Offices across the White & Case network have risen to the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring our people can work safely while providing essential legal support and partnership to our clients during the crisis.

Our offices in China were the first to be impacted. Shanghai Partner Vivian Tsoi explains: “Rumors that the virus was spreading rapidly began in late January.

“We weren’t sure what was going to happen next. At the end of January, we followed government advice and closed the office down.”

Following several weeks of working from home, the Firm’s Shanghai and Beijing offices reopened in early March.

“The decision to reopen was a difficult one,” says Vivian. “We were all deeply anxious about whether it was safe outside and when it would be safe enough to open the offices.

“Regular communication had been vital during the weeks we worked from home and it was just as important when we opened back up.

“We talked to colleagues about their concerns and what we’d need to do to protect ourselves in the office.

“We also wanted to be flexible, so colleagues could get to work safely, have lunch without going outside and could attend to childcare needs as necessary.

“Our priority was to support one another and show we were all in this together.”

The offices also showed empathy in the way they responded to client needs, as Vivian explains: “It was important for us to respect their anxiety and their need for flexibility.

“For some this was as simple as lending an ear and offering them a bit of calm in the storm.

“Now, in early April, traffic is back on the streets, people are going into stores. More importantly, our teams are glad to be back together.

“It’s great to hear our people talking about how well they feel we’ve handled the outbreak so far and how proud they are that we have continued to serve our clients in the same way throughout.

“Though it’s too early to say the crisis has passed, we feel stronger as a team for what we’ve been through so far.”

Another country that has suffered particularly badly during the pandemic is Italy. But the experience there has really brought to life the Firm’s values of Pioneering, United and Human.

Partner Ferigo Foscari of our Milan office explains: “We’ve lost more than 21,600 people since the outbreak began and, as I speak, only the United States has recorded more deaths from the virus.

“By early April, we had been in total shutdown for more than four weeks and were in partial shutdown for three weeks before that.

“This crisis has taught us that in order to protect and support our community, we’d need to make significant changes to the way we live and work.”

This has extended to the Milan office itself, where partnership and flexibility has been key.

Ferigo says: “Our priority was to find ways to stay close to our people in order to keep them engaged and to maintain morale despite the tragic circumstances.

“So, we organized weekly office town hall meetings and bi-weekly virtual coffee rooms where single partners met team members.

“We also set up a virtual coffee room where people could go at any time during the day to have a chat in the same way as they would in a conventional office cafeteria.

“In addition, we encouraged partners to do one-on-one calls to check on the health and morale of associates and their families.”

The team has certainly excelled during the crisis, showing commitment and dedication that has enabled the office to work at close to 100 percent capacity throughout, while collaborating with other offices across the network.

Ferigo says: “In the past week alone we announced two M&A deals and closed another two with an aggregate deal value of more than $2.5 billion.

“Above all, we’ve remained close to our clients, which is important. If we’re able to stand close to our clients now, they will remember it even more when the storm is over.”

Ferigo believes that technology has also been at the center of the office’s response to the crisis.

“The situation made us experiment with technology, which has enabled us to run, sign and close deals entirely from home with everyone in different locations,” Ferigo says.

“Without technology, it would have been impossible to survive the impact of a total lockdown and I want to take this opportunity to say a massive thank you to the entire GTS team as, without them, none of this would have been possible.

“At these times, our people and clients need us more than ever, so it’s been great to see us working together and standing united – something that will contribute to an even stronger Firm in the future.”