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How is the Law arena affected by COVID-19?
How is the Law arena affected by COVID-19?
During the lockdown, we see that justices are delayed. Courts have shifted to virtual conferences thus avoiding social interaction as much as possible. But when the court has turned to a virtual conference, the justice expected shall be delayed. Also the cases being reported have been reduced. Overall hearings have been postponed, cancelled or rescheduled.
When there is a delay in delivering justice, people will not need lawyers during this time. This affects the income of the lawyers. The trial through video conference is not very safe since there is a probability that these may get hacked and vital information may be leaked. Also people will not have a seriousness of the court system while having a video conference.
In a country like India, we know that most of the older people are not aware of the technologies and they require face to face interaction with their lawyer. Due to the lockdown this will not be possible. Hence, such cases will have to be postponed and the lawyers dealing with them will have a difficult time.
We know that since it is COVID-19, businesses are facing a very hard time. From small scale industry to large scale industry, everyone has a shortage in businesses. Almost every company has a legal advisor to guide the company or the individual. During such a crisis some companies are forced to shut their business due to shortage of money and some other companies are compelled to decrease the number of employees. This affects such people's careers.
Companies are conserving cash. Public markets are cratering. Private equity is in distress. Portfolio companies are seeing supply lines disrupted. Private firms can’t raise money to do acquisitions or find money to do intelligent exits. This will last for a while. The global economy is getting hammered, and law firms will follow the fortunes of the economy as a whole.
Though all such situations have happened there are many advantages too. A judge in Chennai need not go to the Supreme Court for the decision. A video conference trial is enough for speedy justice. Also after the crisis, the piled up cases and new cases will be filed. The lawyers will be benefitted as there will be an increase in the number of cases. Law students who have a very tight schedule during their classes can spend time for other things such as online internships during the lockdown. Many companies are offering such internships and online courses.
In a country like India, having such a population, everything is under control. Courts are getting adapted to the new way of trial. After taking feedback it is found that people from worldwide are in support of the new method. Job opportunities are still a big crisis that we have to face in the law area. Since there will be a very bad effect on the economy due to the present scenario, it is expected that there shall be a decrease in salary for a few months until we gain control.
