He urges practitioners to follow HSE advice, adding: “It’s very important not to have people working in the same office. There should be home working, if possible.”
O’Sullivan normally works alongside a consultant solicitor and three staff members in the firm, O’Sullivan Hogan.
Most are now working from home. Donal has treated common surfaces in his office and keeps all doors propped open to avoid unnecessary touching of handles.
The firm’s consultant solicitor, Áine Hogan, works entirely from home, but comes in during out-of-office hours if she needs to access a file or do printing.
Welcome Society advice
Donal welcomes the Law Society’s advice on drawing up wills in a time of social isolation and would welcome some additional guidance on the swearing of documents without social contact – perhaps done behind glass.
“Getting in my commissioner for oaths to swear a document with a third-party is just something I can’t do. It’s simply too risky,” he says.
He suggests that accepted criteria, such as the use of secure PDFs, should be hammered out as agreed methods of document service between firms.
He also questions whether some cases will become statute-barred due to the crisis and reckons that the limitations period should be increased.
“If Government increased it by one year – for one year – that would alleviate a lot of concerns within the profession,” he says.
“I’m putting staff at risk sending out registered letters at the moment, and I’d prefer not to have to do that.”
His firm is sending documentation electronically, and he thinks that firms are heading in that direction anyway.
“This is going to be the death of postal letters,” he predicts. “People are not going to go back to that way of working.”
Skiing trip
Donal caught the virus while on a skiing trip in north-east Italy during the last week of February. He and six others from a group of 18 were infected, probably from being in confined ski-lifts.
He recovered after being “extremely well looked after” in the Mater Hospital. He had few symptoms, apart from a hoarse voice and the loss of his sense of smell.
Donal is convinced that the current measures need to be in place for 12 months, or longer, for the entire profession.
“Three months isn’t long enough,” he says, pointing out that when Hong Kong relaxed protective measures, the virus came back with a vengeance.