Find out how COVID-19 has impacted CLM members and fellows
What has been the biggest adjustment you’ve had to make in your professional life due to COVID-19?
“The same hospitality industry that claimed my occupational heart many years ago will be feeling the reverberations of the COVID-19 pandemic for many years to come. Our business is to make our clients the most attractive risk possible to the underwriting community; a business that is now focused on helping them find creative ways to stay in business as that same underwriting community is ostensibly powerless to respond to their claims for losses of unprecedented proportions." -Jana Solis, vice president, risk management and hospitality team leader, Fournier Group. CLM Fellow since 2020.
“As an engineer and contractor, an integral part of my business includes field inspections, which require access to physical property and interactions with owners and site personnel. The pandemic has restricted access to these inspections due to client and property policies, and travel considerations. I have adapted by establishing, prior to the physical inspection, a defined protocol by which the inspection will be conducted.” -Kurt Ahlich, Senior Engineer, ARCCA, CLM Fellow since 2017.
“The transition to working remotely generated some anxiety but was ultimately amazing. Essentially overnight nearly 2,000 colleagues made the move and continued to run to problems, a tenant of The Gallagher Way, as we continue to serve our clients by providing demonstrably superior outcomes.” -Bradley Gronke, Talent Acquisition and Development Manager, Gallagher Bassett. CLM Fellow since 2012.
“The biggest adjustment I have had to make is taking phone calls, attending mediations, and working with a baby in the background (often laughing but sometimes screaming). It was hard at first, but now it is a great ice breaker, since it tends to lighten the mood.” -Allison B. Etkin, Partner, Wood, Smith, Henning & Berman LLP. CLM Member since 2020.
BY THE NUMBERS
14,500
Number of legal industry jobs added since April’s sharp decline driven by COVID-19.
Source: Law360
80%
Percent of individuals working from home who want to continue working remotely in some capacity after lockdowns end.
Source: IBM Institute for Business
38.9%
Percent year-over-year decrease in U.S. hotel occupancy, as of the week ending July 18.
Source: Statista
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Phil Gusman is CLM's director of content. phil.gusman@theclm.org
CLM’s Environmental and Toxic Tort Committee focuses on existing and emerging issues in the environmental, pollution, and mass tort context. This encompasses long-tail claims as well as claims submitted on currently issued policies.
