I don't know where else to put my thoughts right now. Normally I share personal matters on my Facebook page, but my network includes a lot of family and I don't want to freak them out.
Ohio's Governor just said that the state expects the pandemic to peak around May 1.
So far, Ohio is 16th in the nation with 704 confirmed cases. This is good, given that Ohio is the 7th in the nation for population. We have been in lock-down mode for almost two weeks. It does not sound like a long time. So far, though, our firm has suffered a 50% decrease in billable hours. This is partly due to the court system pushing civil cases back. It is also likely due to our corporate clients pulling back the reins on moving forward with certain legal matters.
May 1.
Checked with our office manager today. At the moment, we can maybe swing the next payroll. That's after the 25% reduction to wages implemented across the board. We have obligations in the form of vendor contracts and company cars on leases that cannot be broken willy-nilly. And there appears to be no solution: we simply must get the courthouses open again so that business can continue if the firm hopes to survive.
May 1 will be the peak.
Nothing in the proposed bill in the Senate will help. I have examined our commercial general liability policy thoroughly, and I cannot find coverage for this particular business interruption. The state isn't offering anything at the moment. We are currently on a lease for our space and have no assets to leverage as collateral, and it is doubtful that the SBA loan we may qualify for will cover for another month of expenses.
May 1 will not be the end.
I try not to let the bleakness take over, but it is difficult. We may have to furlough everyone, presuming that the Senate bill is passed and signed, so that they can get unemployment. But that means our paralegals, who are billing what work they can, will no longer be generating income for the firm. It's the only solution we have at the moment.
Dayton is strong enough to weather this.
But there will be violence. Maybe not around where I live or in the streets of the city in which I work, but there will be violence. New York City or Chicago or Los Angeles will burn as the cuts dig deeper and deeper. The new bill will cover maybe one or two weeks of expenses -- that's it. Do the people in Washington D.C. understand what it costs to live in a major U.S. city these days? $1,200 is nothing, but it is enough to buy a gun and some ammunition.
There will be dark times ahead.