Melissa Proffitt and Christina Fugate Quoted in Indiana Lawyer: "As Companies Reopen, In-House Lawyers Feel the Pinch"

Ice Miller LLP partners Melissa Proffitt and Christina Fugate were quoted in the Indiana Lawyer article, "As Companies Reopen, In-House Lawyers Feel the Pinch."

The article included:

Melissa Proffitt, the partner-in-charge of client relations at Ice Miller LLP in Indianapolis, contrasts the current environment with the usual comment-and-response system in the legal profession. Generally, when new regulations are proposed, lawyers are encouraged to send in their feedback before any final decisions are made.

“We don’t have the luxury of any of that right now,” Proffitt said. Instead, as she’s advising clients on benefits-related issues, she works to provide real-time updates as soon as new regulations are made known.

Christina Fugate is an Ice Miller partner working in franchise law and business litigation whose practice, like those of so many other attorneys, has shifted to a COVID-19 response. Already, Fugate said, there have been class actions lawsuits filed against companies that continued to operate during the pandemic, and those types of suits likely will continue.

Proffitt agreed, opining that once the global crisis has passed, people will begin to forget the realities of the pandemic and will begin bringing coronavirus-related lawsuits.

To that end, businesses are naturally worried about liability as they begin to reopen.

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