OTLA Trial Lawyer Winter 2021

14 Trial Lawyer • Winter 2021 regular contact with the people about whom I care most. It has made all the difference in the world respecting the inevitable sense of isola- tion having to work from home can cause.” Working remotely David Shaw has been working out of his home office for over three years. However, he also has a remote office in Central Oregon. He uses GoToMyPC to work remotely. I asked Shaw to de- scribe the advantages and disadvantages of remote work. In his words, “For me the best part of the GoToMyPC experience is the lack of any training or skill hur- dle needed to use it. You just click your mouse in your remote office, and it clicks your mouse in your host office. Same for hitting a letter on your keyboard. The only difficult thing is internet connection speed can impact this, and, if the host computer reboots and you don’t have a more robust GoToMyPC plan, you can lose connection. My favorite office setup is definitely my home office. I especially like the home office in a remote area of the house used only for work, with a door on the office. I like the ability to shut the door at the end of the work day and not see all my work, and let that stress leak into my personal life.” Location, location, location I am a solo practitioner with three full time staff. All of my staff are Vietnamese immigrants and are related to each other. In taking on the practice in 1994, I knew I wanted to take advantage of my unique staff and establish a niche in the Viet- namese community practicing criminal defense and personal injury. At the time, the heart of the Vietnamese community was in the Hollywood/Rose Park districts of Portland, so that is where we set up the office. I could have located closer to the courthouse. However, I believed it was more important that my clients had easy access to me and my staff. Plus, rent was a lot cheaper in the Hollywood area at the time. The years have proven to me that proximity to my clients is more impor- tant to my business than the convenience of being close to the courthouse. Conclusion The pandemic and stay at home or- ders have forced a lot of lawyers to re- examine their practices and priorities. It is cliché now to say “everything has changed.” But, eventually we will all get Dukelow with his staff of Sonny Do, Josephine Do and Mimi Durdel outside their office in NE Portland. His three staff members are all Vietnamese immigrants and related to each other. Their office is located off NE Sandy Boulevard, between 60th and 61st Avenues. back to some sense of normalcy. When that happens, we will inevitably move toward reestablishing our offices. In set- ting up your office, do not be afraid to reach out to others with questions and concerns. We OTLAns are a kindred group. Most, if not all of us, want each other to succeed. Find other attorneys you can connect with and never hesitate to bug them with questions. Kyle Dukelow practices plaintiff ’s personal injury and criminal defense law in Oregon andWashington. He is the sole shareholder of the Law Office of Kyle B. Dukelow, PC, 6007 NE Stanton St., Portland, OR 97213. Dukelow is also a Certified Execu- tive Coach who works with solo and small firm practitioners through Move Forward Coaching for Lawyers. Dukelow contributs to OTLA Guardians at the Guardians Club level. He can be reached at 503-720- 3413 or [email protected]. Unique Office Arangements Continued from p 11