One year ago this week, we decided to temporarily close down the office and work from home. I thank you all for your patience as we adapted to new ways of doing things, and learned to juggle the challenges of the past year.

Ultimately, working from home was a good choice for my family and me. Our immediate family has all remained healthy and relatively sane.

I am cautiously optimistic as more people get vaccines, but will continue to exercise precautions for the foreseeable future.

Looking Back: Lessons Learned

On the home front, working from home, I get more time to read with Charlie, which we both have enjoyed. Homeschooling Charlie has been both rewarding and challenging. Bob has taken on the lion’s share of the task and has been doing his own work at odd hours of the late night and early morning so I can be available to clients during business hours. Overall, I am filled with gratitude for this time with my family.

Professionally, I learned to Zoom–which I think has actually made our process of estate planning more efficient! Being able to review documents right on the computer screen while on a Zoom with a client and type in notes and changes as we talk is a more focused and interactive way to review drafts of documents than when we met in person with stacks of papers.

Working without an assistant for the past year has been challenging, to say the least. But taking care of every detail has given me the opportunity to put a lot of thought into what my law practice will look like in the future and how to better serve my clients.

Looking Forward: Changes On The Horizon

As I write this, preparations are underway to partially re-open the office. I will still be working from home a good part of the time. But here is the big news–I’m bringing on three new employees in the coming weeks!

Michael Troxel will be joining us as our Client Relations and Office Manager. Michael is a California native who is relocating to the Mendocino coast, where he has close family ties. We will be the fortunate beneficiaries of his years of experience and wonderful people skills.

Max Courtney, coast native and soon-to-be lawyer, will be joining us as she wraps up her last semester at Empire College of Law and studies for the July California Bar Exam. Along with her new law degree, Max will bring years of practical law office experience and an eagerness to begin her legal career serving her hometown community.

Last but not least, Joe Wankmueller recently graduated from USF School of Law and just took the California Bar Exam a few weeks ago. He also has close family ties to Mendocino and is excited to begin his legal career learning all aspects of estate planning and serving our local community. We will benefit from his enthusiasm and great attention to detail.

Grateful For Our Community

We have always loved the strong sense of community here on the Mendocino coast. This past year has made us more grateful than ever to live and work here.

I feel so lucky to be able to work with and help so many genuinely nice members of our community.

Now, I need to ask a favor: I need to keep these three great new employees busy!

So if you know anyone who needs to get their affairs in order, I would VERY much appreciate the referral. Clients do not have to be local–with Zoom and the telephone, I can work with anyone anywhere in CA.

Take care and stay safe!

CALL 707-937-2701 OR EMAIL DEBRA@DECARLILAW.COM