Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Law firms prepare for the worst

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 31 Mar 2003 12:22:06 -0500

Law firms prepare for the worst
Triage units, safe rooms are part of the planning.
By Lisa Stansky
SPECIAL TO THE NATIONAL LAW JOURNAL
http://www.nlj.com/business/033103bizlede.shtml

A bright red fanny pack dangles from office chairs at the New York offices of Fulbright &
Jaworski.

Each is a personal survival kit stocked with water, a flashlight, first-aid supplies and
other reminders that the war in Iraq could visit these shores in the form of a terrorist
attack.

U.S. law firms, especially those with offices in presumed possible targets like New York
and Washington, are bracing against the possibility of chemical, biological, radiological
and technological warfare at home. Emergency measures vary widely among firms, but the
goals are the same: keeping people (and the business) alive.

Deciding what to do is a challenge.

"How do you prepare for a disaster that is almost more like a science fiction movie plot?"
said Linda Scorsone, director of administration for Fulbright's New York office, which has
roughly 275 workers, including 125 attorneys.

In addition to the $11 packs, the firm has stocked an interior room on each floor with
two-way radios, masks, latex gloves, lanterns, megaphones and first-aid kits. Each floor
has an oxygen tank.

Sleek offices, lunch nooks and conference rooms at many firms are ready to morph into
temporary emergency shelters supplied with two or three days' food and water for everyone.
Administrators hustle to issue memoranda telling lawyers and staff how to communicate with
one another, the firm and with clients during a crisis.

The costliest preparations target information technology systems; some firms have invested
millions of dollars in off-site data repositories, which can double as emergency command
posts if a crisis disables a key office.

White Plains, N.Y., was chosen as the backup site for at least two New York City firms:
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Davis Polk & Wardwell. Both established the
suburban data centers about 30 miles north of New York to preserve key information if a
crisis shuts down their Manhattan offices.

Tiny by comparison with Skadden's mammoth 650,000-square-foot site in Times Square, the
40,000-square-foot White Plains facility can house a contingent of lawyers if necessary,
said Wallace Schwartz, partner and head of the New York office. Schwartz said the firm is
not handing out survival supplies to individual employees in the New York office, which
includes 750 lawyers, but the firm has a three-day supply of food and water and basic
medical supplies on hand.

All the while, firm administrators strive to encourage preparation rather than panic, and
there is not always a clear course of action. Smoke hoods, which, in case of fire, allow
the user to breathe safely for 20 minutes, went out to workers at Davis Polk at a cost of
$40 to $50 each. Some firms issued employees $2 filtration masks, and others are skipping
the masks altogether, citing safety and practical concerns.

"The key to survival is to remain calm. The key to remaining calm is to be prepared. That
has been our mantra through all of this," said John Waters, executive director at
Washington's Covington & Burling, which has branches in what it considers are four hot
spots: New York, London, Brussels and San Francisco.

Survival kits for all Covington workers are due any day now: three days' worth of water
and nonperishable food, a light stick, space blanket, first-aid kit, plus a solar-powered
combination flashlight and radio equipped with a hand crank for use in darkness. Every
worker will be asked to supplement the kit with walking shoes, map, compass and an
emergency family plan, Waters said. To run the firm's security program, Covington brought
in former Marine Staff Sergeant Michael Bonanno, who once held responsibility for the
helicopter squadron charged with protecting former President Bill Clinton.

"The biggest part of the whole thing is really educating the employees of the firm,"
Bonanno said. "Have a 'go' kit, have a plan," Bonanno told them. To quell anxiety,
Covington sponsored security briefings and fielded questions from employees wondering
about gas masks and smoke hoods. The firm is not going that route, Bonanno said, arguing
that such devices might actually prompt workers to stay when an emergency demands
evacuation.

Triage units, 'safe' rooms

Covington, like other firms in Washington and in New York, is ready to go into lockdown
mode. The Washington office is even ready to set up a triage unit. Some 35 to 40 Covington
employees are certified to perform CPR, Bonanno said. The firm plans to have a cardiac
defibrillator on hand in Washington and perhaps in every location.

An on-site child care center is ready at the Washington offices of Akin, Gump, Strauss,
Hauer & Feld to reunite employees and their children during an emergency, said Michael J.
Emery, director of administration at Akin Gump's D.C. office.

Akin Gump has designated "safe rooms" on every floor where employees should assemble if a
chemical, biological or other kind of attack precludes evacuation. The firm has supplies
of food, water, hard hats and medical supplies (including CPR kits and defibrillators),
Emery said. Communications devices include battery-operated radios and televisions,
two-way radios and Nextel cellular phones, he said.

Basic emergency supplies are not big-ticket items, according to Stephen Colgate, executive
director at Piper Rudnick's Washington office. "I bet you we spent less than 5,000 bucks,"
Colgate said. Every worker has a $2 filtration mask and a flashlight, and every floor is
equipped with battery-run televisions and radios. Drills train workers how to withdraw to
the office's interior.

Maintaining communication during and after a critical event is a major concern. A February
memo issued to all staff at Piper Rudnick informed everyone of the firm's new emergency
toll-free phone number for issuing information in a crisis, as did a recent Pillsbury
Winthrop e-mail issued to employees in New York.

Anxiety appears to be highest in Washington, followed by New York, according to law firm
partners and administrators interviewed. Preparing for the unknown was less novel for
Fulbright's Los Angeles office, where every worker already had a survival kit--for
earthquakes. "We already had it on hand," said Lynne Stevens, Fulbright's director of
administration there.

At least one smaller firm is not taking chances. The 250 lawyers of Philadelphia-based
Fox, Rothschild, O'Brien & Frankel are scattered among New Jersey, Pennsylvania and
Delaware, but the firm has set up a serious disaster plan, said Stanley Cohen,
administrative partner in the Philadelphia office. That plan includes buying a generator
to keep computer servers humming during a power outage; replicating the entire information
services department; and stocking each location with two days' worth of food, water and
other emergency provisions.

Skadden's Schwartz said he knows of some smaller New York firms that are giving employees
gas masks, although he would not name the firms.

At Baker & McKenzie, the largest U.S.-based law firm with more than 3,200 lawyers, the
firm decided to allow all employees, "from the senior partner to the tea lady," to leave
offices in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Cairo, Egypt; and Bahrain without fear of losing their
jobs, said firm Chairwoman Christine LaGarde. Though the firm has beefed up security at
all locations, offices are not stockpiling supplies, she said.

LaGarde is not fazed by Baker & McKenzie's Washington location next to the White House.
"It's probably the safest place in the world, as well as one of the most exposed," she
said.

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
FREE Cell Phones with up to $400 Cash Back!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/_bBUKB/vYxFAA/i5gGAA/61FxlB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

---

From: Jack Daniel <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 31 Mar 2003 10:01:23 -0800

If we need anyone to make it through a massive attack, it's high fee
lawyers.

How could we move forward without someone to sue and countersue the
survivors or their heirs?

Maybe we should set up a foundation to provide shelter to Alan T. and
Laura Smith to insure some 'good guys' make it too?

==========================================================

 --------- snip --------

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Make Money Online Auctions! Make $500.00 or We Will Give You Thirty Dollars for Trying!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/yMx78A/fNtFAA/i5gGAA/61FxlB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->