To Our Clients:

As the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) is having a greater impact throughout the United States, and especially in Southeastern Pennsylvania, our hearts go out to all who have been affected by this virus, as well as the health professionals working to care for them.  In light of recent events, we are writing you to assure you that while the health and safety of Grim, Biehn & Thatcher’s staff and clients remains a top priority, we intend to continue to provide you with the same quality responsive legal representation and service you have come to expect  Because this is a rapidly-evolving situation, we feel it is important to reach out and inform you of the steps we are taking across our firm to help keep you, our staff, and our communities safe and healthy.

As a part of this effort to ensure the safety of you and our staff, we are closely monitoring developments related to the spread of COVID-19 in suburban Philadelphia, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the world.  To aid in our response to the virus, we have sought guidance from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Pennsylvania Department of Health, as well as additional government agencies, local county health departments, and health care providers.  Our goal is to continue to meet our clients’ legal needs now and throughout this crisis, while maintaining the health and safety of our staff.

In order to comply with the Governor’s latest directive regarding the closure of non-life-sustaining businesses, our physical office is closed until further notice. Our attorneys and paralegals are working remotely to address your needs and mitigate any delay or disruption to the extent possible, and we will be able to continue to be responsive to your legal and business needs throughout any potential shutdowns or quarantines that may be established in an effort to contain the outbreak.

We are committed to reducing anxiety by adjusting to the changing demands of this situation. With this in mind, if COVID-19 remains an ongoing concern when our office reopens, we will continue to follow these policies and procedures:

·         All staff have been instructed to stay home if they feel sick or are experiencing cough, fever, sore throat, or shortness of breath.

·         All staff who have recently traveled to an area subject to a Level 3 or Level 4 Travel Advisory by the U. S. Department of State or have been in contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 shall self-quarantine for a period of not less than fourteen days.

·         Staff have been instructed to avoid all meetings, conferences, and other gatherings of people whenever possible, and to practice social distancing.

·         Staff have been instructed to wash their hands as often as possible during the work day.

·         Antiseptic wipes and sprays have been provided throughout the Firm, and increased cleaning and disinfecting has been undertaken and strongly encouraged.

·         Any client, for any reason, can request to reschedule appointments to a later date or to conduct meetings by telephone or video conference.  We would recommend any client in a high risk category concerning infection by COVID-19 to please consider changing in-person meetings to a phone or video conference.

·         Clients with draft documents needing review, edits, or execution can arrange to have us undertake these actions in person or via the mail, email, and/or on-line services.

·         Attorneys will remain available to attend municipal meetings in person or to participate by telephone or video conference, if virtual attendance is requested by the municipality.

·         Attorneys will remain available to attend court hearings, trials, and other proceedings in person or to participate by telephone or video conference, if virtual attendance is requested by the client and allowed by the court.

Please note that if you are sick (whether or not from COVID-19); are under quarantine; have been exposed to someone within the past two weeks who may have contracted COVID-19; or have traveled within the past two weeks to a location with an active COVID-19 outbreak; we request that you inform us of this fact, so that we can reschedule any in-person meeting to a later date or conduct such meeting by phone or video conference.

We are taking this virus seriously.  The local and national implications of COVID-19 are changing daily, and we will continue to assess our policies to ensure that we meet the legal needs of our clients while working to keep our clients and employees safe.  In the meantime, please stay safe and healthy, and if you would like to discuss any of this in more detail, please feel free to contact us.  Thank you.