Page 20 - Delaware Lawyer - Fall 2020

FEATURE
Stephanie S. Riley
Adapting to a New Life
The slow learning curve of working and parenting during COVID
There is no denying that COVID-19 changed everything, including the practice of law and the personal lives of attorneys and clients. Mostly practicing in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware during the pandemic, I have found it remarkable to witness the Judiciary’s foresight and how quickly the federal (and state) Judiciary began implementing remote procedures.
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Although I wish I had been able to react as quickly as the courts, it took me longer to realize that my home/office life would have to adapt to the new way of practicing. Finally, almost six months into the pandemic (and nine months into a pregnancy), I adapted and accepted the new way of practicing and the new normal.
At the beginning of the pandemic in March, like many people, I moved my office into the home and my tod- dler’s school closed. My husband and I started taking turns at what now seem
like comical attempts to be Montessori teachers, resulting in the need to work much earlier and later. By summer, I thought, life would surely be back to normal.
The Judiciary saw and planned for what I did not, the worst-case scenar- io. As early as April and May, judges were acknowledging that we just did not know what the summer and fall months were going to hold regarding trials and witness travel. I remember being shocked. Surely witnesses would be able to travel again by September,