Queensland criminal lawyer James Torcetti experienced lockdown unlike many - he didn’t need to leave the office, despite having the option to do so.
“We are fortunate enough to have a decent-sized office space with no cubicles, so maintaining social distancing was not a challenge at all,” he said. “Our office became shut to the public with staff working from home as they chose.
Adjusting to online courts
“The biggest challenge we faced as defence lawyers has been the inability to visually ‘read the court’ when appearing on our matters,” said James. Being unable to gauge when a judicial officer is running thin on patience can be tough. Not to mention the faux pas plaguing many online court hearings.
“Hearing practitioners navigate the mute button on their phone as they munch on breakfast in the ‘call over’ has been a special treat,” said James.
The other major change is how his days are structured.
“As I almost exclusively work in criminal law, the face time with clients is noticeable - and the endless hours playing candy crush waiting to appear on my matters,” he said. “For the first time as a lawyer, I actually have an eight hour window of work, sitting at my desk. It’s incredibly different to before COVID-19 - sitting still for longer than 20 minutes has involved a learning curve.”
Adapting swiftly as a ‘fax-free’ law firm
As a young practice, James’s firm was more fortunate than most going into lockdown.
“What is a fax?” joked James. “We were lucky and had a head start on other practices in this respect. For us, the transition to an online model was not as much of a struggle.”
While in lockdown, James has taken the opportunity to catch up on often overlooked work and set himself the rather ambitious goal of completing 100 case notes in 100 days.
“I deeply regret this,” admitted James. “This goal went from 100 calendar days to 100 business days fairly quickly. However, by posting my case notes on LinkedIn, I felt somewhat accountable, and I’ve found it to be a very useful learning tool to solidify existing knowledge and upskill through other people’s wins and losses.”
Like many criminal lawyers, he expects a build-up of work when the courts fully reopen. This is certainly what has been seen in other jurisdictions, like Hong Kong, as lockdown eased.
“We are preparing for the inevitable wall of work in looming in the criminal courts that,” said James. “For now, we are working on our website, our internal procedures, and processes. This is also an excellent time to spend more time contacting clients and touching base.”
Expanding access to justice
For James, lockdown life has thrown into sharp relief how important criminal lawyers are to their clients.
“Our clients have a moment - the same moment every time - where they feel like they have been punched in the guts, they have no idea what is going to happen or how to move forward,” said James. “It is our role as criminal lawyers to map out a plan of attack, provide all the options, and offer a degree of certainty about the future. This could involve being in custody, with a conviction on record, a fine, or withdrawal of charges.”
Rarely a day goes by without feeling fulfilled
Driven by a clear purpose, rarely a day goes by in which James does not feel fulfilled as a criminal lawyer.
“There will always be tasks you don’t like, but there is so much to like about being a lawyer,” said James. “It might be something small - a friendly colleague, or good relationships with fellow practitioners or police officers as you brainstorm how to work in a ‘Tiger King’ reference into submissions. Or it might be major - like mitigating a sentence well below what even I might have expected, or securing a ‘not guilty’ verdict.”
“No one comes to a solicitor’s office smiling about their circumstances,” said James. “If I can get them smiling pleased with the result, I find that immeasurably fulfilling.
Moving forward, James hopes courts will learn from their lockdown experience and be more willing and technologically able to expand access to justice to regional areas.
“I very much hope lockdown will see the courts more willingly accept phone or video appearances from practitioners beyond where the matter is being dealt with,” said James.