remark- able effort. Together, we have helped maintain access to justice during this time of crisis. At the same time that our courts began shifting to remote hearings, we also started to plan for how we will eventually return to regular, in- person court operations. A group of judges and court administrators from around the state, affectionately known as The Other Side Workgroup, is lead- ing us in thinking about how our courts will return to normal when we are on “the other side” of the current pandemic. Among other important work, The Other Side Workgroup produced Transitional Case Strategies for Civil, Criminal, Juvenile, and Pro- bate case types that have guided the casework during the transitional pe- riod. These Transitional Case Strate- gies are available at www.mncourts. gov/Emergency. The Workgroup has also developed the framework to pilot test new pro- cedures for jury trials and ensure a safe workplace. The May 15, 2020, or- der and the most recent order, from May 28, 2020, explain how we have begun to expand in-person court- house operations: Pilot test new procedures for jury trials: The Minnesota Judicial Branch worked with the Minnesota Depart- ment of Health to develop protocols that should allow us to safely resume courthouse jury trials. We are going to pilot test these protocols in a small AttorneyAtLawMagazine.com 7number of counties before restarting jury tri- als statewide. Before being approved to start trials, pilot locations must develop a plan to meet health and safety guidelines in advance of asking jurors to come to the courthouse. These plans detail how each court will safely get jurors into courthouses and courtrooms, how we will maintain social distancing in courtrooms and jury deliberation rooms, and how we will use precautions against exposure, such as masks and sanitizer. At the time of this publication, four counties have been ap- proved to pilot criminal jury trials: Hennepin, McLeod, Ramsey, and Olmsted. More infor- mation on these safety protocols and pilots is available at www.mncourts.gov/jurors.aspx. Provide a safe workplace: We are taking an array of steps to protect the health and safety of judges, staff, attorneys, and court users as they re- turn to a courthouse. This includes securing ample supplies of masks and disinfectants and making physi- cal modifications to courthouses and courtrooms to promote social distancing. Information about the steps we are taking can be found at www.mncourts.gov/reopening. Work with attorneys and justice partners to ensure a smooth transi- tion: The Minnesota Judicial Branch understands that our justice system is built on partnerships and that we must work closely with attorneys and other stakeholders as we prepare to re- sume more in-person court operations. We have been having regular conversations with justice partners to make sure they are aware of our plans and have a chance to voice their questions or issues. These have been produc- tive meetings, and I am confident that our justice system will continue to work in unison as we resume more typical courthouse opera- tions. As I said at the outset, the current pandemic has challenged Minnesota’s justice system like never before. Our goal over the past two-and- a-half months has been to maintain access to justice and process cases to the fullest extent possible while limiting the need for judges, staff, attorneys, and parties to enter a court facility. I am so proud of what we have accom- plished so far, and grateful for the partnership we have received from the justice community. Looking ahead, our primary goal will con- tinue to be protecting the health and safety of court officers, employees, and users. We will take a careful and strategic approach to reopen our courthouses, and no one should expect that our courts will simply resume nor- mal operations overnight. We know we are going to face a backlog of cases and trials, and we are all eager to get back to more normal operations. But we must proceed thoughtfully and follow the direction provided to us by our state’s public health experts. As I am writing this column, I cannot offer a firm timeline for when we will get back to “business as usual” in our courts. But I want attorneys in Minnesota to know that we are working diligently to strike the right balance between protecting health and safety and fulfilling the promise of Minnesota’s Consti- tution—ensuring everyone in our state has timely access to justice. For the most recent updates about how the Minnesota Judicial Branch is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, visit www.mn- courts.gov/emergency. LORIE SKJERVEN GILDEA IS MINNESOTA’S 22ND CHIEF JUSTICE, APPOINTED BY GOVERNOR PAWLENTY IN 2010. PRIOR TO BECOMING CHIEF JUSTICE, SHE SERVED AS AN ASSOCIATE JUSTICE SINCE 2006. BEFORE HER APPOINTMENT TO THE SUPREME COURT, CHIEF JUSTICE GILDEA SERVED AS A DISTRICT COURT JUDGE IN HENNEPIN COUN- TY AND AS A PROSECUTOR IN THE COUNTY ATTOR- NEY’S OFFICE. SHE ALSO SERVED AS ASSOCIATE GENERAL COUNSEL AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MIN- NESOTA FOLLOWING PRIVATE PRACTICE IN WASH- INGTON, D.C. AS CHIEF JUSTICE, SHE CHAIRS THE JUDICIAL COUNCIL AND IS A MEMBER OF THE CAP- ITOL AREA SECURITY COMMITTEE, THE CAPITOL PRESERVATION COMMISSION, AND THE BOARD OF PARDONS. SHE IS A CURRENT MEMBER OF THE CONFERENCE OF CHIEF JUSTICES AND A CURRENT AND PAST MEMBER OF ITS BOARD OF DIRECTORS (2013-2015 & 2019-2021). IN 2018, UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS AP- POINTED HER TO SERVE ON THE JUDICIAL CON- FERENCE COMMITTEE ON FEDERAL-STATE JURIS- DICTION. PRIOR TO BECOMING A JUDGE, CHIEF JUSTICE GILDEA WAS A MEMBER OF THE SENTENC- ING GUIDELINES COMMISSION; THE BOARD OF DI- RECTORS OF YWCA, MINNEAPOLIS; AND THE ADVI- SORY BOARD, MINNCORR INDUSTRIES. CHIEF JUS- TICE GILDEA EARNED HER B.A. DEGREE WITH DIS- TINCTION FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA MORRIS, AND HER J.D. DEGREE MAGNA CUM LAUDE FROM GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY LAW CENTER. ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE · MINNESOTA · VOL. 9 NO. 6 8Understanding Your Needs, Protecting Your Rights BusinessesBusinesses Business & Corporate Law Real Estate & Nonprofit Law Employment Law Litigation & Dispute Resolution Individuals & FamiliesIndividuals & Families Estate Planning & Probate Family Law & Custody Conservatorships Personal Injury & Workers’ Comp 763.560.5700 | hennsnoxlaw.com 6900 Wedgwood Road # 200 Maple Grove, MN 55311Next >