To think that a solicitor is not a key worker?

[Sandiepatterson]

Grrr, three sets of parents at our school are solicitors. Not family lawyers dealing with courts but plain old private client wills and trust lawyers. They most definitely could WFH but no, they've ALL sent their kids to school.
AIBU to think they are being unreasonable?

Can't you stick to the Coronavirus board? Not least take care of your own family's business and leave others to take care of theirs.

So sick of this tedious, self-anointed Covid-policing day after day after day.

I am a solicitor and my husband and our kids are not in school (I have kept our nanny at huge expense to make sure we can continue to work)

I have no problems with a wills practitioner using their KW status if appropriate.

I do know a lawyer whose cat got a mention in the summing up by the judge, after making multiple appearances

Sorry op. They are key workers.

Bloody wish the probate solicitor dealing with my dad’s estate would get a move on. She’s fairly critical as far as I’m concerned. I’d have preferred my dad to have died at an easier time, but unfortunately he didn’t. His estate still has to be dealt with and tied up in the timescales set out by law though.

One of my friends is a solicitor, doing Court of Protection stuff. She says she's busier than she's ever been.

She's managing to look after her DD6 and WFH though, so not taking up a school place.

You can't work from home and appear in court at the same time

You absolutely can, because many courts are doing remote hearings at the moment.

Yabu

There are still court cases proceeding. Many of which need to be heard. So of course they're bloody essential

I'd have to advise you don't say anything even mildly disparaging about any given middle class profession on here, you're asking for it...if you haven't already noticed.

Looking forward to this being over so that twats can mind their own business again.

You know the thing I'll take from this pandemic?

How fucking vile people can be. Whilst some pull together there seems to be an increasing number who just descend into bitterness and jealousy. I stupidly harboured the idea that people were generally decent, but if the sample of bitter, twisted, jealous and judgemental individuals on this site is actually represented in the real world then I worry for the future.

@KimchiLaLa

I do agree the definition of a key worker list is absolutely mental.

I'm a welfare rights officer and we're key workers, apparently. It's because we work with vulnerable clients, because it's time critical and because significant financial loss arises if the right thing isn't done at the right time.

I'm childfree, but I don't think my colleagues who have school-age children have sent them to school though. We're all WFH.

@puffinkoala

You can't work from home and appear in court at the same time

You absolutely can, because many courts are doing remote hearings at the moment.

While supporting multiple dc with remote learning, controlling rogue toddlers? Sure! Bring it on

Not sure if this something like this has been said, but DH and I had our wills sorted during the lockdown in March with no face-to-face contact with our solicitor at all.

The only time we needed to be in the presence of other people was when our signatures were witnessed, which we managed with friends coming over when two households could meet.

We have been advised to have an appointment with the solicitor when possible (as a belt and braces thing, perhaps in case they're challenged one day, or something*) but the wills are quite legal, we're told.

*Highly unlikely. We're a fairly mild-mannered family who get on well and - perhaps more to the point ) - we're not exactly rich.

Can't you stick to the Coronavirus board? Not least take care of your own family's business and leave others to take care of theirs.

So sick of this tedious, self-anointed Covid-policing day after day after day.

Yep. This thread illustrates why the keyworker school place policing has to stop. OP just doesn’t know what she’s talking about - she didn’t know that certain kinds of solicitor are critical workers (and always have been), and she didn’t bother to think about why wills and probate solicitors might be pretty crucial at the moment.

You just don’t know what other people’s circumstances are. So butt out.

Instead of directing anger at individuals sending their kids into school, how about directing it at the government who failed to:

• mandate that employers had to approve requests for reduced hours or unpaid leave or flexible hours, unless they could demonstrate full and inflexible hours were required for critical work (and I mean critical, not just to maximise profits)

• vaccinate teachers.

The key worker definition is meaningless (I'm classed as one, as are thousands of employees for my public sector employer - I don't think we should be).

Not sure if this something like this has been said, but DH and I had our wills sorted during the lockdown in March with no face-to-face contact with our solicitor at all.

There’s a common misconception that the ability to WFH and critical worker status are connected - they aren’t. Many critical workers can and do WFH. More problematically, there are many non-critical workers who have to work outside the home.

@puffinkoala

You can't work from home and appear in court at the same time

You absolutely can, because many courts are doing remote hearings at the moment.

Here's one for you, too: 🍪.

Some people have waaayyy too much time on their hands for the type of considerations like on this thread, perhaps they should look after their own kids and mind their own business instead, it would be best for everyone.

“You can't work from home and appear in court at the same time

You absolutely can, because many courts are doing remote hearings at the moment.”

And how do you imagine the judges, defenders, and vulnerable witnesses find children roaming around the background? Honest to god.

If they need to work from home and have trouble with supervising their children, then they are just as "KEY" as a nurse or doctor working from home.

Of course they are key workers. People still need to move home, people still die. Etc.. etc...

There are some in-person hearings taking place but thankfully all of mine (approx 2-5 per week) have been by telephone.

I don't know what I would do if a judge advised I had to attend in person. I'm not eligible for keyworker childcare and my DH isn't really in a position to have the children for half a day or more at short notice (depending on which court it was). One of my colleagues would have to cover but it's less than ideal.

Our entire society is based on laws (specifically) and the rule of law (generally), which does not just mean solicitors doing private client work, and that is even more the case now when every aspect of our lives is being bounded by laws in a way never before attempted.
In a totally different society, solicitors would perhaps not be critical, but in a globalised market economy and civil society (just), they are.

@AdobeWanKenobi

You know the thing I'll take from this pandemic?

How fucking vile people can be. Whilst some pull together there seems to be an increasing number who just descend into bitterness and jealousy. I stupidly harboured the idea that people were generally decent, but if the sample of bitter, twisted, jealous and judgemental individuals on this site is actually represented in the real world then I worry for the future.

I don’t see any of the bilge I see on here in real life

Yes I'd say they were key workers.

OP you’re right. My elderly parents who sold their house (just before lockdown last year) should definitely have just taken one for the team and become homeless instead of proceeding with their purchase of a new home just because a solicitor isn’t essential to you at this moment in time doesn’t mean they aren’t essential elsewhere.