In many cases, losing everything freed these lawyers to rethink how they wanted their firms to look once we completed rebuilding.

The funny thing is, many of these professionals resisted technology before the storm… 

After losing everything, they built firms that took advantage of everything technology could do for them, often making their firms better than they were before Katrina hit.

Then in 2020, those same law firms experienced something completely unexpected. 

Covid-19 forced nearly every law firm to operate remotely. Most firms were caught entirely off guard. 

The firms in New Orleans who had been through Katrina and lost everything that had already adapted their operations didn’t miss a beat. Social distancing and gathering restrictions had no impact on the operation. 

When Covid hit, many people reached out to get help in the transition to working from home. But not the clients I had helped after Katrina. I didn’t hear a word from them. 

Well, not true... Some of them did reach out to say, “Thank you.” Because they had already made the transition, they felt little or no disruption in productivity from Covid. While other firms were playing catch up, they were already getting ahead. 

Who knew the devastation of Katrina in 2005 would put law firms in the path of the storm in the perfect position to weather a new type of storm brought on by a virus. 

It used to seem like a stretch to be able to work from home or anywhere outside the office. Now, not only is safe, remote work possible, it has become necessary.