Stacy D. Phillips

For Phillips, a family law attorney, the pandemic has been a revelation into how her practice could change in the years to come.

“One of the trends I’ve noticed is that cases that would normally settle are not settling,” Phillips said. “And then the flip side of that, some people realize because of the pandemic that life is too short, and they are willing to just sort of throw in the towel. I’ve had more of the former, some of the latter.”

Phillips said she has seen divorce cases rising during the pandemic, and with businesses increasingly shifting to a remote work environment, custody cases are also likely to become affected.

She’s also been dealing with multiple domestic violence lawsuits as courts navigated the pandemic. Phillips had to deal with masks and face shields, and by the end of the year, she spent entire days in remote court hearings.

“It was and is still a real challenge,” Phillips said. “Learning how to argue when you can’t see somebody, when you’re on the telephone or when you’re on Zoom, and you can’t communicate with your client the same way.”

While Phillips’ clients are usually wealthy business people or celebrities, she devotes a lot of her time to doing pro bono work in the family law arena.

“Because there’s nothing more important in my mind than our children,” Phillips said. “And if I can help in a family law case and help children, then that’s something that I really want to do.”

As offices are starting to open up again, Phillips said she is looking forward to hugging her colleagues again and seeing the progress of the renovations of Blank Rome’s Los Angeles offices.

“I also want to continue to do great work and figure out how to manage the new normal with in-person or not in-person, Zoom and LACourtConnect,” Phillips said. “And to help people through these changes in their lives. Divorce is a really difficult time, and I tried to make it easier for people.”

— Henrik Nilsson