Warner Fox Quoted in the Daily Report
July 20, 2020 (Atlanta, GA) – Warner Fox was quoted in a July 17 story by the Daily Report, "With Filing Deadlines Back in Place, Lawyers Brace for Flood of Stalled Litigation."
That’s already the reality for Hawkins Parnell & Young partner Warner Fox, who said lifting the deadlines is welcomed and problematic.
“Frankly, I’ve talked to a lot of lawyers who didn’t even realize the tolling had been lifted,” said Fox.
“My position is that it’s good news in that it’s going to put lawyers back to work,” he said.
But for a firm like Hawkins Parnell, which defends complex cases around the country, depositions via Zoom are not always suitable.
“Zoom is great for some things,” he said. “But when you’ve got a potential witness and you want to see how he’ll play in front of a jury from a remote location, you’ve got to see for yourself to get the full scope.”
“Another problem is that I’ve got a lot of catastrophic cases where plaintiffs want to take depositions, and sometimes you’re dealing with hundreds of documents,” he said. “It’s almost impossible to prep a witness like that over Zoom; you’ve got an obligation to prep the witness properly.”
Fox said lifting the freeze means he would be back on airplanes, pandemic or not, and noted that he was flying out Thursday afternoon to interview an expert. He also noted that many firms will now be obliged to call employees back into their offices even as COVID-19 rates are climbing again.
“I don’t know what our office is going to do,” he said. “We’ve been open on a voluntary basis, but not many people are coming in. Most firms are going to have to make a decision whether it’s time to get their staff back into the office.”
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