As concerns over COVID-19 in the U.S. have escalated and additional steps to combat it have been announced by federal, state and local authorities, Groom remains committed to delivering the highest level of service, expertise and responsiveness to meet the legal and business needs of our clients. With the spread of the virus, our firm has been proactively taking measures to protect the well-being of our valued clients, employees and extended community, including the following:

  • We have implemented a "work from home" policy for Groom employees under which team members who are out of the office can be reached by calling their office numbers or sending them an email
  • We have eliminated most internal meetings and are either holding others by videoconference or otherwise limiting in-person attendance
  • We have postponed our annual client conference
  • We have established an advance clearance requirement for all visitors to our office, which will require answers to questions about travel history and contact with persons who have been exposed to the virus

The non-disruption of client service and the welfare of our team at Groom are our two top priorities. Subject to the above safety measures, it is our intention to keep our office open, with some team members in the office and others working remotely. In the event the office were to close, the investments that we have made in technology over the years will allow our entire team of lawyers and staff to work remotely and, while maintaining security of client records, to access emails, files and other materials. We recently conducted a successful stress test of the systems to ensure the continuity of operations if our entire team needed to work remotely.

Over the last three to four weeks, many of our 85 attorneys have been leveraging their decades of experience to answer client questions related to the coronavirus and the impact that it may have on certain benefits, health plans, retirement, privacy concerns and much more. We also recently held a webinar on issues that have been commonly raised. The materials include takeaways on compliance with existing regulations, administration of precautionary measures and potential future guidance. We will also be sending a summary of federal legislation on this topic. Additional webinars are being planned and you can access our latest thinking on these issues on our website. Kindly target=_blankcontact us if you have any questions or concerns.

We greatly appreciate the confidence and trust that you have placed in our firm. Our thoughts are with you in these challenging times.

With regards,

Michael J. Prame
Executive Principal

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